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Thanks to the internet it is now easier than ever to buy a fake degree certificate. There are many sites selling these for the “novelty value” and a few more which market them as being more serious fakes.
Clearly using a fake degree certificate carries a high level of risk for the person using one, particularly at a job interview. It is very easy to check someones attendance time at University. For example, a recent winner of the reality show “The Apprentice” was found to have lied about his time at University on his CV, and the ineffectiveness of fake degree certificates is widely written about.
Of course none of this botheres the vendors and purveyors of fake certificates as all the are after is a fast buck, as are their potential customers, however, the effects are a little more far reaching as increasingly the value of academic qualifications in general is being brought into question.There is a seemingly endless debate over standards and dumbing down within Universities. Only today I read that many Universities are encountering problems with foreign students who think all they need to do is pay their fees, and they will be awarded a degree.
Then there are the degree and diploma mills pumping out fake qualifications, and a myriad of services offering copywriting services (plagiarism). So far Universities have proved completely un-prepared for this aspect of the “Internet Revolution”.
Systems for detecting plagiarism are not integreated properly between Universites. Hollograms are not used on certificates, which is absolute madness given a pair of jeans may have one, and clearly, a degree certificate is worth a lot more than a pair of jeans!
Finally the fact that so many people take degrees is lowering their value in the eyes of employers, who increasingly look for second degrees.
Fake certificates are really only a small part of a wider problem, which is that Universities are several years behind of where they need to be to deal with these socialogical and technological changes.
