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As July approaches, students from Hong Kong universities and colleges welcome their graduation with flowers and applause. But beneath the calm,A thorough investigation into academic fraud is spreading.

The Hong Kong University of Business and Economics School is a top global business school with extremely fierce application competition. In 2023, the school received more than 24,000 applications for its taught master's programs.In the end, only 2,600 students were admitted.

In early May 2024,HKU Business School found that some students used fake academic qualifications to gain admission, followed by a thorough investigation throughout the hospital.

The college cooperates with the Overseas Study Service Center under the Ministry of Education of China.Pay for academic certification for all students applying for admission with overseas undergraduate degrees。

Zhang Wei is a graduate of the Master of Finance program at the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Hong Kong. She also received her undergraduate degree from an Australian university. She was also affected by this thorough investigation.

Zhang Wei (pseudonym) is a student at the School of Business and Economics of the University of Hong Kong:

"The students who were affected mainly studied overseas. The students who studied in mainland China did not receive any emails asking them to submit their undergraduate degree certification."

On July 4, the HKU School of Business and Economics found that more than 30 students were suspected of submitting false academic qualifications for application. It is expected that as the investigation deepens, the incident may eventually involve 80 to 100 students.The investigation also found that the students who used fake academic qualifications to enroll were mainly from overseas universities., and the academic qualifications of students from the Mainland and Hong Kong are all true.

Why are all those who were found to have submitted false documents overseas students?The school mentioned the "black hand" behind the fake academic qualifications during the investigation - claiming thatA “guaranteed admission” agency that 100% guarantees that students will be admitted to their target institutions.

To find out, the reporter found several agencies that claimed to offer "guaranteed admission" online and consulted them in the name of a mainland undergraduate applicant. The agency first asked for the reporter's basic information. When the reporter asked whether there were any physical stores offline, most of the agencies only gave the name of the office building, without the specific house number.Confused, the reporter decided to conduct an undercover investigation.

According to the address given, the reporter came to the first "guaranteed admission" institution - a certain Yishen building.However, when checking the signboard in the lobby of the office building, the reporter did not find the agency, the front desk staff also said that the company was not in the registration system.

The reporter then asked about it on social media, and the other party repeatedly said that it would be more efficient to communicate online first and then talk offline. When we raised questions and insisted on a face-to-face chat, the other party provided a new address, a high-end office building in a popular business district.

Walking into a certain Yishen agency, there are more than a dozen workstations concentrated in the office.But there are only a few staff working in the office.

After a brief introduction of the background data, the reporter said that the target institutions were the top three universities in Hong Kong.However, the agent said, "Don't go to Hong Kong for the time being, the policy has changed", "Low GPA + average undergraduate degree + if you want to go to a top school, you can only take special measures."

When asked how to do this, the staff proactively mentioned the method of replacing undergraduate degrees.

The person in charge of a study abroad agency:

"I can only change your undergraduate education and enroll you in a foreign undergraduate program, such as an Ivy League school in the United States or a G5 school in the United Kingdom. This is the only way.We set the GPA a little higher here, at least 3.8.”

The agent also said, "Overseas undergraduate degrees do not need to be certified by the Ministry of Education, but by a third party. We can arrange for a third-party certification."

The difficulty in verifying overseas academic qualifications provides an opportunity for "guaranteed admission" agents, which is one of the reasons why fake academic qualifications come from overseas universities.

The University of Hong Kong mainly verifies overseas academic qualifications through multiple channels such as certification by the Overseas Study Service, verification with overseas institutions, and third-party certification.But except for the certification by the study abroad service, the other two methods have flaws.Cai Hongbin, dean of the School of Economics and Management, mentioned that different third-party certification agencies cover different scopes, making it difficult to confirm their authenticity.

Liu Zhipeng, Associate Vice-President for Institutional Advancement and External Affairs, Lingnan University, Hong Kong:

"A real school may not reply to you, and even if a fake school replies, it may still be fake."

According to information held by the HKU School of Business and Economics, the fee for a "guaranteed admission" contract is at least 500,000 yuan, which is dozens of times higher than the price of regular intermediary services.If it is eventually discovered that 80 to 100 students have falsified their academic qualifications, one college alone will be charged 40 to 50 million yuan in agency fees.

During the investigation, the reporter found that this gray industrial chain is extremely profitable.The reporter searched for two websites for purchasing overseas academic qualifications. One of them clearly marked the price, and the lowest price for "customizing" an exclusive undergraduate degree was US$390. In addition to the graduation certificate, the package also included sealed transcripts, graduation certificates, acceptance letters, university alumni cards, library borrowing cards and many other documents. Even graduation gowns and bachelor's caps from different schools could be ordered.

Another website sells degree certificates from universities around the world, covering 149 countries.The price is a bit expensive, generally around 1700 to 2500 euros. To place an order, buyers must provide detailed personal information, such as filling in the desired graduation year, course major and learning mode to "complete" the document, and upload the ID card and passport to make a student ID card.

at the same time,Both sites claim that they can provide these services because their staff are "professionally trained", has worked as a university administrator and taught at a university”.

Looking through the application manual for the institution's guaranteed admission program, it says that it has reached cooperation with more than 70 top schools and has an admissions officer advisory team of more than 100 people, including admissions officers from top American universities such as Yale University, Cornell University, Columbia University, and Harvard University.

The reporter then checked the authenticity of the admissions staff on the Internet.No such person found, Mr. Morrison, American Association of Independent Admissions and Education ConsultantsNo such person found。

The profiles of Ms. Linda and Ms. Cordova even appeared on the official website of another "guaranteed admission" institution.The name and photo are completely different from those in the brochure.

At this point, the intermediary company, which had already been discussed, seemed to be distancing itself from the "fake intermediary" in order to reassure the reporter. During the 33-minute conversation, the staff member mentioned several times that it was not recommended to go to Hong Kong. He also claimed that although Hong Kong was already conducting a strict investigation,However, using this method of "changing" academic background can also "guarantee admission" to many top overseas universities.

Why would students and parents take such a big risk and choose “guaranteed admission”?In addition to falsifying academic backgrounds, what other ways does this gray industry use to "guarantee admission"? The reporter got the answer during an undercover visit to the second agency.

Wang Xinqi, a victim of “guaranteed admission”:

"It's like being dealt a bad hand at the beginning of life. No matter how unsatisfactory your starting conditions are, as long as you pass their application, you can play your own wonderful game."

When you search for guaranteed admission on the web, you will see advertisements like "Direct admission to the world's top universities", "No GPA, no language, no preparatory courses", "No admission, no fees", etc. There are endless advertisements.This also successfully attracted Wang Xinqi, a senior student who was about to graduate.

In 2021, under the temptation of "guaranteed admission", Wang Xinqi found a study abroad agency through social media and paid 70,000 yuan, hoping that the agency would help her get an admission letter to a university in Hong Kong.

Wang Xinqi, a victim of “guaranteed admission”:

"I added WeChat and the ads in Moments are very tempting.I was in a hurry, so I believed these advertisements.”

After several twists and turns, Wang Xinqi finally did not get the admission letter from the University of Hong Kong with the help of the "guaranteed admission" agency, which also prevented her from being caught up in the vortex of the fake degree scandal of the University of Hong Kong.

The company Wang Xinqi found was just one of many agencies in the market that claimed to "guarantee admission".However, how does the so-called "guaranteed admission" industry chain in the market operate?The reporter contacted another agency, Youshen. Compared with the first agency's "straight to the point", Youshen seemed more cautious.After many twists and turns, more methods of the intermediary's shady operations were revealed.

Senior consultants mentioned two methods:The first is donation, applicants can increase their chances of being admitted to a university through donations given by their families;The second is internal push。

However, as early as 2023, the University of Hong Kong issued a solemn statement: The University of Hong Kong has never commissioned any intermediary agency to recruit or admit students.There is also no so-called "internal recommendation" mechanism for professors to recommend non-local students for admission.

Despite the school's repeated crackdowns, it has been made clear that there is no "internal referral" in the recruitment of master's students in Hong Kong schools.。However, the "guaranteed admission" study abroad agencies will stillMixing up the form of language score fraud with the so-called "internal recommendation" rumor, becoming the main operating means of the “guaranteed admission” service provided by intermediaries.

The study abroad agency that offers “guaranteed admission” said that they could get the English test answers in advance. For this reason, the reporter contacted the official IELTS and TOEFL agencies for verification, but no reply was received on the day the program was broadcast.Mr. Cai from a language training institution told reporters that there is a possibility of falsifying language scores.

After investigation by reporters,Both agencies claim that a full refund will be given if the case is not accepted. Is this really true?Wang Xinqi, who has experienced the "guaranteed admission" scam, gave us the answer in the program. Some lawyers believe that the guaranteed admission agencies make a verbal promise of a full refund if the students are not admitted to attract students and parents to sign contracts, but generally avoid disputes in the contract.

Han Yuefeng, a mainland criminal lawyer:

"Intermediaries (in the mainland) do not constitute a crime. They will only be subject to administrative penalties. Administrative penalties will not deal with whether the agency fees are returned. They will only impose administrative detention or fines on black intermediaries."

At the same time, Hong Kong universities need to investigate fraudulent activities, while the fraudulent institutions are located in the mainland.There will also be problems with cross-border investigation and law enforcement.

Liu Zhipeng, Associate Vice-President for Institutional Advancement and External Affairs, Lingnan University, Hong Kong:

"The children's academic performance is not very ideal, and parents think that they can solve the problem by paying more service fees to the intermediary. In fact, it is not possible. It is fraudulent and illegal."