Publication: The New Paper, p I - 5 Date: 21 February 201 0 Headline: We'll even destroy all evidence IV SMU

Our.undercoverteam exposes sale of fake NUS, NTU and SMU degrees 2 .

Source: The New Paper O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

IY SMU

REPORT: UEW W I W B

A S SlNGAPORE becomes a brand name as a h@-due education hub in the region, degrees fmrn lacal udversities are becoming more cov-

Mamong foreign students. Andllkemastthingsthathaveh@ldemand,the

d e p e s ~ a m a a e d w ~ t e r s o u t t o m a k e a fast buck The New Paper 0nSundayleamtmtly that fake

degea from National University of Singapore (NUS), NanyangTedmologidUxhwdty~andSinIpl- pore Management Unhmity 0 were on sale here,

An hea@tk team went undercover to q w e this appanxtly roaring trade where a fake degree can be bought for arrything kom a few hundred dollars to $4,000.

All it tales is a brief online chat and a quick face-to-beJrd.langembuya&-.

AndwhatTheNewFaperonSundayunoovered has caught the universtiea here by surprk. All said that they weren't aware of colmterfieit local degrees being d d here. (See report on pap 5.)

The mmtdeitem, who are based in shgqme andChina,of&rtodthef&ed~onpopular Intemetforums.

OnederexposedbyTheNewPaperonSunday saidthatthebuyersareusUanybre&nmtio&most- ryfromQlina,whoaretenuningtotheirhwnecwn- tries.

Headvertiseshissemicesonfo~~m~hquentedby f o ~ m i o ~

Others run sophisticated mbska ofierhg an array ofmme&Ungsetvfcessuchasfalredegrees,tran- scripts and idenlihtian documents.

Some, induding two sites based in Shenzhen and ShangM, o&racompreh~l istoffske degrees and diplomas h m Iocai institudons, hchding NUS, NTU, SMU, SrM univetsfty, Mamgemnt Develop- ment Institute of Singapore WTS) andTemasekPoIy- technic

To make their activities more di&dt a, track

Publication: The New Paper, p I - 5 Date: 21 February 201 0 Headline: We'll even destroy all evidence

most vendors restdct cormpondencewith custwners to instant mew& on QQ, an instant mewqa p r o g r a m m ~ u s e d i n ~

After a brlef ontine conversation, pmpcdw cus- tomers need only to anange a mutually convenient rime to meet the vendor to pay a deposit, or send paymentviabanktraasSer.

When the Eake is ready, customtomers meet the vendoragaintopaythebalanceandgetthedegree

Almnatively, they can opt in receive the bke de- @ = b Y ~ t The cost of a fake degm can mnge from $300 to

$4,000. A set of fake nanscripts b r n local univdlies is a h avahble fbr au additbnd $700.

Those who prefer M e s s mmacthns can also buy fake degrees from Iacal varsities fmm Chi- na-basedwbek. A~acustmerhsstodoissendaQQmesssge toa

cummerservfEe oflicerwho will fadlitace the mnsac- tion. The New Paper on Sunday sent a to a

Sha@ai-based vendor d h g fake degrees born an arrayofunive&ies,IndudingthosefromNUS,NlTJ andSMU.

~ h e ~ v e ~ t h a t a d d i t b n a l p r o d u c t s , i a d u d i n g * ~ & ~ d o c u m e n t s and identj.6calicm doatments, wem also available for P-.

hthhsiondocumentsare~lssuedbythe u n m t r y o f s t u d y , a ~ ~ m ~ u a l h=g--e@d=--.

A w m p d w d w ~ i n ~ a ~ t r a n - mipa and authdadon document% is milable on- line foraboutS1300, indudiugshipphg

'2he cummer must pay a 30 per cent deposit and provide the company with infomation incluchg his name,sw,courseofstucty,typeddegceede&edand placeof-

F a h degrees can be mamkmd by onHne ven-

dorsinasllaleastwodays. To kmp tmsactbns wnfidenhial most vendors

p l edge todeskoyd lev idenceo fco~~once atramadionis completed.

A write-up on one such website read: W e promise to erase all chat logs and e-mails once a transaction is over. We are in this business just to earn some money, and are not interested in the persona1 information of MlrNstomers.

"Even if we keep this information, it is rubbish to us. We have no use for it"

The rampant use of fake &gees in job applica- tions has led to Chinese authorities tightening regula- lions on the use offoreign degrees hr job applications, accmdingto Chinesemedia reports.

T o h a v e a f o r e i g n d e g r e e ~ i n ~ p r o - spective applicants must produce both the origmal deg~ee, a photocapy and transcripts, -on chum- and evidence ofhaving been in rim om- tryofstudydudngihecelevantdmepedod

Thq.mustahoprcduceadmumentissuedbythe m a y of study, spedying the stan and end date of the cause and a brlefdedptionofit. Mr JoshuaYm chiefmimufive officerofAchieve

Group, a sM33ng and mmiment company, belleves t h a t t h e & o f l o c a l ~ d e g r e e s i s ~ - even forfareignjob-seekers,

HetoldTheNew Paper onsunday: "Singaporehas embhhed e brand rmame br itself as an eduwion hub, and toeal mhrdties have gained recognition a m o n g l M n y f ~ , e s p e d l y t h o s e f r o m ~ Asia-Padcregioa"

HeaddedthatIocalemplayersalsoprizedegrees d r o m l o c a l ~ t i e s b e c a u s e o f t h e a c a d e m i c ~ oftheirprogrammea. Mr Paul Heng owner of human mum

5xn Next Career Cmsulting, added that Singapore's pod reputation in the gbbal- - degrees born well-regaded,M local universitia f

for jobs in

mina-based websites selling Me NUS, NNand SMU degrees for up io $4ddOp&se lo wverallpper &ills

I 'OY ALL EVItIiNCE

Source: The New Paper O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

Publication: The New Paper, p I - 5 Date: 21 February 201 0 Headline: We'll even destroy all evidence V SMU

fbnw. I n S l n g ; a p o t e , ~ e m ~ c a n c o n ~

t h e ~ * t i e s d & r e a l y m * t h l ? ~ - tiaty of a degweusedbyaddatein ajob app lb - tiOn.ISeeEepottonpage53

It is &gal to buy or men- a comtedeit degmein~,lawyerAdrianWeetr,ldThNew Paparm-.

Hesald,houPever, thatitrqnotbeiuegalincases where the hke d m are manufactut.ed m h e r counw He added: "However, if the d m are bemg im-

parted with the knowledge that they will be used to cheat, then the individuaIs im- them would be a b e a i n g t h b v

H e r e f e m d t o ~ 4 1 7 o f t h e P e n a l C o d e , ~ states that thew convicted of chat@ rn be pun- Medwith up a three years' jail, a 6ne, or both.

Mae offendas caught B v e n s 0 , f o ~ ~ c a u g h t u s i n g ~ d ~ i I l

Shgapreareon the&. In 2008, a China national wwIdng in Singapore as

an engineer was fined $13,000 for using a fake degree, Thestraits T I m e s w

The year before, an Indim national was fined $6,000 and failed two weeh for using a passport bear- ing his c o ~ s nrane, and for buying a hke botany

More than 400 hreignem were a q h t in 2007 for lyingtotheManpwerMMstry (MOM) in heir work pass applications, a four-hld inuease horn the 97 casesin2005. MOM did not give a breaMown, but it was report-

ed that most are beli.eved to have used fake or forged cations to apply fix employment passes and S-passes. rwgm

EmeIGRb

W tm&w N W PAGE

l L M X X k A sample of a fake Hlll PhD supplied by a vendor of.fake degms, (Wow) a sample of a fake NU6 tramrlpt, whrch costs $700.

N A T I O N A L U N I V E R S I T Y of S I N G A P O R E OfftCf A t TRANSCRIPT

1

Source: The New Paper O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

2 SMU

1 (Right) Vendor in striped polo

m shirt meets reporter posing as customer (in blue, seated) at Bugis cafe.

2 (Centre) He asks reporter to fill in a form and show passport.

I

S'pomrn China vendor (abwe) admils

Publication: The New Paper, p I - 5 Date: 21 February 201 0 Headline: We'll even destroy all evidence

I warn sruaenrs mey

'I: . . ;1 ..m

REPORT: UEW HAIIQM and UN W81 U ww=m

just an onlinechat contact post- ed on d forums, a Qltna na- MT" tional maw@ to rake in thou-

~ o f d o ~ ~ ~ d e g r e e s f r o m singapore-

TheNewPaperonSundaymhidawn the fake d e g e peddler, a 24-yearald China national who gdmted &om a local polytech- nic, on a popular Chinese forum based in Singapore.

Posing as aprospxive customer interest- edinafahdepe,areportersentamessage tu him on the QQ instam messenger.

The man replied after a few h m with an instant message, identit$& hEtlaself a~ an empky=ofideaCoasulCantGmupIacompa- nywhichprovida n f a s t ~ a n d m a s - &IS degrees", according to a write-up on its web&.

~ w h i d l d e g r e e s t h e ~ c o u l d provkle, he replied in Chinese: W e can make degreeshmNUS,NTU, SMU a n d S I U w

Each degree, he said, would cost $2,800 and he required a 20 per cent deposit to conkmanorder.

After m & h g the deposit, he said, the company would issue an official receipt WhichbuyezsrnustprorkLcewhenmllectfng theIrcaegree, He said: "You don't need to worry about

quality. You a n trust us. Trust is way impor- tant in this line. "Do ylou want mmripts a6 wdl? It* be

an ex&a $700." Asked where the deges are made, he

said theyare ~IW& in a hctoryin Malaysia

A buyer, he said, can expect dellvery of the degreeabouttw~afiterplacinganor- der.

HeaddedthattheexhangeusueyItak phceinpemonatapublicvenue.

The New Paper on Sunday arranged to meet him on Friday afcemoon at a cafe m Bugis.

Areporter, posing as the pmspedw buy- er,waitedfortheman,whoshoweduppunc- tuanya3pm He asked the reporter in Mandarin: 'Are

y w f r o m a l i I l a o r ~ ? * The reporter replied thathe was h m Chi-

na, after which the man took out a fwn for himtorn

Hethenaskdtherep0rtertoshowhi.m his-

Atthispoint,TheNewPaperonSundey team appro&& the man.

After being questioned, the man pro- d u c e d A ~ o f a T e m a s e k h l y - technic dfploma, some forms, a portable disk drive and a d p t book which conmined copies of reoeipts for between $200 and $2,m.

Hesaidhehasbeenpeddlingfalte- in~ foraboutha l fayear ,madWon ta wrMng as an agent h r a company based in China He a d he used to wdc for a multination-

a1 ampmy, eaming about $2,000 a month, but quit to becornea W-timeapt.

"I @ a commission for every degree I maoagetu sell Howmuch1 get dependson howmuchImnselladegreefor."

Source: The New Paper O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.