| Fake certificates from private schools sold online By Hu Jielan, Joanne Chan | Posted: 24 February 2012 2121 hrs SINGAPORE: Fake certificates from well known private schools in Singapore are being sold online with some going for as much as S$10,000. Sellers also claim to be able to provide supporting documents such as transcripts with good grades. One Chinese internet forum claims to help students who fear they might not graduate and the advertisements posted on the forum said they can provide certificates of good grades from several well-known local private schools. A MediaCorp reporter met up with one of the sellers, who produced several certificates from Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) and its university partners on the spot. The seller said he is able to provide certificates for any course, and added that the most popular are for business management or tourism. He said some students have found jobs using these certificates. Human resource firms said a fake certificate is not that difficult to detect as long as the hirer is diligent in his checks. People Search's marketing manager Eunice Chia-Lim, said: "Usually, we will verify that the resume or CV is accurate in saying which degree the candidate did obtain. We will verify it by sighting or looking at the original degree. We really cannot guarantee that the degree is real, but if the employer has any doubts, what we will do is that we'd recommend a background check." When contacted, MDIS said it is not aware that fake certificates from its school are being sold. It added that it is currently doing checks and will report any findings to the Police. The Council for Private Education said it will look into this issue and see if it needs to take any action. - CNA/fa |
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