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Trinity Southern University Scam
Group infects senate, spams diploma mill

Four Pennsylvania men apparently managed to infect PC's with trojans at 60 Pennsylvania businesses and the Pennsylvania State Senate. The group then used those IP addresses in order to send spam for a bogus on-line University they'd created; a University of such class, one recent investigator was able to get his cat an MBA.

For an additional $99, the state claims the investigator received the cat's transcript, which showed it received a 3.5 GPA, receiving A's and B's for most of the classes "attended". Users pay $599 for Doctorates, and $499 for such "executive MBA" degrees.

"No classes to attend and no classes to take!" lauds the University's website, which buckled under traffic at around 1pm as this was being written. The site also proclaims their degrees are accredited and "100% verifiable", and that applicants can take life experience - such as dog walking, public urination, or whatever else - and apply it to receive a degree.

"It is clear to us that this degree service is not designed for entertainment purposes but to deceive consumers and/or prospective employers into believing that TSU graduates have legitimately earned a Bachelor's, Master's or Ph.D. degree in a particular field of study," miraculously concludes Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Pappert.

"These diplomas have no value in the job market except to harm genuinely accredited colleges and universities and their online academic programs." Pappert filed civil suit in Pennsylvania court yesterday, accusing the defendants of violating Pennsylvania's Unsolicited Telecommunication Advertisement Act and Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.

The high volume of resumes that come up from a simple Google search is somewhat frightening.
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exocet_cm
Writing
Premium Member
join:2003-03-23
Brooklyn, NY

exocet_cm

Premium Member

Why?

Why are people so friggin stupid?
OneHeart
join:2002-02-20

OneHeart

Member

Re: Why?

I suppose not many people looked at the URL itself.

»www.trinitysouthernunive ··· ity.org/

It should have been a dead give-away.

exocet_cm
Writing
Premium Member
join:2003-03-23
Brooklyn, NY

exocet_cm

Premium Member

Re: Why?

Shouldn't that be .edu?

aodh
@grics.net

aodh

Anon

Re: Why?

.edu is only available to accredited, degree-granting institutions, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
KillingTime2
join:2001-01-03
Orlando, FL

KillingTime2 to OneHeart

Member

to OneHeart
I noticed somewhere on the site a mention of their highly trained staff in Costa Rico. Must be running gambling outfit too

TheCapn
join:2002-01-15
Brownsburg, IN

1 recommendation

TheCapn

Member

College Credit

I'll take Public Urination $500 and 3 credit hours Alex...

exocet_cm
Writing
Premium Member
join:2003-03-23
Brooklyn, NY

exocet_cm

Premium Member

Re: College Credit

Here's one:

»www.geocities.com/Athens ··· nal.html

He's a minister, truck driver, knows Theology, "Achieved a reading rate of 16,000 WPM as documented in the Air Force Times", Currently pursuing the Following Computer Certifications in:
Networking, CISCO and Novel systems

thebaron
Premium Member
join:2003-12-09
Zegema Beach

thebaron

Premium Member

Re: College Credit

said by exocet_cm:

Here's one:

»www.geocities.com/Athens ··· nal.html

He's a minister, truck driver, knows Theology, "Achieved a reading rate of 16,000 WPM as documented in the Air Force Times", Currently pursuing the Following Computer Certifications in:
Networking, CISCO and Novel systems
triple doctorate

click_310
Eat my shorts
join:2002-12-06
Savannah, GA

1 edit

click_310

Member

life expriences?


It also claims applicants can take life experience - such as dog walking, public urination, or whatever else

hmmm does drinking Beer count?

batageek
Slave To The Duopoly
Premium Member
join:2003-01-25

batageek

Premium Member

Degreed?

Did the PA Gov. get his degree from Trinity Southern University?

With last week's legislatative sale to Verizon ( »Rendell Signs PA Law ), it seems he might have......

GreatPumpkin
join:2003-01-24
Knoxville, TN

GreatPumpkin

Member

The last quote

"The high volume of resumes that come up from a simple Google search is somewhat frightening."

Unbelievable...
bmn
? ? ?

join:2001-03-15
hiatus

bmn

Re: The last quote

said by GreatPumpkin:

"The high volume of resumes that come up from a simple Google search is somewhat frightening."

Unbelievable...
Actually, not really... Either it was weirdly timed or just concidence, but the major cable news networks all ran stories about phony degrees being used by job applicants not long ago. They've even caught CEOs using fake degrees as qualifications (if I knew the guys name still, I'd have a link). I was only able to find this link from a major news network, but there are more stories from smaller news agencies.

»www.cnn.com/TECH/computi ··· ume.idg/

That kind of stuff just makes it harder for people who are attempting to get jobs with real educations.

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

1 edit

Doctor Olds

Premium Member

Here is a Lab Chief that should be fired!!

Lab chief apologizes over online doctorate
»www.boston.com/news/loca ··· ctorate/

Now it's bad enough a Doctor can kill you by making mistakes, but to be in charge of a Lab with a false degree should be an arrestable offense. Son Of a *itches.

oldduke
join:2001-06-15
Gulf Breeze, FL

oldduke

Member

Garbage degres, plus size

Some of these moron's don't take a PhD to spot. When you list a PC repair course right after your PhD, something's fishy. The below wannabe passes himself off as a moral beacon!

Doctor of Philosphy in History (Ph.D.) Trinity Southern University 2003
PC Repair Course Harcourt Learning - 2002
Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) Andersonville Theology Seminary 2002
Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) Andersonville Theology Seminary 2001
Master of Ministry (M.Min.) Andersonville Theology Seminary 2000
Bachelor of Ministry (B.Min.) Andersonville Theology Seminary 1999
Driveco Truck Driver Training, Gary, Indiana - 1999
Evelyn Woods Speed Reading Course, Anderson AFB Guam - 1978
Achieved a reading rate of 16,000 WPM as documented in the Air Force Times.
Associate of Arts (AA) Community College of the Air Force - 1978
Associate of Arts (AA) Ohio Valley Collge, Parkersburg, West Virginia - 1972
Diploma, Warren High School, Vincent, Ohio - 1970
67845017 (banned)
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL

67845017 (banned)

Member

Re: Garbage degres, plus size

said by oldduke:

Some of these moron's don't take a PhD to spot. When you list a PC repair course right after your PhD, something's fishy. The below wannabe passes himself off as a moral beacon!
Unless you majored in Medieval History. Then, if you want to eat, you may want to do a PC repair course.
ossito16
join:2004-07-31
Whiting, IN

ossito16

Member

not a bad idea

I am going to school right now and some of my classes I would rather just pay to get credit. So many college classes are a waste of time anyways. Most electives are a joke. Plenty of people out there with earned degrees and are dumb as rocks.
dweeb
join:2002-06-23
Pleasant Ridge, MI

dweeb

Member

Here are some online people I've found

»www.justrob.com/education.html

This guy is the director of urology research. He has all these legit degrees then he goes and ruins with a Trinity business degree

»www.dahiyaurology.com/

"Dr. Darryl"
»www.dogtraininginc.com/a ··· utme.htm

"Dr Ben"
»www.campschechter.org/me ··· aff.html
cevans59
Premium Member
join:2003-08-14
Smithton, IL

cevans59

Premium Member

Site Down

Well the site is down now. bummer. Now I'll have to come up with a different Christmas present for my dog. Was going to get him a Master's is Animal Psychology. Hey he's qualified
krobar
Is this thing on?
join:2002-09-15
Columbus, OH

krobar

Member

uhm...1956? 1960's?

Did you guys look through more than the first page on the google search? There were people claiming to have degrees from the college in the 50's and 60's. I wonder if at one time there really WAS a Trinity Southern University?
cevans59
Premium Member
join:2003-08-14
Smithton, IL

cevans59

Premium Member

Re: uhm...1956? 1960's?

There may of very well been. There are several real colleges with the name Trinity in them. It's pretty common for these scam schools to take a name similar to a real school in the hope people will confuse the two.

pog4
Premium Member
join:2004-06-03
Kihei, HI

pog4 to krobar

Premium Member

to krobar
I was beginning to wonder the same thing... however, the most probable explanation is that... for a surcharge I'm sure ...you can have your degrees printed up with whatever date you like.

I must say how utterly disgusted I am with all these resumes and corporate bios out there with "Trinity Southern University" in them.

Has anyone come across a site with a more-or-less current list of these fake degree sites?

HappyBunny9
Hi. Cram It.
Premium Member
join:2001-06-23
Long Beach, CA

HappyBunny9

Premium Member

Re: uhm...1956? 1960's?

I love that the cat was actually *overqualified* for the Bachelors in Business, and instead was given an MBA!
JPCass
join:2001-01-23
Denver, CO

JPCass to krobar

Member

to krobar
said by krobar:

I wonder if at one time there really WAS a Trinity Southern University?
That WOULD be a good angle to a scam, use the name of a defunct educational institution. One detail I recall is that when colleges and universities close completely, their records are supposed to be taken over by another institution or a state agency, so that it should be possible to verify eductional credentials, and rule out bogus ones. However, there may be instances - and maybe poorly run states like Texas - where that doesn't happen.

Defunct colleges and universities usually have an alumni website somewhere. I couldn't easily find one under the exact name, but there are so many close names it is possible that one could be buried deeper in the search listings.

SOLdesign
Did I drink a shot of Irrational Whore?
Premium Member
join:2002-07-29
Woodland Hills, CA

SOLdesign

Premium Member

Re: uhm...1956? 1960's?

said by JPCass:
said by krobar:


I wonder if at one time there really WAS a Trinity Southern University?
However, there may be instances - and maybe poorly run states like Texas - where that doesn't happen.

whatever... if you don't like Texas, fine, but dont say something bogus like that....
JPCass
join:2001-01-23
Denver, CO

JPCass

Member

Re: uhm...1956? 1960's?

said by SOLdesign:

whatever... if you don't like Texas, fine, but dont say something bogus like that....
OK, let's just say, um, that Texas is known for a minimum of administrative and regulatory overhead, however you want to categorize it. Having had a bit of experience with this, I can tell you that Texas has more that it's share of diploma mills for some reason, and the Texas educational authorities are much less organized and helpful than in many other states in locating records for legimitate defunct institutions.
KillingTime2
join:2001-01-03
Orlando, FL

KillingTime2 to krobar

Member

to krobar
I know there is a Trinity College in San Antonio. With the way some smaller schools change names, it could be that one they are referring

»www.trinity.edu
JPCass
join:2001-01-23
Denver, CO

JPCass

Member

Re: uhm...1956? 1960's?

said by KillingTime2:

I know there is a Trinity College in San Antonio. With the way some smaller schools change names, it could be that one they are referring

»www.trinity.edu
No, the name picked by the scam artists is meant to confuse by association with the several real institutions with Trinity in the name, including the one in Texas.

koitsu
MVM
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA
Humax BGW320-500

koitsu

MVM

.edu TLD -- similar concept

I hope people realise that this isn't specific to just certain TLDs. Anyone who has had long-term exposure to IRC knows how often people purchase vanity domains with an .edu TLD.

Take ERIQ.EDU for example. Complete vanity, and gives the impression of an educational facility that doesn't exist. Historically getting an .edu TLD has required *extensive* paperwork, providing that the university does in fact exist.

Yes, I'm aware that the false university uses/used an .org TLD -- my point is that if it's easy for little IRC kiddies to get an .edu TLD, just wait until the scammers recruit them to create even more realistic-looking online scamhuts.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

1 edit

Transmaster

Member

You Mean....

Click for full size
Cowboy; DBH Docter of Bed Hogging

You mean the Degree I got for Cowboy is a fake!!!:(
drrose1977
join:2005-04-01
Utica, MI

drrose1977

Member

Trinity Southern Univ

Hey, I don't know why you people are bitching about this? Stop playa hatin! You can't knock the hustle and your pissed that I got an AWESOME job with just a few clicks of the mouse. Basically, I out smarted all of you poor bastards! Live and learn folks!