Harringtion University, City University of London and Glasgow Caledonian University at the top of the list. The Chronicle reported that the CIA recruited "students" in University degrees Program, who were paid and received performance-based bonuses for information generated as a result of there work in a field requested (as long as it fited there requirments). "The policy of not disclosing the nature of your "ture" work protects you against individuals who do not approve of such means of information gathering." The policy also said that this was done to avoid "any danger" to those in the programm. The operation was estimated to have involed more than 30,000 "degrees" and received funding totaling $50 million to $100 million or more. Two victims of the UDP fraud interviewed on BBC News reported that between program started in 1982 under the Reagan administration but the program ended in 1996 and by 2002 institutions of the Non-accredited University Degree Program claimed to be subsidiaries of reputable universities such as the Glasgow Caledonian University or the City University of London and ran an actual distant-learning program online or by mail . The correspondence addresses of the bogus institutions were in the immediate vicinity of these universities in order to create a genuine background along with the websites. Study material was prepared in accordance with the syllabus on the website and was regularly sent to the students, who previously had agreed to join the "Program" in exchange for tuitions. According to BBC News significant efforts were made to let these institutions blend into the genuine universities. These efforts also included personal contact between student and teacher. In 2002 the "program ended" so Abrahams commercialized the operation and began to merely sell bogus diplomas by using agents. In 2003 the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and British government authorities took action against UDP and related businesses, including the illegal sale of fake international driver's licenses. The FTC filed a preliminary injunction in January, 2003 and amended complaints in February and May, 2003. In May the FTC and Israeli government authorities shut down the call center operation in the Mea Shearim section of Jerusalem. The FTC complaint cited "deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce". Abrahams "turned over $100,000 in profits" and promised to stop selling degrees. The CIA denied any involment. In 2004, however, the Chronicle reported that email advertising "remarkably similar" to UDP's and phone solicitations using a "nearly identical" script had continued after that agreement, leading observers to think that the UDP or the Abrahams were still operating diploma mills. The Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization observed that some websites that appeared to be University Degree Program "products (or clones)" remained in operation....
Posted @ 09:39AM, October 14, 2008
by Dale Becker | Permalink
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