A degree of doubt
Dear Sir,
I, a Turkish national, have been living in Qatar for the last seven years. While surfing the Internet a few weeks ago, I came across an advertisement on Facebook, which proclaimed that “online degrees are now available in Qatar with the chance of getting a scholarship”.
The advertisement claimed that people in Qatar now had the chance to further develop their academic career by enrolling in online universities to get their work experience evaluated and converted into study credits through which they can have bachelor’s or master’s degrees. Prospective students, the advertisement said, were entitled to receive scholarships. The degrees, it assured, were approved by the government.
So I applied, providing my contact details, seeking more information about the degree programme.
The very next day I received a call from a man who claimed to be a representative from the Student Care Unit of the so-called university that is claimed to be based in the US. He told me that he was a Bahraini national living in the US, describing himself as a representative of the university. We then began to speak in Arabic and this made me trust him more.
He told me that I was eligible to apply for a degree course, even master’s at that, as I had a total experience of 21 years in business. He asked me to explain my reason for getting an online degree.
I told him that I had a difficult childhood and when I was 24 my parents had got divorced and I had to look after my two younger sisters, my mother and grandmother. So I had to work to support them and could not continue my study.
The online programme was an opportunity for me to be able to obtain a degree finally.
The “university representative” told me that the degree certificates were approved by US authorities and attested by the Qatar embassy (or by the Turkish embassy, in my case, as I am a Turkish national) in the US. Hard copies of the certificate would be sent through DHL in two weeks.
So I decided to enrol in the BBA programme. He also told me that I was entitled for scholarship and the fee I had to pay was $1,639.30. As I had no credit card and debit cards, which I have, are blocked by the Qatar Central Bank to use on the Internet, I asked him if I could transfer the funds directly from my bank account.
The “representative” then said the “university” had associates all over the world and they had one in Qatar as well. He gave me the person’s contact and bank account numbers. This information gave me additional assurance as I was going to transfer the money to a resident’s account at a local bank.
Perhaps I should have tried to find out more about this “university” but I did not and that was my mistake. Instead I just transferred the amount of QR5967.03, equal to $1639.30, to the account given to me.
I then received a call from a local mobile phone number telling me that the money was not yet in his account. I explained to him that it took a day or two as it was from a transfer from one account in a bank to another in second bank. The next day he called me and confirmed the transaction had been made and wished me good luck.
I later received an e-mail from the “university’s” Scholarship Department, saying that my enrolment had been completed. It allotted me a student number and provided log-in information.
A second e-mail followed, telling me that I was scheduled to take the assessment verification interview which had been scheduled on July 10, a Thursday, at 8:30pm Qatar time.
On the day, I had a chat for almost 45 minutes over the phone with a so-called professor who “evaluated” my knowledge and experience.
In just two hours I received a call from the “representative” informing me that I had passed!
But it all sounded so quick and easy, so I decided to search more about this.
When I came across the http://www.geteducated.com/diploma-mill-police/stop-diploma-mills, I understood that I had been taken in. My “university” seemed to have no valid accreditation.
Two days after I was told that I had passed the evaluation, I received copy of the “bachelor’s degree”, credentials and a confirmation letter. Besides they were asking me to provide my full address so that they could send me the shipment.
I then noted the credits for biochemistry under BA marketing in the certificate copy!!! I was sure then I was duped.
Could anyone please advise me how to get my money back. The money was not charged on my credit card as I have transferred cash from my local bank account in Qatar to another bank account of a person. So transaction and the person concerned are traceable.
Besides, I want the media to spread the news so that others will not fall in such a trap and lose their money for nothing. I also seek the authorities to do all in their power to prevent such academic fraud in the country.
I have all the e-mails received from the “university” and, as I said, the money transfer can be verified with the bank.
Yusuf Ilker Karaaslan, (e-mail address supplied)
Mother of all games
Dear Sir,
It was the mother of all games. The 2014 World Cup final played at Rio De Janeiro on Sunday was enthralling. Both the German and Argentina players wowed people with their finely-tuned football skills.
But Argentina’s missed four golden chances to score goals. The goalkeepers of both the teams also performed exceedingly well. The entire match was exciting and suspenseful.
Finally, a tangent kick fired by Germany’s Mario Goetze pierced the “Iron Dome” defence of Argentina, sending the goalkeeper tizzy just a few minutes before the end of extra time.
Mohamed S, (e-mail address supplied)
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