Africans:
Be Ware of Fake Universities and Fraud
Credentials. 12/7/2005
By IDEA Staff
The
Institute of Development and Education for
Africa (IDEA) has been diligently researching on
quality education for Africans in the Continent
but in due course, it stumbled on a very serious
crime in scholarship and the academia, the
non-existing universities (mostly European) that
provide forged diplomas and degrees. The fake
universities are online vendors only and don't
have staff (except for one or two cyber
criminals), faculty, campus, buildings,
libraries, gyms and other facilities that all
conventional universities provide. But the most
worrisome and frightening thing is the fact that
these fraudulent universities award professional
degrees such as family counseling,
psychiatry,epidemiology,oncology
that could be detrimental to the unsuspecting
patients who would be treated by hypocritical
and ignoramus professionals that don't
have any degree or expertise in the disciplines
mentioned above.
Our
hero in the battle against fake universities,
and indeed in exposing the unconventional
university diplomas (UDPs) from online vendors,
is George Gollin of the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign. He was at the forefront
against these fake higher institutions of
learning, and the bulk of the information
that we are providing here is based on Mr.
Gollin's witch-hunt and collection of data in
relation to the fake universities.
On
November 2002, Gollin began mapping out the
UDP family tree and when he called to find
out one of the fake universities number
(713-559-1760), a certain Joseph Kent
answered the phone and he told him that the
degree granting institution is Parkwood
University which is a "fully recognized
distance learning center [by the Distance
Learning Council of Europe]" Mr. Kent
further ensured Mr. Gollin that "they will do
legal and ethical," the exact opposite of
what they actually do.
As per
Gollin's findings the UDPs are patterned
after the University of California at Los
Angeles (UCLA) and the full program would cost
$4,400 but he was rest assured that he would
get a significant discount if he only
requests a PhD, and the diploma would arrive
very soon (in approximately 10 days).
These
fake universities, of course, will invent fake
courses, fake grades, fake transcripts, fake
diplomas, and in some instances, fake campuses
and addresses that don't exist except on the
screen of the computer. These universities also
do have website addresses but unlike the real
ones they use 'org' instead of 'edu'
on their URL. But Gollin's findings reveal
that Parkwood, for instance, does not have
faculty or academic officers, no phone numbers,
no mailing address, no departments, and no
research. It has only a single email address. On
the website of Parkwood, however, there is a
photo of a woman typing on a laptop and just
beneath her, an impressive motto: "Build Your
Future." And to make it look more credible,
the message and photo of Parkwood's
president, "Jonathan Tibbs" is also posted
on the website.
And of course, Parkwood would have course
of study or program, but it was directly
copied from the University of Central Florida.
Some
of these fake universities feature attractive
programs such as cardiopulmonary sciences,
operations concentration, and/or design
concentration but they provide false addresses
(in some cases, there could be some agents
working on their behalf on the given address),
like Harrignton University, for example:
483 Greenlane Plamers Green
London N13 4BS, England
Email: harrigntonunivdp.org
Fax 44-870-134-4791
Like
Harrington and Parkwood, other fake universities
that use false addresses to mislead and
misinform innocent learning traffickers
are the following:
1.
Ashford
University
2.
Hartley
University
3.
Kingsfield
University
4.
Westhampton
University
5.
Glencullen
University
6.
Thornewood
University
7.
Ravenhurst
University
8.
Shellbourne
University
9.
University of
Dovenshire
10.
Brentwick
University
11.
University of
Wexford
12.
Landford
University
13.
Northfield
University
In
some cases, the phony universities use slightly
changed phone numbers. For example the fax
number for Harrington, mentioned above, is
0870-134-4791 inside the United Kingdom. In
still other cases, two or more fake universities
can share same phone numbers: + 353 1633 5884 is
used by Glencullen and Shelbourne. Some, like
Devonshire have voice mail: 44-707-644-3745 and
others like Brentwick have a phone number that
is out of service. Can you imagine a university
with a phone out of service? The University of
Wexfold, we are lead to believe, is located in
Zurich, Switzerland and its phone/fax is +
41-1-274-2500.
Most
of these universities literally steal (Gollin
calls it borrowing but that is too mild)
welcome messages and/or introductory
notes from real and accredited universities
and post it on their web. They would not care if
there were watchdogs out there as long as their
business thrives due to their underground
economy that sells diplomas like hot cakes.
Lets
for instance see the following two brochures:
University
of Teesside (real)
Paragraph
one: Since 1993, the University has positioned
itself as the opportunity university.
Paragraph
three: It is both a distinctive feature and
strength of the University that it offers a very
broad range of learning opportunities and
accredited awards.
Paragraph
4: As the main provider of higher education in
the Tees Valley sub region, the University is
actually conscious of its obligations to its
regional communities.
University
of Wexford (phony)
Paragraph
one: Since the inception, the University has
positioned itself as the opportunity
university.
Paragraph
3: It is both a distinctive feature and strength
of the University that it offers a very broad
range of learning opportunities and awards.
Paragraph
4: As a major provider of higher education, the
University is actually conscious of its
obligations to the communities to which it
serves.
Lets
also make another comparison:
Southampton
(real)
Sport
At the
University of Southampton you will be able to
take advantage of one of the best opportunities
you will ever have to participate in sport at
every level.
Glencullen
(phony)
Sport
At the
University of Glencullen you will be able to
take advantage of one of the best opportunities
you will ever have to participate in sport at
any level.
Going
back to the false addresses that these fake
universities provide, it would be interesting to
investigate the exact location of the campus
facilities of the marauding higher
institutions of learning. For instance,
Glencullen University address is 23 Waterloo
St., Dublin, Ireland, but the University is to
be found nowhere in all the local yellow or
white pages, nor in any major publishing
brochures. There is no Glencullen University.
Similarly, University of Devonshire is located
at 27 Old Gloucester St., WCIN 3XX London, but
there is no university at that address.
Likewise, Ashford University is at 5-7 Singer
Street, ECZA 4BQ London, but there is no Ashford
on that address unless some names on the bell
door including Integrated Financial
Arrangements Plc are doing underground
business for the University.
Most
of the UDPs disappeared after the US Federal
Trade Commission burned all the fake site and
diploma mills in early 2003, but the fake
universities managed to either clone themselves
or resurrect under different names. Ashford,
Westbourne, and Westhampton came back and new
fake universities mushroomed: University of
Bedford, American Austin University, Landford
University, Strassford University, Stafford
University, University of Switzerland etc.
Interestingly, two of the fake universities,
namely Northfield and Parkhurst have one and the
same president, "Dr. Harold P. Caldwel."
IDEA
is presenting this information pertaining to the
fake universities so that the mafia gang, posing
as intellectuals and providers of knowledge and
professional skills, does not rob Africans in
the Continent and in the Diaspora in broad
daylight. We like to warn our subscribers not to
apply in such universities and spend between
$4000 and $7000 for phony degrees. African
governments, international NGOs, UN agencies,
and other development and education oriented
organizations should seriously countercheck UDPs
originating from fake universities.
