This alert may not be shared outside your organization, Do Not Repost or send, place on other websites, List servers, or send to others via email, including other associations or parties. Members and Law enforcement use only. Contact us for any permissions. To do otherwise will result in the loss of membership.
Complete Story
10/03/2025
Identity theft, fake students on the rise
Collegian.tccd.edu
When Shannon McDonald arrived to teach her summer Music Appreciation class, she walked into an empty room.
Her roster said there were 15 students registered for her blended class on NE Campus. It turned out none of them were real.
“I was flabbergasted and so confused. I just had no idea what was going on,” McDonald said. “I had no background that this was even a possibility, that they were all fraudulent students.”
Fraudulent students are individuals who enroll for class with the intent to secure grants and loans through FAFSA by using stolen identities. This year, TCC has frozen 26,549 student accounts and labeled them as fake, more than triple the number in 2024.
“In 2024, we began noticing a rise in suspicious applications, prompting the college to establish internal processes to monitor and potentially identify fraud before these bad actors could reach the registration phase,” said TCC Provost Shelley Pearson.
It’s challenging to quantify the number of seats occupied by bad actors but according to Pearson, TCC is in the process of implementing a better way to detect suspicious applications at the point of submission before they can register for class.
More Info
Alerts
The FRPA alert system distinguishes us from other groups by gathering and providing information to law enforcement, retailers AND financial institutions.
more information
Resources
Your electronic library to help in fighting financial fraud for all of our partners.
more information