Ghost Students: How AI Scammers Are Turning Colleges into Cash Machines
Identity theft is no joke, but these scammers are turning it into a bad comedy. In a bizarre twist, AI chatbots are pulling off college scams, enrolling as “ghost students” to pocket financial aid. Meanwhile, real students like Heather Brady are left with imaginary debts. It’s like a sitcom, but with fewer laughs and more headaches.
Hot Take:
Who knew that virtual classrooms would become the new Wild West for scammers? It’s like they traded in their cowboy hats for AI chatbots and are rustling up financial aid instead of cattle. Yee-haw! The only thing missing is a virtual tumbleweed rolling across the Zoom call.
Key Points:
– Artificial intelligence and online classes are fueling a wave of financial aid fraud using fake enrollments.
– Scammers are using “ghost students” to collect financial aid, creating chaos for real students and colleges.
– The U.S. Education Department is requiring government-issued IDs for first-time federal aid applicants to combat fraud.
– California colleges reported over a million fraudulent applications, resulting in millions of dollars in lost aid.
– Identity theft victims face a long, frustrating road to clear fraudulent student debt from their records.