- An Inside Edition investigation has found that tens of
thousands of people across the world are paying thousands of dollars each
for real looking university degrees, transcripts and letters of recommendation
that they haven't earned.
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- Inside Edition reported on public officials, nurses,
police officers, military personnel ñ even an ethics lecturer at
the University of California at Irvine -- using degrees they didn't earn
from prestigious sounding "universities" that don't exist.
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- Allen Ezell a former FBI agent and leading authority
on phony diplomas, tells Inside Edition: "You pick a name that has
the right ring to it and the right sound, couple that with a section of
London, add a little British accent to it and it works."
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- Ezell says the Internet has turned diploma mills into
a billion dollar business. "As long as we place a value in a piece
of paper, someone is going to sell the paper."
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- Inside Edition Senior Investigative Correspondent, Matt
Meagher, responded to an email and called a phone number for the "University
of Devon," near London. In the report, Meagher described the man who
answered the phone as sounding just like a used car salesman. He told Meagher
if he paid for a Masters Degree and a post-dated Ph.D., he could get the
Ph.D. at half price.
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- Meagher paid $1,400 for an MBA and a PhD in computer
science and even got to pick his grades and honors. Twenty days later,
the diplomas arrived via Federal Express, and the package even included
letters of recommendation from a "Dr. George A Billings" on the
"university's" letterhead.
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- On its Web site, the "University of Devon"
looks impressive, but when Inside Edition traveled to its stated address
outside of London, England, a small department store was located there.
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- Although the documents came with a return address of
Devon, England, computer tracking through FedEx showed they had actually
been shipped from Jerusalem.
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- Inside Edition tracked the location to a modest five-story
office building, and an office bearing the name of the firm that accepted
the internet payment. When an American came out of the office, he was shocked
to find Inside Edition's cameras.
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- He refused to answer any questions, but told Meagher
that a representative of the company would later contact Inside Edition.
Later, the company representative did call saying it provides a service
for the average hardworking American who doesn't have the time or money
to get an advanced degree.
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- But, the former FBI agent, Ezell, says besides cheating
the system, these degrees do a disservice to anyone who has worked hard
to earn one the honest way.
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- "If I had a doctorate that I had busted myself to
earn, (wrote a) dissertation, went before the committee, did it all, I
would be incensed that somebody was out selling doctorate degrees."
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- The report notes that even some people in the highest
levels of government have also taken shortcuts to a degree.
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- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Jack
Corrie to a top position at the Department of Motor Vehicles, but last
month, after it was learned that his bachelors and masters degrees were
phony, he resigned, citing medical reasons.
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- And, in Washington D.C. in March, Laura Callahan, a deputy
director of the Department of Homeland Security, resigned after it was
discovered that she had a bachelors degree, a masters degree, and a Ph.D.
that were bogus.
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- Inside Edition also found that Dr. John Stupar, a full
time lecturer at the prestigious University of California at Irvine, specializing
in ethics, shouldn't be called "doctor" at all. His Ph.D. is
from the "University of Devonshire," supposedly near London.
Inside Edition found there is no such school -- it's just a diploma mill
that pumps out bogus degrees.
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- Stupar wouldn't talk to Inside Edition on camera, but
said he believed he earned a legitimate Ph.D. through an internet correspondence
school and he stressed that he does have three other degrees from reputable
schools. Officials at UC Irvine told Inside Edition Stupar is a good teacher
who was hired based on his skills and not on his Ph.D.
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- Copyright © 2004 King World Productions, Inc. http://www.insideedition.com/investigative/DiplomaMills.htm
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