'Staggering' trade in fake degrees revealed

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by nyvrem, Jan 16, 2018.

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  1. nyvrem

    nyvrem Active Member

    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42579634
     
  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    VERY late to the party, BBC. Going on three years. New York Times broke this story in 2015. We have a 10-page thread on Axact, here: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/axact-universities.46645/
    Anyone who would spend £500,000 on a bogus degree obviously needs one. Can't earn - or can't be bothered earning - a real one, it seems. How on earth does someone like that get £500,000 in the first place? No hope there -- none at all.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2018
  3. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    "Buyers include NHS consultants, nurses and a large defence contractor."

    "Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said all NHS trusts operated rigorous primary checks."
     
  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    "Rigorous primary check - HAH! If it didn't involve health care, I'd still be laughing. Obviously a 'rigorous primary check' didn't include requiring a UK-NARIC evaluation - ALWAYS necessary in UK for any non-UK degree. I think that, by itself, would have stopped pretty well ALL the frauds in their tracks.

    Those frauds were going on for years before the New York Times story broke. The "degrees" and the names of many "schools" were widely known. We just didn't have a corporate (Axact) and personal name (Shaikh) to attach to the ringleader. The heat was already on in Pakistan, back around 2011-12, when "Belford University" (an Axact operation) was successfully sued by American lawyers for $22 million, in a class action suit. At that time, Axact's name was not mentioned. An Axact cafeteria employee named Salem Kureshi (or Qureshi) was convinced by his employers to pose as the head of the Belford operation, for questioning in court. I don't think Axact's role, or the name of Shoaib Shaikh were general knowledge until NYT broke the story in 2015.

    Incompetence, I'd say, on the part of UK officials. Check was about as rigorous as the fake degrees, I guess. Beyond awful. Abysmal.

    J.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2018
  5. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    How many employers do any serious checking has been a topic here and I think the answer is, 'too few.' You've probably been in those discussions.
     
  6. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Right - but this is health care. To me, that's a whole different game. Don't like the prospect of being operated on - or even examined, by a Belford alumnus / alumna! Besides, those who claim "rigorous checks" should do them. Those who don't - shouldn't claim. And there are other key areas too. Would YOU knowingly / willingly drive over a bridge designed /or construction-supervised by an Axact-qualified engineer? Me neither.

    People who use fake degrees to get jobs should be fired. No exceptions. People who are in charge of hiring for sensitive jobs - and don't perform at least a reasonable basic check on credentials - fire them too. And bar them from those sensitive professions -including, of course, hiring functions for those professions. Let them hire people for the fast-food industry. I never EVER eat that stuff, so I'd be safe, no matter who they hire. Don't care if they hire H.H. Holmes or Donald Harvey. https://www.ranker.com/list/serial-killers-who-used-poison/ranker-crime
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2018
  7. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    Yeah, Swango is hard to believe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Swango

    A more just fate for Swango might have been in Zimbabwe.
     

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