This 'university' allegedly sold MBA to a cat
YOU know that something is not quite right with an online 'university' that awards an MBA to a cat.
With help from software giant Microsoft, US officials have tracked down two brothers in Texas who allegedly sold bogus college degrees over the Internet.
The brothers, Craig Barton Poe, 35, and his brother, Alton Scott, 40, were named in a lawsuit as operators of Trinity Southern University.
The lawsuit alleged that the operation is not a real Texas university, as portrayed on the Net. The brothers allegedly lied about it being accredited and sent out thousands of bogus e-mail messages to solicit customers, it added.
The Poes have been charged with breaking laws against consumer fraud and spamming.
The lawsuit alleged that 18,000 e-mail messages were sent by the Poes that appeared to come from legitimate outfits such as cable operator Comcast, Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania Senate.
The content of the e-mails was not related to Trinity Southern but contained warnings that the customer needed to open a link to keep his Internet service running.
The link automatically connected people to the Trinity Southern website.
Ms Barbara Petito, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, said the state sued after plunking down US$398 ($657) to get an MBA for a cat named Colby, including a transcript saying he earned a 3.5 grade point average.
When angry customers who use Microsoft as their Internet service provider complained about the e-mails, the software giant began its own investigation and allegedly traced a phony name used in some of the messages to Craig Poe.
FAKE DEGREES
Texas education officials had spent several months trying to identify the Poes after some employers complained that job applicants had claimed to hold degrees from Trinity Southern that turned out to be bogus.
The case is expected to be referred to the state attorney-general next week.
Trinity Southern had claimed to be accredited by a university in Argentina and an education association, both of which turned out to be fictitious, officials said.
The operation violated Texas law by allegedly offering degrees from a school that was not accredited and using the term 'university' in its name, said Mr David Linkletter, who tracks school certification for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Mr Linkletter looked at Trinity Southern's website and e-mail messages and tried to track the operation through phone numbers, which changed frequently.
'Now we have what we need - the names of the players,' he said.
Last year, the director of the Massachusetts infectious-disease laboratory admitted he bought a doctorate from the school. He continues to direct the lab, however. - AP.