In 2015 Axact, a software company that runs numerous websites selling fake academic degrees, earned $51 million after it sold over 215,000 fake qualifications worldwide, via 350 fictitious schools and universities. These included master’s degrees, doctorates, and PhDs.
Unfortunately, unless more is done to check the authenticity of a person’s degree companies such as Axact are going to continue printing and selling fake diplomas. In a bid to combat this issue, the Trusted Diploma is a new platform that is stepping up to fix this issue.
Implemented at the Business & Technology University in Tbilisi, Georgia, it is based on the blockchain and powered by Emercoin. In a few clicks a person can verify and check the originality of education credentials, as it attempts to stamp out fraud, manipulation, and corruption in the education sector. By doing so, a trusted environment is created enabling safer, smarter, and effective professional services.
“Much like the little ‘check mark’ on Twitter or Facebook profiles, companies like LinkedIn or Indeed.com could use this to validate the data represented on profiles, ensuring that data is tamper-proof and accurate,” said Bill Tai, Emercoin advisor and venture capitalist.
Not only is the Trusted Diploma platform verifying degrees and other education certificates through an encrypted and secure app, but it also enables viewers to verify a foreign degree. Graduates who are searching for a secure location to store their credentials, protecting them from potential forgery, will be able to use Trusted Diploma.
“The Trusted Diploma platform will help our school build a secure and immutable database of education certificate, which will help our graduates as they pursue successful careers,” said Mikheil Batiashvili, BTU university rector and Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia.
Fraud and the creation of fake certificates in the education sector is rife. It’s hoped, though, that the Trusted Diploma and Emercoin can help to solve this growing issue.