A BBC investigation has thrown new light on the Axact scandal involving business of fake professional degrees of non-existent colleges and universities.

Contrary to the common perception in Pakistan about the ‘degree mill’ operation being over, the BBC investigation, broadcast in the UK on Radio 4 on Tuesday night, revealed that the lucrative fake degrees business was still flourishing with the Axact call centres humming with activity and its agents ruthlessly fleecing their victims impersonating as representatives of famous universities and selling them fake degrees on payment of huge fees.

Another sad aspect of the fraudulent money-minting enterprise, unearthed during the investigation, was the extortion and blackmailing tactics adopted the Axact agents to extract more money from victims. In one case study presented in the programme, the Exact agents posed as representatives of a foreign government and a US university respectively to blackmail their victim and forced them to pay them extortion money.

The scandal originally uncovered by New York Times investigation in May 2015 revealed that the Karachi-based IT company was maintaining over 300 websites of universities and high schools, with elegant names and smiling professors at sun-dappled American campuses, earning tens of millions of dollars in estimated revenue each year from many thousands of people around the world.

According to the BBC team, they have written to Axact but no one responded.

Fake degree to BBC reporter

A BBC reporter calls a number given on the website of Nixon University to buy a fake degree and he is put through to an agent calling himself Jerry Louis.

Nixon University was part of the original NY Times investigation as well as in the list drawn by CBC.

“Jerry” explains to BBC reporter how he will get what he calls a course exemption degree converting his experience into a qualification and a degree from an American university. The agent, however, never asks what experience he has. He is told that as the Nixon University is based in America so he will get an approval from the US government.

“Jerry” takes him through the courses for his degree in international business despite the fact that he knows nothing about the subject.

The agent informs him about the course he will be doing and said he will get a shiny degree certificate from Nixon University within one month.

The initial deal with the BBC reporter is struck at a fee of $3,649. In 10 minutes he orders a degree and even got a mock up of a certificate although he never actually hands over the money.

Later, when the BBC reporter challenges him over the authenticity of the educational institution and asks the agent about the address of Nixon University campus, he first says that it is in Southern California and then disappears.

Another man who claims to be John Anderson takes over and says that their office is in Washington DC. On further questioning he says that they have different branches — in California, Miami and other US cities.

At this point BBC reporter called him out.

“Not only have you been selling fake degrees you’ve also been extorting money. We’ve talked to people who you’ve taken 100s of thousands of pounds from them, vulnerable people,” he tells him.

The agent remains totally unaffected by the otherwise serious allegations and threatens the BBC reporter of legal action.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ll make sure my legal team come to you,” he tells the BBC reporter.

According to the confidential documents reportedly seen by the BBC, Axact still controls a huge operation selling bogus degrees around the world.

‘Conman’ as whistleblower

During the course of investigation BBC interviewed an ex-employee of Axact who confirmed that the fake degrees business was still going on and that the company was resorting to extortion to make up for dwindling revenues due to media spotlight.

In the Radio 4 programme, the Axact ex-employee is introduced as “Mohammad” to protect his identity and his interview is voiced by an actor.

“The word was getting out, selling degrees was getting harder, so naturally I came up with the whole idea, along with the assistance of a few others that we should now move into the whole extortion racket,” he tells BBC.

“For me to actually proclaim that I’m on some moral high ground, that would be absolutely untrue,” he says. “We would high five, make jokes about people squandering their lives, that’s how it worked,” he adds.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2018