Fake diplomas dupe experts(2)

Liu recommended using the diploma belonging to a Xu Feng who graduated from a university in Hubei Province. That diploma was the only one among the six that did not have a photo or ID card information attached to it.

"We found that no such information exists on the CHSI website, and this crucial loophole allows us to clone the diplomas," Liu said.

Flawed system

A staffer from CHSI said that before 2001, no information on college graduates had been recorded on the website. All current information on the website was added later.

"The information that was added is not complete. So those who graduated before 2001 have no ID card information or photos," the staffer told the Beijing News.

"Any diploma issued before 2001 can be decoded using the diploma number and cloned for our clients," Liu said.

Many human resources departments told the Beijing News that they test their candidates' diplomas through the CHSI website. However, if the website lacks ID card information and photos, they can't tell whether their candidates' diplomas truly belong to them.

On December 8, Liu contacted the reporter to say he had succeeded in decoding the diploma number. All he needed now was a photo.

One week later, the reporter received his fake diploma. On the diploma, the photo he had provided had been altered to make him look younger. He sent it to several human resources departments to undergo authenticity tests and the diploma raised no red flags.

Liu cautioned the reporter not to use the diploma in relation to the national examinations for civil servants or graduate students to avoid possible risks. "The diploma could surely help you find a normal job," Liu promised.

A staffer from the Ministry of Education told the newspaper that "it's impossible to supplement the information of people who graduated before 2001." These graduates' diplomas are made of paper with anti-counterfeit elements such as watermarks, said the staffer.

People who forge and sell fake diplomas will receive a maximum of three years' imprisonment according to Chinese criminal law, Wang Chuanwei, a lawyer from a Beijing law firm, told the newspaper.