A fake degree can damage your reputation, cost you money and stall your career. In some cases, it can even be a criminal offense.
Fortunately, there are services that can help employers verify candidates’ degrees and academic credentials. This makes it possible to identify fraudulent documents and prevent them from being used in the hiring process.
Dark Web
The dark web contains illicit information and services that cannot be accessed from other parts of the internet. It has a sinister reputation because it features hacker forums, illegal pornography and terrorists planning their operations. The dark web also hosts a wide range of marketplaces where users can buy and sell everything from stolen subscription credentials to malware and ransomware to illegal drugs.
While some of the content on the dark web is illegal, there are some legal uses for it as well. For instance, the dark web allows users to communicate freely in environments and geographical areas where freedom of speech isn’t guaranteed. It also supports the privacy needs of users for certain legal activities such as exchanging proprietary business information.
However, cybercriminals are taking advantage of the dark web’s airtight confidentiality to carry out their nefarious schemes. They include the sale of off-the-shelf malicious software exploits to hackers, allowing them to steal sensitive data from targets and commit a wide variety of cyber crimes. Other offerings on the dark web include phishing scams that trick unsuspecting people into parting with their money and personal data or cyber attacks that target financial institutions and banks. These can result in significant financial loss and serious harm to customers. Additionally, a user who goes on the dark web can infect their devices with ransomware or other malware, including keyloggers that record every keystroke made on a device.
Diploma Mills
Diploma mills are a dangerous, growing part of the education marketplace. They target individuals seeking unfair shortcuts to career advancement and higher earnings. In the United States, diploma mills often take advantage of a lack of centralized national oversight and the largely voluntary nature of accreditation. Often, these bogus institutions operate out of the country and sell their degrees for an attractive price to unsuspecting job-seekers who can’t afford real university tuition.
Education verification background checks are one of the best ways to identify a diploma mill. These checks can help weed out fraudulent credentials by comparing the degree to the academic transcripts of legitimate universities. They can also be used to confirm a college or university’s accreditation.
In addition, it’s always worth checking with the registrar of the school where an individual attended to see if they will verify their degree. It’s also a good idea to cross reference the school with lists of known diploma mills.
It’s important to be aware of these dangers and understand that the education market has its own share of pitfalls. Legitimate degrees require substantial coursework and a certain level of academic rigor. Educators and employers alike need to be vigilant in order to recognize these fake credentials, which can damage an employer’s or student’s reputation. With a bit of knowledge and care, these bogus credentials can be avoided.
Academic Credential Fraud
Academic credential fraud is a global problem that impacts institutions, students, and employers. It can damage trust in education systems and organizations, harm careers, lead to embarrassment, and result in legal liability, especially when the person using fraudulent credentials is employed in a position of responsibility, such as a nurse or healthcare worker.
The problem is complex, and it often involves bribery, forgery, and other forms of corruption. It also may include contract cheating (including tampering with transcripts and writing services), examinations fraud (such as leaked exam questions), admissions fraud (including bogus reference letters, forged documents, and tampered diplomas), and scholarly paper mills, which violate academic publication ethics by selling fake data and authorship.
Detecting fraud is difficult and time-consuming. Traditional verification processes use holograms and secure ink, but are expensive and prone to human error. New technology enables issuing organizations like universities and training programs to create fraud-proof certificates that verifiers can check instantly. Preventing certificate fraud keeps staff and the public safe, improves an organization’s reputation, saves money, and reduces liabilities. Some reputable educational and training organizations are already leveraging blockchain-based technology to provide graduates with fraud-proof certificates that they can present to potential employers. The University of Johannesburg, for example, is now offering its graduates cryptographically-secure digital credentials in addition to the physical diplomas that they receive upon graduation.
Fake Degrees
Fake degrees are a problem that needs to be addressed, and it’s not just students who suffer. Employers can get duped, too. A fake degree can destroy a company’s value, integrity, and brand, as well as derail careers. Some of these false credentials are even backed by dubious accreditation “agencies.” In addition to verification, other methods can be used to identify fake degrees. Reference checks are one of these methods, as they gather insights from professional and personal references that can reveal inconsistencies. In addition, employment verification can help confirm the candidate’s previous job responsibilities and skills that can cross-reference with their educational background and navigate here https://baoxinviec.com/.
Another way to spot a fake degree is to look at its design. Real certificates are usually printed on special paper, and the authenticity is further verified by physical authentication features such as guilloche pattern, security hologram, anti-scanning ink, and void feature. Inspecting these details can help you make a quick decision whether to hire the person or not.
While it is easy to spoof a university logo, it is not so easy for fraudsters to spoof the name of the institution or the course. To avoid getting duped, employers should enquire with the Registrar of the university to verify its legitimacy. This will prevent them from hiring fraudulent graduates. Also, the Registrar can also verify the dates of the program attended by the student.