Technology Frauds
2022 started with one of the large technology frauds - Elizabeth Holmes found guilty of conspiring to defraud investors in the blood testing startup. Her company Theranos raised more than US$700 million from venture capitalists and private investors, resulting in a $10 billion valuation at its peak in 2013 and 2014.
Fraud used by schools
Students want to attend high quality established schools. Schools will use fraud to attract students to their school or attempt to appear more established to qualify for government programs or association membership. Schools that claim to have specific affiliations, qualifications, assets, programs, staff or history that are untrue are committing fraud.
Many ESL schools are creating Business English programs and internships to attract students to their programs. Many of these insta-biz schools have hired teachers with no Canadian business education, training or experience. Many of these schools have created internship programs promising work experiences that violate the current (2014) Canadian Government immigration rules regulations and visa restrictions. Students attending these very poor quality schools are wasting their money. Students performing illegal work internships could find themselves in jail and deported.
A favorite trick is to name a language school as a "college". The word college in Canada is not an official use name and anyone can name any building, house or barn as a college. Students should not choose a school simply because it has college in the name. College in the name does not mean anything in Canada.
Another trick is to use the same name or almost identical name of a famous school in the USA, UK, Asia, or Europe. If the famous school has not registered the name in Canada then anyone else can register the name without any affiliation with the original school at all. Students should not pick a school because it has a famous name in their country as it may have no affiliation at all and is designed to trick students.
Schools will appoint international agents or representatives to promote and market the school to potential students then not pay for the advertising or not pay the agency fees. Fraud schools will defraud agents by stating students did not register.
Some of the schools are owned by agents. When an independent agent presents the school with a potential student that student will be contacted by the head office agency and re-registered in the name of that agent thus defrauding the original hardworking agent.
