Fake Diplomas from Pakistan

It will be interesting to watch this unfold. The international scope, the amount of money involved plus the relatively high profile nature of this case promise a good show. Several years ago there was a case in Maine where a woman was arrested for runnig an "escort service" or a brothel or somesuch. In the arrest the Police found her client list and it became a huge issue; will the client list be released? I would guess that a similar issue will arise in the Axact case. There are probably records of who bought these diplomas. Will the list be released? I, for one, will be watching for this.

 

micro update: mills threaten retribution

Degree mills threatened to

 

Back in 2008, after the St. Regis (and other Liberian "schools") scam was busted, a long list of degree-purchasers - around 9,600 individuals - was published in The Spokesman-Review, a Spokane WA paper. I remember being able to read the list on the Web.

If a complete list is ever published in this case, maybe it'll have to be serialized. Sign up for a couple of dozen deluxe binders! :smile:

One article on the St. Regis story here:

Fraud U: Toppling a Bogus-Diploma Empire | WIRED

 

I met yesterday with a lawyer who has a client who spent over $200,000 purchasing degrees from California Paramount University, one of the 300+ Axact schools. And according to NY Times reporter Declan Walsh, this person is by no means the largest customer; there are some in the vicinity of $500,000.

California Paramount had the .edu suffix. I'd love to know how that happened. And they just changed their name to Coronado Pacific University.

 

Johann: If a complete list is ever published in this case . . .

John: The St. Regis case is the only one that was run by the Secret Service, which had no problem with releasing the customer names. As far as I know, the FBI has never released customer names -- but it is conceivable that no one ever asked under the Freedom of Information Act.

 

John Bear: California Paramount had the .edu suffix. I'd love to know how that happened.

Johann: I believe Paramount California still has the .edu suffix - what's left of PCU anyway.. It's still at www.pcu.edu . If you look that domain up on wayback machine, it was once owned by Pass Christian University, which I remember as an unaccred. not in Mississippi, despite its name. Before that, in the 1990s it was Planting Church University or something like that. Looks like somebody's bought the domain after the previous school(s) went defunct and considers themselves Educause-grandfathered.. or really doesn't care..


BTW - nightmare of VERY similar names. I find references to both California Paramount U and Paramount California U.

J.

 

Halleluiah!

Pass Christian University still lives - or so it would appear. If you go to the Paramount California site - you can get a list of Pass Christian courses - here.
Pass Christian University - Online University - College Courses Online Too bad none of the links are still working. :smile:

BTW - Wiki lists Paramount California as the Axact-related school. Axact - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I note Paramount California claimed/claims an Irvine CA address. I'm beginning to think there is only one school, which has been oft-referred to by two similar names - California Paramount U. and Paramount California U.

J.

 

I thought Paramount California University was a Stephen Barnhart/Yanni Zack thing. And, it appears PCU is no longer accredited by ASIC. I wonder what happened.

 

Yes - from the web, it just doesn't look like a typical Axact school, does it? However, Wiki lists it as one. Can anyone find a trace of a distinct "California Paramount" that will disprove their listing?

Johann

BTW - looks like Paramount Cal. may have purchased more than the domain-name when Pass Christian ceased. Many cv's out there report degrees from "Pass Christian U. which became (or was sold to, etc.) Paramount California U. Just an assumption - no details

 

I can't fathom this. I expect my diploma mill degrees to be on the cheap end. For that kind of dough you can get a real degree with private tutors doing most of the work...

 

Agreed. I think that if I wanted a diploma mill degree I would not want to risk a big operation that is likely to get raided. I'd probably just register a domain name, maybe incorporate a "college" and print up a diploma. Easy and cheap.

And the legal status of my university would be roughly the same as one of these Axact "schools" (though, if I laid out the extra cash for a religious exemption in either Virginia [premium option] or Florida [discount option] my degree would be arguably legal).

 

That's the best way. And if you like, for just a few bucks, I'll print your school a wonderful-looking Accreditation Certificate. But you could save a bit by doing that yourself... :smile:

J.

 

Pakistan's FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) has extracted a list of Axact's Pakistani degree holders. Gonna be making some calls. :smile:
I'm sure the FBI will extract a list of other nationals.

List of Pakistani degree holders extracted from Axact computer | Pakistan | Dunya News

J.

 

Wow! Latest numbers: Authorities have recovered 2.2 million fake degrees from Axact! If Axact were to sell them for a measly $1,000 apiece, that's $2.2 BILLION! Or around 224 billion rupees! (Yes - I checked.)

2.2 million fake degrees recovered from Axact: FIA | ARY NEWS

J

 

To me that means 2 things. The first is that I'll never bother to check out that data base. The second is that there's a pretty good chance that if you were to check you'd actually find one or two familiar names.

 

Indeed. It's been reported that Shoaib Shaikh of Axact has already confessed to selling a bunch of doctorates to people in influential positions - in several countries including the US. No doubt there will be some fallout...

Also, something here on journalist Molouk Ba-Isa's exposure of Axact some five years ago; her article was pulled after sabre-rattling by Axact's lawyers.

Arab News, Molouk Ba-Isa, the Axact scandal and how the Arab media lost a world exclusive in 2009 | Alex of Arabia's Blog

J.

 

The money extracted in this scam from some individuals is amazing. A quote:

"Mary, a businesswoman in Dubai who wanted to be identified only by part of her name, said she spent $210,000 with Paramount California University in the hope of a genuine third-level business qualification

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/world/asia/pakistan-widens-inquiry-into-fake-diplomas.html?_r=0

J.

 

Let me rephrase that! :smile: The article says Shoaib Shaikh admits (not confesses) to providing (not selling) 147 fake doctoral degrees.
In the interest of accuracy, here's the whole article:

Axact CEO admits to providing 147 fake doctorate degrees - thenews.com.pk

J.

 

Just a story about some stupid guy who spent A QUARTER OF A MILLION DIRHAMS* ON FAKE DEGREES!

Man spends Dh250,000 on fake degree | GulfNews.com



*1 Dirham=0.27 USD (today's rate)

 

I am little curios to know about this fake degree. How it's possible to achieve?