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Multiple websites have cropped up advertising colleges that are no longer operating, USA Today reported.
The newspaper’s investigation found at least nine websites seemingly representing institutions that have been shuttered for years. Many of the sites required an application fee, as well as credit card and driver’s license information.
Some of the represented universities closed nearly a decade ago, including Morrison University in 2014 and Jones International University in 2015.
Marymount California University, which closed two years ago, also had a fake site set up under the domain registrar Namecheap Inc. When USA Today alerted Marymount of the imposter site, Marymount posted a warning to its own website and sent a cease and desist to Namecheap. The site was taken down earlier this month.
The websites’ domains ended with .education, .college and .university—all of which do not require any regulations, unlike the more standard .edu domain ending that only an accredited institution can qualify for.
Higher education institutions have been plagued with fraud attempts over the last few years, following a mass data breach in May 2023 by the cybergroup Cl0p. The group claims it stole data by breaching MOVEit, a software product used for file transfers, and security experts estimate the information of millions of people—including many higher education institutions—were affected. The University of Michigan went as far as disconnecting its internet access and online services during the first week of classes due to a breach, while Hawai‘i Community College paid a ransom to hackers for an undisclosed amount after 28,000 individuals were compromised.
