fake diplomas
Purchased academic certificates
Fake diplomas are fraudulent documents that falsely certify educational achievement.
They range from novelty items sold as gag gifts to sophisticated forgeries used to deceive employers or institutions.
Diploma mills sell these credentials with little or no academic work required: He bought fake diplomas online to pad his résumé.
Possessing one for decoration is legal; using it to misrepresent qualifications is fraud.
- forgeryCreating fraudulent imitations
- counterfeitFraudulent imitation
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- certificateFormal written attestation
- credentialsEvidence of qualification or identity
phony · bogus · for-profit college · mill · scam · too good to be true · degree · transcript · seal · embossed · verification · accreditation · university · parchment · signature · notarized · falsified · paper trail
- fakescounterfeit, counterfeits, imitation, imitations, replica
- academic fraudplagiarism, academic dishonesty, exam cheating, essay mills, paper mill
- document frauddocument fraud, forged documents, falsification, counterfeit documents, forged signatures