Diploma mills and fraudulent credentials: The cost of fraud in education

To what extent is counterfeiting present in the field of educational qualifications? How many people are affected, how many fake qualifications are in circulation, and how much money is generated by this phenomenon? What is its economic and social impact? The article attempts to answer these questions by drawing parallels between the wider fraud industry and the fraud industry in Higher education. The focus is on diploma mills and fraudulent credentials, and the analysis of the extent of these phenomena. The article refers to tools to prevent and account for these phenomena, including the latest possibilities offered by the use of artificial intelligence.