Fake diplomas sold for 100,000 Liras

ISTANBUL

Fraudsters selling from high school diploma to graduate diploma over WhatsApp may demand fees up to 100,000 Turkish Liras ($ 5,370).

Fake diploma has become a hot topic of discussion after a woman introduced herself as a practicing physician in a state hospital in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ for about a year.

Fraudsters selling fake diplomas via WhatsApp charge different prices according to the so-called graduated department.

The fee for a Law School diploma is 100,000 Liras, while a Business School diploma is sold for 10,000 Liras.

Apart from the university diploma, fraudsters also worked on high schools and master’s degree diploma.

High school diploma is sold for 8,000 Liras, while one who wants to obtain a fake master’s degree diploma has to pay 20,000 Liras.

Fraudsters selling diplomas on various internet sites also guarantee that the diplomas belong to state universities, and that, if purchased, the clients can also be viewed as graduates in official records.

Fake diploma fraudsters also assure their clients that they can take the official civil service exams, which have graduation requirement.

“Speaking about the legal side of the preparation and sale of fake diplomas, the penalty stipulated in the law is imprisonment from two to five years,” stated Ahmet Çobanoğlu, a lawyer.

During the investigations in the fake doctor Ayşe Özkiraz’s house, fake diplomas and a plaque showing that Özkiraz graduated from a medical faculty in the first place were found.

It was also revealed that Özkiraz sent herself a flower with the inscription “Çapa’s [Medical School] pride” on her birthday in order to increase the credibility of her fiction.