Scary: Site selling degrees from Reputable University

Sure, but that would only get you into a bar (maybe). One that would get you into college? 'Way more dangerous environment! :smile:

J.

 

ha ha, agreed! But I think the motive behind buying a fake degree is that it gets you OUT of college lol.

 

Rude of her to say that. Geez.

That's the one thing that makes me question at times why I bother allowing myself to remain interested in all of this. It really feels like being slapped in the face caring the way we do when you can go to LinkedIn and find thousands of fake degree holders, many of whom are in authority positions in practically every sector of society.

 

We always talk about how many Almeda grads we find in LinkedIn.

What we can't really quantify is the number of people on LinkedIn who are simply lying about having degrees from legitimate schools. If your LinkedIn profile says "B.S. University of Michigan" it simply won't raise any flags.

I have a cousin who has faithfully included his education from SUNY New Paltz ever since the mid90s, shortly after he dropped out of college due to poor academic performance. He doesn't list a specific degree (he doesn't have one), there is no graduation date and no mention of a GPA. He's been continuously employed in roles that require a bachelor's degree. I asked him once and he told me he would never lie about his education. If people ask him when he graduated he tells them he left in his junior year. But nobody asks. They see the school in the place on his resume where schools should be listed and they check the box.

My cousin sports some pretty huge balls, however, so I'm not surprised. Speaking of waste of time interviews, he (as he tells it) once went to an interview not terribly unlike the ones Rich and I have described. He knew he wasn't getting it and it was all a big farce. The interviewer made his biggest mistake by not even showing my cousin to the exit. He simply, without standing up to wish him well, asked him to let himself out. This sort of slight irritated my cousin and so, just as he stepped outside of the interviewer'so office, he looked back inside and yelled:

"For the last time, I won't touch your dick! This is highly unprofessional! You can put your pants back on, I'm leaving!" He then slammed the interviewer's door shut and made sure to comment to the shocked faces around him about the pervert who lured him in whilst making a swift exit from the building.

I have no idea if my cousin is telling the truth about this interview. My logical side tells me it is unlikely. But considering my experience with things I know my cousin to have said there is still enough reasonable doubt that prevents me from labeling him a liar. And the part of my brain that strongly identifies with Peter from Office Space really wants it all to be true as well.

 

LOL! I am DYING right now! Your cousin sounds like a wild guy

 

I dream about having that kind of chutzpah - good for him.

 

I've had to supply official transcripts many times, but these were mostly for state and local government jobs. They either wanted them in a sealed envelope or to be directly mailed to them. They only accepted copies when submitting the application. So far, I've only had one employer ask for a copy of my diploma, and it was a non-profit organization whose HR person had neither a degree nor any kind of structured HR training.

 

That's the only place where I've seen that level of scrutiny. And, even then, I have found that it is largely artificial in some ways.

Obviously, different municipalities and states likely handle things somewhat differently. But when my ex, a social worker, applied for her job with a county in Pennsylvania they were very clear that they only wanted RA degrees. Her first foray into government employment was for a position that required an associate's degree in Early Childhood Education. So, she provided her transcripts from Thomson (Penn Foster). Hired. They received the transcripts. They verified she had the degree they wanted but they never checked the accreditation. The transcripts certainly stated that the school was accredited by DETC (at the time). But no one connected the dots likely because no one there actually knew what Regionally Accredited meant.

After she finished her BSW and applied for a job as a caseworker they didn't require transcripts because she was already a government employee.

But, even if they were paying attention, their policy was just as you described; mail them official transcripts directly from the school. And how, exactly, would an organization know that the transcripts were actually sent from the school directly?

We really don't know if the school mailed it or if you mailed it with a convincing envelope from the same post office.

People will always find a way to lie. And, generally speaking, systems are only in place to catch the liars who can be easily skimmed. The people who are 100% committed to the deception are always harder to catch.

As to my cousin, he works in sales and so his nature allows him to take people out to play golf and walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate contracts. Though I think his education, as he lists it, straddles an ethical line I am also pretty sure that the final year of college wouldn't have made him any more competent at his chosen career. That doesn't mean we should all fudge our resumes but maybe it means we should reconsider some of these bachelor's degree requirements in the first place.

 

Not everyone has the same view, but I couldn't live with myself not having finished a degree and then fudging it for the rest of my life.

 

I guess it depends on the level of fudging one was doing. Just the other day I had my shoes repaired and the cobbler had his B.A. from LeMoyne displayed above his workshop. He's a self-employed cobbler. I would have taken my shoes there even if he hadn't graduated. I don't think more or less of him knowing this much about his education.

On the flip side, if that degree is fake, I don't care. It doesn't impact his ability to fix my shoes (most likely). If pretending to graduate from LeMoyne makes him feel better about himself, power to him. He doesn't need the degree to drum up business or because his boss requires it.

I think it depends, for me at least, about what sort of "fudging" was being done and in what context. I think when you throw self-employment into the mix, there are two possible outcomes: one where "fudging" your education is unethical because it deceives your customers and one where "fudging" your education is inconsequential. The therapist with the diploma mill doctorate is the former. It's an issue. Hunter S. Thompson using a "doctorate" from the Universal Life Church? Largely inconsequential (and arguably more eccentric than dishonest).

 

I had to laugh. I just visited a fake-diploma site I won't name. Probably 300 fake diplomas of "real" schools around the world on offer. Plus, the site was offering fake Belford University degrees - fakes of fakes! They published a truthful disclaimer, warning potential customers:

(1) that the school was a fake
(2) that Belford was part of the Axact operation in Pakistan
(3) that using their diploma (or Belford's originals) could backfire.

The ultimate fraud. A bogus edition of a genuine fake! What next?

J.

 

A guy walks into a convenience store and says to the clerk: "Hey, buddy, got change for an $18 dollar bill?"

The clerk smiles and says: "Sure! How do you want that, 2 nines or 3 sixes?"

I don't care how good the fake is, it's still a fake and can be verified as such quickly and for free. The rest of all of this is just eye candy. Fun to look at, but meaningless.

 

*crickets*

 

In many, many cases, sure. Don't like the thought of these "degrees" hanging in offices where medical /dental /psychological treatment or bridge-building / high voltages etc. are available. I like to think these "diplomas" generally have far less utility than the fake IDs that high-school kids use to get into bars. (At least those often work for their intended purpose) It's unfortunate that there are some very dangerous "degree" exceptions. Then, not so much fun.

J.

 

You get in free and you heckle? Consider a name change, because you missed it by THIS much.

 

Fakery involving licensed professions is a much more tangled concept; I agree that it is troublesome. But there are also, typically, many more resources for combating it than is found in the regular workplace.

I'm saying that the problem isn't with the suppliers--including those who buy these things. It's with the consumers--employers. Kill the demand and the supply--except for the vanity liars--goes away.

 

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Whoa.

 

I've often wondered how solid the processes are to ensure that you can't get licensed with fake credentials.

I think licensing exams, to a point, serve as a final gate there. Even if you managed to get a state to accept your fake law school transcripts it's unlikely you'd pass the bar unless you're an anomaly.

And I think cases like Michael Swango embarrassed the states into closing some of their loopholes.

 

No, no. No big deal. I'm sure, with your screen name, you know the line I'm referencing, a trope often used by the main character.