I hate scammers, as I've previously attested to, because they combine two of the things I hate the most: (1) lying and (2) stealing. This is encapsulated in my recent article about Cal Evans of Gresham International.[1][2] But I believe my hate for scammers is universal, whether it's scams involving puppies, kitties, or turtles for sale, rooms or apartments for rent, the ever-present cryptocurrency scams, or the grotesquely named "pig butchering" scams involving lonely souls being preyed upon by sometimes people who are victims themselves, as John Oliver uncovered.[3]

WE. ALL. HATE. SCAMMERS.

The scale of global financial crime is immense. According to the Nasdaq Global Financial Crime Report 2024, more than $3.1 trillion in illicit funds flowed through the global financial system in 2023 alone, fueling heinous crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, and terrorist financing.[4] Fraud losses, including scams targeting consumers and businesses, totaled an astounding $485.6 billion worldwide.[Id.] These numbers paint a grim picture of the pervasiveness of financial crime and its devastating impact on communities around the world.

While I do not have an end-all-be-all plan to fix all scammers from scamming, I do have a practical approach that I think will limit their abilities to claim they are MBAs from Wharton, Harvard-trained Juris Doctors, and have a microbiology PhD with honors from Berkeley. (Yes, people claim nearly these identical titles because just like haters are going to hate-hate-hate, scammers are going to scam-scam-scam.) This is how we do it: we amend the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA").

FERPA of 1974 (yes, 50 years ago; Nixon was the president who signed it) contains key provisions:

1.      The right of parents or eligible students (those over 18 or attending post-secondary institutions) to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school.

2.      The requirement for schools to obtain written permission from the parent or eligible student before disclosing any information from a student's education record, with certain exceptions.

3.      The right of parents or eligible students to request that a school correct records they believe to be inaccurate or misleading.[5]

All sounds great, right? But that second prong really mucked things up. See, in order to get an educational record in the United States, you need expressed written permission from the person you are seeking the information on. Now, this isn't normally a problem for folks' job hunting because it's buried within the application form or web portal's Terms of Service, which, fun fact, The Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts admitted in 2010 while speaking in his hometown of Buffalo that he doesn't even read them, so who the hell does? The lawyers who write them and the lawyers who sue over them. Ah, "justice." But I digress.

So, how do we make it easier to at least stop this basic level of fraud while allowing those poor souls who are still paying for the egregious student loan debt for those fun letters after their name? Simple.

Introducing the Educational Institution Transparency and Public Protection Act! What does it do? Well, the following:

1.      All institutions of higher learning must keep a public record accessible to anyone via a web address for the:

a. Full Name;

b. Month and Day of the person's date of birth;

c. The dates of attendance for that institution; and

d. If they graduated, then the date and the degree.

2.      An institution has 180 days to comply (they have to keep these records anyway, it's just a matter of making this specific information publicly available), and if they don't, they are no longer eligible FOR FEDERAL LOAN FUNDING. 😊

I'm sure there will be people who say this is an invasion of their privacy! No one should know whether I got my degree in underwater basket weaving (shout out to my Republican friends who love this degree) or advanced chemical engineering (shout to my Democratic friends who wish they would have gotten this high paying one)! But that's not really the case. It's part of the role of society to hold its members accountable. If we are chasing after the dream of resolving the student loan crisis (more on that to come in future posts; be sure to subscribe), then we need to make sure we have in place the ability to double-check on the fly that this person has those qualifications, at least at these most basic levels.

In most, if not all, professional licenses, those facts and figures are known and somewhat readily accessible to the general public, but this will be the foundation to make sure all other bricks are solid. No more geniuses who dropped out of Harvard because they were "too smart for college." No more spiritual gurus whose degree the university doesn't have or have the wrong degree or who have a different degree (e.g., Jay Shetty's website previously referred to him having a degree in "behavioural science", rather than "management science").[6][7]

But Shetty isn't alone. In recent years, several high-profile individuals, including politicians from both major parties, have been caught misrepresenting their academic credentials, highlighting the need for greater transparency and accountability.

In 1987, during his first presidential campaign, then-Senator Joe Biden faced scrutiny for claims he made about his academic record.[8] Biden admitted that he had inaccurately stated he graduated in the top half of his law school class, attended law school on a full academic scholarship, was named the outstanding student in the political science department as an undergraduate, and had earned three undergraduate degrees.[Id.] In reality, Biden graduated 76th out of 85 in his law school class, attended on a half scholarship based on financial need, and earned one undergraduate degree with a dual major in history and political science.[Id.]

More recently, Herschel Walker, a Republican Senate candidate in Georgia, claimed he earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of Georgia and graduated in the top 1 percent of his class.[9] In reality, Walker did not graduate at all, leaving the university in his junior year to play professional football.[Id.] And we all know George Santos, a former U.S. Representative from New York, who was found to have misrepresented his educational background during his 2022 congressional campaign.[10][11] Similarly, Melissa Howard, a former candidate for the Florida House of Representatives, claimed to have graduated from Miami University in Ohio but later admitted to misrepresenting her academic credentials and criminal charges were filed.[12]

Misrepresentation of academic credentials is not limited to any one political party. In 2012, Scott Thompson, the former CEO of Yahoo, resigned after it was discovered that he had misrepresented his academic credentials, claiming a degree in computer science he did not earn.[13][14]

These examples, spanning decades and political affiliations, underscore the pervasive issue of individuals misrepresenting their academic records and the need for greater transparency. By amending FERPA to allow for limited public disclosure of key educational information, we can help combat this problem and protect the public trust.

Amending FERPA to allow for limited public disclosure of key educational information can serve as a powerful tool in combating fraud. As the Kentucky Supreme Court aptly put it, school officials should stop using FERPA "as an 'invisibility cloak' . . . to shield any document that involves or is associated in some way with a student."[15] By making it easier to verify educational credentials, we can deter scammers from falsely claiming degrees they don't have and help protect the public from being misled.

Education is a public trust, instrumental in advancing society. When someone claims to have certain qualifications, it is in the public interest to be able to verify those claims. Amending FERPA to allow for the public disclosure of limited educational information, with appropriate safeguards, strikes a balance between privacy and transparency. It enables us to hold individuals accountable for their claimed credentials while still protecting sensitive personal information.

In the face of the global financial crime epidemic, with fraud losses in the hundreds of billions of dollars, we must take proactive steps to combat scammers and protect the public. Amending FERPA is one practical approach that can make a meaningful difference. By making it more difficult for fraudsters to falsely claim academic credentials, we can help restore trust in the education system and deter fraudulent activities.

WE. ALL. HATE. SCAMMERS. 

Let's work together to strengthen our defenses against them. Support the Educational Institution Transparency and Public Protection Act and help stop scammers in their tracks.

Sign the Petition: https://www.change.org/amendferpa

Follow the journey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdunsmoor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/amendferpa

Find your Congressional Members here: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

References

[1] Jonathan C. Dunsmoor, "Part I: Cal Evans of Gresham International is a Scammer," Paragraph.xyz (April 23, 2024), https://paragraph.xyz/@dunsmoor.eth/calevansofgreshaminternationalisascammer.

[2] Jonathan C. Dunsmoor, "Part II: The Comedy of Evans — How the Pennsylvania Bar was Scammed & Exposed Its Unconstitutional Attorney Discipline System," Paragraph.xyz (May 8, 2024), https://paragraph.xyz/@dunsmoor.eth/pawasscammedandexposed.

[3] John Oliver, "Pig Butchering Scams: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)," YouTube (2023), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLPpl2ISKTg.

[4] Nasdaq, Global Financial Crime Report 2024 (2024), https://www.nasdaq.com/global-financial-crime-report.

[5] 20 U.S.C. § 1232g

[6] John McDermott, "Uncovering the higher truth of Jay Shetty," The Guardian (Feb. 29, 2024), https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2024/feb/29/jay-shetty-self-help-empire.

[7] Coffeezilla, "jay shetty exposed," YouTube (Apr. 4, 2024), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCIbdh570tg.

[8] James R. Dickenson, "Biden Academic Claims Inaccurate," The Washington Post (Sept. 21, 1987), www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/09/22/biden-academic-claims-inaccurate/932eaeed-9071-47a1-aeac-c94a51b668e1/.

[9] Liam Knox, "To Correct, or to Let Stand?," Inside Higher Ed (June 7, 2022), https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/06/08/when-public-figures-fudge-their-academic-records.

[10] Grace Ashford and Michael Gold, "Who Is Rep.-Elect George Santos? His Résumé May Be Largely Fiction.," The New York Times (Dec. 19, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/nyregion/george-santos-ny-republicans.html.

[11] Nicholas Fandos and Grace Ashford, "George Santos, His Past Lies Exposed, Is Defiant: 'I'm Not a Fraud.'," The New York Times (Dec. 26, 2022), www.nytimes.com/2022/12/26/nyregion/george-santos-interview.html.

[12] Zac Anderson, "Melissa Howard makes deal with prosecutors in fake diploma case," Herald-Tribune (Sept. 14, 2018), https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/politics/elections/local/2018/09/14/melissa-howard-makes-deal-with-prosecutors-in-fake-diploma-case/10506130007/

[13] Julianne Pepitone, "Yahoo confirms CEO is out after resume scandal," CNN Money (May 14, 2012), https://money.cnn.com/2012/05/13/technology/yahoo-ceo-out/index.htm.

[14] Chad Brooks, "Yahoo CEO Not Alone: 7 Execs Busted for Resume Lies," Yahoo News (May 15, 2012), https://news.yahoo.com/news/yahoo-ceo-not-alone-7-execs-busted-resume-160624891.html.

[15] Univ. of Ky. v. Kernel Press, Inc., 620 S.W.3d 43, 47 (Ky. 2021)

__________________________________________________________________________

DRAFT LEGISLATION

Section 1. Short Title

This Act may be cited as the "Educational Institution Transparency and Public Protection Act of 2024".

Section 2. Disclosure of Limited Student Information

(a) In General - Each institution of higher education participating in any program under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) shall, not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, establish and maintain a publicly accessible electronic database containing the following information for each student who is enrolled or was previously enrolled at the institution:

(1) The student's full name.

(2) The dates of the student's attendance at the institution.

(3) The student's graduation date and degree awarded, if applicable.

(4) The student's date of birth, excluding the year.

(b) Update Requirements - The database described in subsection (a) shall be updated not less than once every academic year.

(c) Accessibility - The database described in subsection (a) shall be easily accessible to the public through the website of the institution.

(d) Prohibition on the Disclosure of Sensitive Information - The database described in subsection (a) shall not include any information regarding a student's social security number, financial information, health records, disciplinary records, or any other information that could be used to identify or harm the student beyond the scope of this Act.

Section 3. Penalties

(a) In General - The Secretary of Education shall impose a civil penalty in accordance with subsection (b) on any institution of higher education that fails to comply with the requirements of section 2.

(b) Amount of Penalty - The amount of a civil penalty under subsection (a) shall be not less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000 for each day the institution is in noncompliance with the requirements of section 2.

(c) Loss of Federal Funding - An institution of higher education that fails to comply with the requirements of section 2 for more than 180 consecutive days shall lose eligibility for federal loan funding under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.).

Section 4. Data Security

Each institution of higher education shall implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices to protect the database described in section 2 from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure.

Section 5. Public Interest Determination

Congress finds that the public disclosure of the information required under section 2, notwithstanding the prohibition on the disclosure of sensitive information, is in the public interest and necessary for the protection of the public from fraud and misrepresentation.

Section 6. Effective Date

This Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment.

________________________________________________________________________________

While Congress may feel calls are the most impactful, a professional yet cheeky multi-pronged approach - a scripted phone blitz, a deluge of printed letters, and a bombardment of constituent emails - is the most effective way to ensure they amend FERPA to combat those unscrupulous academic credential fraudsters.

Remember, always be courteous and respectful but let your feelings known. Together we can help combat fraud and reduce scams.

DRAFT SCRIPT:

Phone Script: Hello, my name is [Your Name], and I am a constituent from [Your City/State]. I am calling to express my strong support for the Educational Institution Transparency and Public Protection Act of 2024. This legislation is crucial in combating fraud and misinformation in higher education and protecting the public interest. I urge Representative/Senator [Name] to support this bill and work towards its passage. Thank you for your time and consideration.

DRAFT LETTER OR EMAIL:

Letter/Email: Subject: Support for the Educational Institution Transparency and Public Protection Act of 2024

Dear Representative/Senator [Name],

As a constituent from [Your City/State], I am writing to express my strong support for the Educational Institution Transparency and Public Protection Act of 2024. This legislation is essential in addressing the growing problem of fraud and misinformation in higher education.

The Act would require institutions of higher education to maintain a publicly accessible database containing limited but essential information about current and former students, while safeguarding sensitive personal data. By promoting transparency, this legislation would help individuals and organizations verify educational backgrounds, reduce the risk of fraud, and protect the public interest.

I urge you to support the Educational Institution Transparency and Public Protection Act of 2024 and work towards its swift passage. Your commitment to this critical issue is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely, 

[Your Name] 

[Your Address]