DUBAI Last year XPRESS exposed the fake degree racket in a two-part investigative series which prompted the public prosecutor in Abu Dhabi to issue a warning saying anyone found using fake degrees in the UAE could be jailed for 10 years.
Earlier, this journalist posed as a candidate and registered with several online degree mills offering “affordable, accredited and instant” US/UK college degrees for little as Dh1,800.
All of them followed the same predatory trajectory.
Within seconds of registering, a live chat window popped up on the computer screen and the undercover journalist was connected to “counsellors” or “professors”.
They took our contact number and called us instantaneously, pestering us to pay the $199 enrolment fee. Many colleges even mailed us degree samples along with payment links.
Read: XPRESS story that broke the Online fake degrees scam
The sales pitch was always high pressured. Midtown University’s professor Peter Hill called this journalist 27 times and Edgebrook’s James Marshall, 24.
The calls came from a US number. But when XPRESS blew the lid off their racket, the smooth-talking professors called via Skype twice. Using abusive language, they repeatedly threatened to “fix” the reporter if the story was not removed from the XPRESS website.
