Because of the flexibility of online education, many individuals are choosing this method of education. It allows them to carry on with their lives while achieving their educational goals. Unfortunately, this popularity has attracted unscrupulous individuals to start taking advantage of unsuspecting students who are just interested in advancing their education.

Online Degree Fraud Stories

There are many horror stories where students have been fleeced of their money from illegal online colleges. Students must ensure that they pursue their degree at reputable and accredited online colleges. Online students can easily find out about their online school’s accreditation by logging on to the Department of Education’s website.

On the other hand, it is not only the establishment of fraudulent online colleges that occupy the realms of online degree fraud. Many students also pay for fake degrees, use false identities to get student loans or source funding for non-existent researches.

Types of Online Degree Frauds

1. Life experience Degrees: One of the most common types of online fraudulent colleges are those who offer degrees based on life experiences. These online colleges should be avoided like the plague. They prey on those with years of experience but no formal qualification. Forget about the legitimate look of their websites, these are just smoke screens to lure you into giving them you money.

2. Ronald Pellar: A trained hypnotist and career fraudster created an online university known as the Columbia State University that he operated from an apartment in San Clemente, California. From there he offered life experience degrees in several subject areas by targeting students who had previously failed to complete college. At the height of his fraud plan, he was making an easy $10 million per year. When caught he was sentenced to 16 months in prison and had to forfeit his $1.5 million yacht.

3. Dixie E. and Steven K. Randock, Sr.: Over a six-year period, these two individuals operated a diploma mill that produced over $6 million fraudulent diplomas to students in over 130 countries. They used colleges with various falls identities to lure students. For their efforts, they both received three years in prison in 2008.

4. Gregory Caplinger: Calpinger was the holder of a legitimate degree in biology from Indiana University in 1974 and went on to acquire falls medical degrees from the Metropolitan Institute of Great Britain and the Sussex College of Technology. He then used these credentials to establish a clinic in the Dominican Republic where he made claims of creating a wonder anti-cancer drug called “Immustim”. With this he was able to swindle over 100 patients to pay $90,000 each for treatment.

5. Ann Armstrong: This 67 year old grandmother was the mastermind behind one of the largest events in student loan fraud. She, with her siblings, siphoned over $1 million in grants and students loans from a large number of online universities. When caught, she was sentenced to 57 months in prison.

6. Thomas James Kirk: He established the “World Christian Church” that was later found to be a diploma mill that produced hundreds of diplomas for online students. At the time of his arrest, his wealth was suspected to exceed $45 million.

Do you know of other online frauds making rounds? Feel free to share your experience and other such hoax with your fellow blog readers.