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The Bureau of the Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Education is discussing the creation of a European observatory for ethical integrity and transparency in Higher Education, a landmark initiative against educational fraud. The observatory aims to tackle the growing problem of fake diplomas with objectives such as data collection, promotion of ethical practices, prevention of corruption and international cooperation. Despite bureaucratic, financial and legal challenges, this initiative offers considerable potential benefits for the quality and reputation of higher education in Europe.

A forger spotted in 2019 by the Ministry of Higher Education has been charged with forgery, counterfeiting and sale of official documents, fraud and money laundering. Since 2015, he had been selling fake diplomas by the thousands at €200 each. With the complicity of a taxi-ambulance driver who photographed patients' documents, he bought pre-paid cards under these false identities, which were then paid for by electronic transfers by the purchasers of the false diplomas via their own pre-paid cards.

A 23-year-old man, residing a stone's throw from Lyon, was arrested on Tuesday morning, 3 October, for trying to fool the higher education scholarship system. During the 2016-2017 school year, the young man had received government money based on the establishment he claimed to be attending the conditions he had declared. The problem was that the student had falsified his university registration document, and Crous, which manages student grants, came to realize it.

For a small fee, platforms provide university qualifications, from bachelor's to doctorate degrees. "We have seen this trend return over the past three years, even though sites from the early 2000s which sold fake diplomas had been gradually disappearing," acknowledges the founder of VerifDiploma, which verifies the authenticity of job candidates’ diplomas on behalf of Human resources services. Each year, his company checks 50,000 applications. Of these, 8% contain false diplomas.

One of the biggest Chinese illegal immigrant networks ever discovered in France was centred on a private business school based in the XVth arrondissement. This network made it possible to channel between 500 and 1000 Chinese immigrants into France annually, mostly young men between the ages of 20 and 25. Once in France, fake certificates attesting to their student status, report cards and diplomas allowed them to establish themselves permanently, without ever having to set foot in a classroom.

At the end of November, for the first time, 500 of INSA Toulouse most recent graduates received a secure card which attested to the authenticity of their engineering degree at their graduation ceremony. The aim of the operation is to fight against cheating and forgery. The cards given to the students are protected against forgery by a nanoparticle marker which is invisible to the naked eye.

Another case of “fake diplomas” was discovered at the University of Lyon. The commercialization of fake diplomas is exploding, whether in Chinese or Anglo-Saxon universities or on the Web where anything can be bought. After Toulon in 2009, where Chinese students of the University Institute of Business Administration had purchased their diplomas, in Lyon this year the University is suspected of having granted degrees in communication to dozens of West Indians students who had never set foot in the city.

A few years ago, not many companies recognized the problem of false diplomas. According to a study published in February 2013, 75% of CVs are fake, 90% of the candidates justify doctoring a CV due to the fact that "competition is tougher" and that "one has to sell well." The study has also revealed that 33% of candidates often or always have false diplomas.

The alleged peddling of diplomas to Chinese students has puzzled the universities implicated, which are now concerned over the effect of aspersions on the international renown of French tertiary training. Two inquiries – one judicial and one administrative – were opened up following complaints alleging that deals were done in which Chinese students were awarded diplomas in exchange for large amounts of money.