Much has been made of the rise of cheating and manipulation in higher education learning environments on account of artificial intelligence. From the vantage point of university admissions, fraudulence takes the well-worn form of counterfeit transcripts, diplomas and financial statements. As institutions scramble to implement countermeasures to alleviate malfeasance in the classroom, the following serves as a rundown of the problem of forged credentials from the admittance side of things, particularly with regards to

- Exploitable gaps in digital and physical transcript protocols allowing fakes to proliferate 
- Peculiarities and special cases in several countries 
- Tips and techniques to recognize common “red flags” and markers of inauthenticity for digital and physical credentials 
- Benefits of Veri Once platform for admissions teams

 
1.&nbsp;SYSTEMIC FLAWS THAT COMPLICATE AUTHENTICATION EFFORTS

Digital Verification

Lack of Internationally-adopted Standards

There don't really exist digital authentication standards or databases that are adopted on an international or regional basis. The few authentication systems that exist on a national basis are limited in scope (usually just confirming info on the degree; they wouldn't be able to authenticate transcripts). So you're really going on a case-by-case basis for most of the world's institutions.

Institutions Withholding Individual Contacts

If you've worked in admissions or verification long enough, you probably remember university catalogues and websites with straightforward contact lists for all faculties and departments. Due to the rise of spam email lists and malware threats, more and more institutions have sought to obscure these contacts, either with generic email addresses for enquiries, contact forms in place of emails, or with searchable directories. This extra effort on your end adds up fairly quickly.

Weaknesses in Credential Transmission and Delivery

Electronic delivery of most foreign transcripts is still handled through direct emails from institutions, often with no second-level verification such as passcodes. The email addresses themselves may be personal accounts (Gmail, Yahoo etc.) rather than legitimate institutional accounts, an unacceptable practice that is nonetheless widespread in developing regions.

Traditional Physical Verification

Transcripts from Developing Regions May Be Substandard Quality and Lack Security Features

As the quality of fraudulent transcripts has improved, you find the problem on the other end of newly-modernized institutions issuing rudimentary transcripts that aren't produced uniformly (which means comparing one transcript to another from the same institution will not help), or have legibility issues, and the security features may be nothing more than a single signature or stamp. For the most part you wouldn't have watermarks or things on that level.

Weaknesses in Credential Transmission and Delivery

As far as physical transmission, courier delivery will get the transcript to you in reasonable time but it is open to tampering and manipulation at the point of origination or along the chain. So the authenticity of courier transcripts is never taken for a fact. Direct mailing is considered much more secure but it is extremely unreliable as far as when it arrives (or if it arrives at all). One common situation is when direct mailing takes so long that an institution will allow for an alternate delivery method with much shakier authenticity.

 
2.&nbsp;SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES TO NOTE – SEVERAL EXAMPLES

Indian System: The Indian higher education system operates on an affiliation system in which small colleges align themselves with a parent institution. This allows them to follow the curriculum, exam structure and standards of that institution with some degree of leeway and autonomy as well. This arrangement presents some hurdles for authentication, due to the fact that hundreds of transcript variations exist for the individual programs and affiliate colleges. Relying on visual inspection when dealing with the sheer variety of credential styles and formats is unfeasible for anyone without years of expertise.

African Systems: In countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, a sizable percentage of institutions still rely on personal email accounts to operate – any verifications received from these sources are inherently compromised. Verification and issuance fees can also be excessive, causing hesitation and delay on the student’s end. An affordable, easy-to-use Scratch Card system has been successfully implemented in West Africa’s secondary exams for decades, but there have been no efforts to implement any similar system on the tertiary level.

Venezuelan Stamping and Apostille System: Documents from state institutions in Venezuela that are produced for legal purposes require a government-issued Apostille, which is basically a notarized set of certificates authenticating the document in question. These certifications tend to be several pages long and include a translation, but the format is fairly overstuffed with seals and ribbons and generally hard to read (translations lack formatting and go straight across the page). Verifying the apostille and the transcript itself is generally not done due to time constraints so this system presents a security flaw to be exploited.

Delivery of Transcripts and Credentials from Cuba: Transcripts cannot be mailed directly from Cuba, they must be requested through either Consultoria Juridica Internacional or Bufete de Servicios Especializados - these serve as the sanctioned intermediaries that facilitate the process. What you receive in these cases are the credentials in question accompanied by a set of docs from CJI or BES including a detailed receipt. Unless you have extensive first-hand experience in doing this type of verification, it can get unwieldly and convoluted pretty fast. This is even worse if courier mailing is involved.

 
3.&nbsp;TIPS FOR IDENTIFYING CREDENTIAL FRAUD

Digital Credentials

“Word Processor” Appearance

Be on the lookout for mismatching and alignment issues consistent with hand typing. If it's obvious that the transcript is not mass produced but rather composed on a one-by-one basis. One clue is the lack of very small fonts, which require more careful formatting to harmonize with other transcript elements. Uniformity in font size and appearance is a red flag.

Avoid Unsecured Files and Formats

Ideally, secure digital credentials should be immutable once they have been downloaded onto the recipient’s computer. However, institutions with no protocols for digital transmission will often transmit unprotected PDF, DOC or JPEG files. Since these files can be tampered with and manipulated with relative ease (even remotely), this now makes the recipient complicit in the security gap.

Physical Credentials

Physical Texture

The grain and feeling of commercial A4 paper serve as major red flags. You will rarely handle an official transcript from any part of the world that is issued on standard A4 printer paper stock. Beyond the fact that these papers lack the fineness required for some security features, these are simply not economical for mass printing and would not be used in that way.

Blank Backing

Even in developing regions, it is rare for any transcript to be issued fully one-sided; there's generally some element or distinguishing detail on the back. Transcripts lacking any printing or writing on the reverse should therefore be reviewed with extra scrutiny.

Officializing Overkill

This refers to the excessive use of stamps, signatures, postage and legitimizing documentation. Too many legalizing and legitimizing documents can be a cause for concern especially in countries where that is an uncommon, unnecessary expense. Some Latin American degrees have up to seven or eight common signatures and stamps on each degree which adds to the difficulty level. A fun fact is that these degrees are sometimes sent as miniaturized photonegatives, which presents obvious issues when trying to match 10 signatures and stamps with a magnifying glass. Verifying credentials shouldn't be like trying to analyze an original Magna Carta.

 
4.&nbsp;IMPACTS OF USING VERI ONCE

Eliminates the Need to Determine Issuance Protocols and Chain of Custody on a File-by-File Basis

All the tips and verification considerations in this run-through basically become secondary-level considerations once you’re going through the Veri Once platform. This information is good to know, but no longer a major factor in your work.

Manhours Spent on Eye Tests and Physical Inspection are Redirected Towards Quality Control

I've seen many cases where a lengthy inspection and verification were completed, and the follow-up work on the evaluation itself was rushed and sloppy. Direct, orderly and standardized verification frees up valuable time for quality control and refinement of reports.

Visual Inspection Remains Valuable for Familiarization and Deepening Your Understanding of Credentials

The eye test process is still important for uncovering finer details and intricacies (these can be things like course codes, unusual scales, differences on the transcripts over time) that broaden your comprehension of country-specific or institution-specific markers.

Juan Garibaldi has 17 years of experience as a credential evaluator and works as Director of Credential Evaluations at Veri Once.