Fraudsters are inventing “ghost” students who enroll in college, never show up, yet pocket thousands of dollars in federal financial aid, government officials revealed Thursday, saying the scams — often tied to overseas operations in Africa — have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars this decade.
Scammers will steal actual identities, use artificial intelligence to fill out enrollment and financial aid applications in those names, then use AI tools to make it appear as though the students are actually taking the courses.
The scammers’ goal, authorities said, is to keep the fake students enrolled as long as possible, keeping the money flowing.
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“This is organized fraud at scale,” Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald said.
He said the fraud began to take off in 2021, and has cost the government “potentially several hundred million dollars” over that time.
At one point in 2024, California estimated that a third of its community college applications were ghost students.
Mr. McDonald said the scammers use identities of real people who haven’t attended college before.
That leads to situations where some of those real people do attempt to go to college and find they’ve already been signed up for financial aid, hindering their efforts to get it for themselves.
“It is a mess that no one should have to endure,” he said.
Mr. McDonald announced charges in cases in Nebraska and New Jersey, both of which he said were tied to Kenyan operations.
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