[EAS] Wrinkles in Higher Education

[Peter J. Kindlmann]

(from Edupage, June 01, 2005)

COLLEGES LEARN ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT FROM AN IDENTITY THIEF
As part of its efforts to increase awareness about student loan
fraud, the Department of Education is distributing a DVD to colleges
and universities of an interview with a convicted identity thief. As
part of his plea agreement, John E. Christensen was interviewed by
authorities to create the DVD, in which he describes how, over a
period of three and a half years, he used the identities of more
than 50 individuals to defraud the government of more than $300,000
in federal student grants and loans. Each year, the Department of
Education disburses about $65 billion in financial aid. In the
interview, Christensen, who is serving his prison sentence in
Arizona, explains how he fraudulently obtained personal information
and used it to register for classes and apply for financial aid.
Because financial aid processes take place largely online,
defrauding the government is "becoming easier and easier all the
time," said Christensen. "You never have to see anybody."
New York Times, 29 May 2005 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/30/national/30fraud.html

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