There have been numerous stories in recent years regarding Diploma Mills. These are institutions noted for providing “students” with substandard or outright fake credentials and degrees. There are even websites like DiplomaMakers.com where you can go and order a fake degree, and CareerExcuse.com which provides job seekers with fake professional references for a fee.
These developments have no doubt made recruiters and hiring managers more diligent when reviewing applicant’s credentials, and have probably lead to the implementation of background screening programs in many companies.
While diligent hiring managers and background screening are able to catch some of the job applicants who use fake degrees and references, there is still the problem of the diploma mills themselves. According to this linked article in Business Insider, many prospective students are duped into applying to diploma mills for their post-secondary educations. The article gives several tips regarding what to look for when evaluating whether or not an online school is just another diploma mill.