Operation DIPSCAM (Operation Diploma Scam) was a series of investigations[1] carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the General Accounting Office,[2] the Committee on Education and the Workforce and other agencies in the United States in the 1980s. It led to more than twenty convictions[1] and the closing of 39 diploma mills.[3]
DIPSCAM (Operation Diploma Scam) was a series of separate investigations conducted by the Charlotte, North Carolina Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1980–1991. Dipscam began from the initial investigation of Southeastern University, Greenville, SC in 1980, and evolved into multiple investigations of diploma mills throughout the United States and abroad. During Dipscam, 40 diplomas with transcripts were purchased; 16 federal search warrants were executed; 19 Federal Grand Jury indictments were returned, 40 schools were dismantled, and obtained over 20 convictions. The FBI identified over 12,500 ‘graduates’ of these institutions from school records, which included federal, state, and county employees. Seized school records indicated many ‘graduates’ were employed in business, education, and law enforcement, in addition to the medical field.
Each investigation has its own characteristics, some one-person operations, others with numerous employees. Several investigations warranted the FBI joining forces with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service to complete other aspects of these cases. Information gained during each of these investigations was shared with appropriate federal authorities and was the subject of hearings by several Congressional committees.
These hearings were by the Subcommittee on Housing and Consumer Interests of the Select Committee on Aging (Senator Claude Pepper), 12/11/1985, ‘Fraudulent Credentials’ in which a prior Dipscam defendant was brought by the U.S. Marshals from federal prison to testify at this hearing. Previously, this witness operated Southwestern University, Tucson, AZ and Columbus, Ohio, and grossed over $2,000,000. Prior to these hearings, committee investigators purchased a Ph.D. diploma from a CA school for Cong. Pepper, thus he was now “Dr. Pepper”.
Other Congressional hearings were later held, those being Committee on Government Affairs (both House and Senate) (Senator Susan Collins, Congressman Tom Davis), 5/11-12/04, ‘Bogus Degrees and Unmet Expectations: Are taxpayer dollars subsidizing Diploma Mills”. Investigators from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted investigations of several schools for the committee, even purchasing several diplomas from Lexington University for Senator Collins. In at least one instance, the committee investigator registered as a student at one of these schools and several of her recorded telephone conversations (and by other investigators) were played during these hearings.
Lastly, hearings were held by the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Congressman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, 9/23/04,‘Are Current Safeguards Protecting Taxpayers Against Diploma Mills’.