Emily Charrison
A Chinese forgery business is selling fake degrees and diplomas for nearly 100 of Australia’s top teaching institutions.
The business – with a name that translates to “Overseas Students Assistant HD” – is advertising “all major universities qualification certificate” on Chinese social media sites popular with international students, a news.com.au investigation reveals.
Qualifications from 42 universities and 53 TAFEs Australia-wide are being sold for thousands of dollars by the business, according to the report.
A Bachelor of Commerce from Macquarie University, a Bachelor of Business from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Wollongong are among the forged degrees posted on its page.
The degrees, which the business claims are sourced from the same parchment providers used by the universities, range from $3500 for “copy” quality to $5700 for an “original”.
For $6500, it claims to be able to input the fraudulent student details into university databases, as well as the official qualification register system run by the Chinese Government’s Education Department.
Overseas Students Assistant HD also claims to have forged diploma certificates to get students admitted into Australian universities, with its profile page listing its professional services as: “Overseas education consulting, certified qualification certificate, medical certificate, solicitor’s certificate, employment, migration services.”
Other posts claim to show forged qualifications from a number of American universities, including the University of California and Seattle University.
It is unclear how long the business has been operating, but Australia’s universities are now urging police to investigate.
Source: thenewdaily
