Delta finds hundreds of fraudulent student applications
STOCKTON — San Joaquin Delta College is investigating a number of instances in which students who appear to be fraudulent have been enrolled in classes.
“Last week, some faculty brought to our attention some strange enrollment patterns,” college spokesman Alex Breitler said. “There was one particular day they found a huge spike in enrollment. Over the weekend, our IT department began looking into what was going on and trying to identify the fraudulent students.”
Breitler said that as of Thursday, Delta staff had identified 425 fraudulent student accounts, of which 275 had actually been enrolled in various courses.
The remaining 150 fraudulent accounts had applied, but were not yet enrolled, he said. Staff was still working to determine exactly how many fraudulent accounts existed.
“Clearly it’s every concerning,” Breitler said. “We don’t know who’s behind it or who is responsible, but it does seem to be sophisticated enough that they were able to get into several classes.”
Breitler said the incident could be related to securing COVID-19 relief grant funding, although staff hadn’t determined that as the primary reason these fake students applied and enrolled.
“It’s difficult to say exactly what they were trying to do,” he said. “It could be financial aid. There are other benefits to being a student, such as free access to textbooks, We’re looking at this enrollment pattern to determine what the purpose was.”
Delta was not the only
“Clearly it’s every concerning. We don’t know who’s behind it or who is responsible, but it does seem to be sophisticated enough that they were able to get into several classes.”
DELTA COLLEGE SPOKESMAN ALEX BREITLER
school in the California Community College system affected by the enrollment spike.
According to the Los Angeles Times, more than 65,000 fraudulent applications were filed at most of the CCC system’s 116 campuses.
Patrick Perry, director of policy, research and data for the California Student Aid Commission, told the Times he found more than 60,000 applicants a few weeks ago who all fell under the same enrollment group: first-time college applicants who earned less than $40,000 a year and were seeking a two-year degree.
Gabe Ross, Los Rios district assistant vice chancellor, told the Sacramento Bee that the district’s four campuses “are seeing a number of fraudulent applications,” and many of them are coming from overseas “but we don’t have a clear picture about whether or not they are coming from a single place.”
The Times said it is not clear what kind of financial aid may be targeted in the fraud, such as state-funded Cal Grants or federal COVID19 emergency relief grants.
So far, California community colleges have received more than $1.6 billion in emergency COVID-19 relief for lowincome students.
Delta College has used the most in relief funds among the state’s relief funds, the Times reported, giving $1,500 checks to about 4,000 of its lowest-income students last spring. The school had plans to double that amount this fall, according to the Times.
In addition, the Times reported that Los Rios allocated $13 million in federal emergency grants in March 2020, and expects to deliver an additional $33 million to students this year to help with food, housing, course materials, technology, healthcare and child care.
In memo to colleges Monday, CCC system vice chancellor for digital innovation and infrastructure Valerie LundyWagner announced new security measures to prevent future threats.
Beginning this month, all community colleges will be required to report the number of suspected registrations being fraudulent on a monthly basis, as well as the number of financial aid applications being fraudulent on a monthly basis.
Colleges will also be required to report the number of confirmed instances of financial aid fraud, and the total amount of financial aid the college was required to return due to fraud, both on a monthly basis.
“It is clear that nationally, bad actors are attempting to take advantage of any vulnerability across different sectors,” Lundy-Wagner said in the memo.
“As the Chancellor’s Office continues to take steps that will reduce information and cyber-security threats during the admission and onboarding process, we are committed to ensuring access.”
Breitler said Delta staff is currently dropping all fraudulent students from courses and blocking access to their Delta accounts and financial aid awards, as well as setting up a new cyber-security system to prevent future incidents.
“We’re also reaching out to all our legitimate students, who are our priority, and warning them not to give out personal information to other students, or just anyone in general,” he said. “And we’re providing them with the basic ways to protect themselves.”
Sacramento Bee reporters Andrew Sheeler and David Lightman, and Los Angeles Times reporters Colleen Shalby, Teresa Watanabe contributed to this report.