Fakes hard to spot
The investigation discovered that all the fake university certificates were claimed to come from the US, since citizens are keen to pursue degrees from there, according to Rao.
"The fake papers or information sheets are not so authentic if you look closer," he said, since many of the "universities" were invented by the suspects.
The so-called Columbia International Institute, for instance, has the website address www.ciiny.us, which does not exist. The genuine one is Columbia International University, with a web address of www.ciu.edu.
"Citizens can check the list on our website, which shows every university authorized by the Ministry of Education," a CSCSE official said.
However, some citizens and lawyers doubt the efficacy of investigating fake certificates.
"Fake materials now are very much like authentic ones, which makes it difficult for the general public to distinguish between them," said Li Chenguang, a 23-year-old worker at a telecom company.
"In addition, some companies have rigid requirements in their recruitment, which forces people to get fake certificates to get jobs," he added.
Qian Jun, an attorney at Yingke Law Firm, said people who forged official seals or documents will face criminal punishment, but he added it is still difficult for police to arrest suspects who forge material in technically advanced ways.
