Zhjzw.nease.net -- whose name translates into "China's
Certificate-Conferring Website" -- was shut down in June. It was
one of eight websites to be closed down in the past year that
allegedly offered unlicensed higher education courses and fake
academic degrees, the Ministry of Education announced during a
press conference Monday.
The website, registered in Beijing and Tianjin municipalities
two years ago, advertised the awarding of academic degrees to
students who enrolled and took online courses. The website
published its address of remittance and account number.
About 17 percent of high school graduates attend colleges or
universities in China. Those who do not meet the requirements often
enroll in adult classes or Internet-based colleges.
Degrees are an important job-hunting tool. That's why
unqualified online courses and fake certificates can be a big
moneymaker, said Lin Huiqing, director of the Department for
Students' Affairs of the Ministry of Education.
Some people are even willing to buy fake degrees because they
think they can use them to find jobs.
One person, Sima Junle, was arrested in connection with the
Zhjzw.nease.net scam, said the Ministry of Public Security's Yang
Jialin.
Sima used the alias of Zhang Jianjun to open accounts at the
Bank of Agriculture, the Bank of Construction, the Industrial and
Commercial Bank of China, and China Merchants Bank in Tianjin. He
enrolled 70 students from Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai
municipalities and Heilongjiang
Province over the past year, earning 50,000 yuan (US$6,000)
The other seven websites that were shut down are
www.chinagdxl.com, www.chsi.net.cn, www.chiedu.com,
www.ohsl.com.cn, www.chsis.com, www.sinodxs.com,
www.xuelichxun.com.
In Beijing, 49 suspects were arrested and 1,674 faked seals and
1,940 certificates were seized between August 20 and September 10
last year, said Yang.
This June, public security departments in northwest China's Gansu
Province arrested two suspects and confiscated 5,000 fake seals
and 4,000 fake certificates of Peking and Tsinghua
universities.
Yang said public security forces across the country will crack
down on providers of fake academic degrees as well as those who
distribute pornographic material on websites.
(China Daily July 20, 2004)