Song Hao (pseudonym), who has worked in the workplace for several years, has always wanted to improve his academic qualifications and get more opportunities, but because of his busy schedule, he gave up this idea.
In February of this year, he was contacted by a phone call, and the other party gave him the condition: "Self-examination for college promotion, no need to study, and contract."
A course consultant who claims to be Beijing Yuanneng Education Consulting Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yuanneng Education") introduced to Song Hao that the company has been doing business for more than 6 years and has established "confidentiality agreements with many universities as a "student aid unit". "Based on the cooperative relationship, there are thousands of trainees, all of whom have obtained the certificate within the specified time.
According to the request of the other party, Song Hao paid 15,800 yuan and signed the self-examination service agreement. However, during the next few months of application process, the other party repeatedly turned down and refused to give examination arrangements.
When Song Hao asked for a refund, the other party refused to refund on the grounds that it had been handed over to the institution.
Song Hao, who was suspicious, consulted with the college and learned that there was no cooperative relationship between the two parties. Only then did he realize that he had been deceived.
This is not an isolated case.
The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) noticed that a series of words such as "enhance academic qualifications", "no need to study", "no need to attend classes", and "exempt from exams" and other words frequently appeared in the advertisements for college entrance examinations distributed on the Internet.
At the same time, many netizens also posted complaints about their experience of being defrauded by educational institutions.
The reporter conducted an in-depth investigation to uncover how this scam of self-examination and promotion works.
The organization claims that "no need to study package, one and a half years to graduate"
A few days ago, Song Hao told The Paper about his experience of encountering fraud.
In February of this year, a course consultant who claimed to be Yuanneng Education contacted him and introduced that the company focuses on improving college, undergraduate, and postgraduate qualifications for adults. Several businesses.
Among them, “self-examination package” means that after paying tuition fees ranging from 10,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan, the registered students do not need to attend classes or study, take the exam and copy the answers, and they will be able to get 100% of the students within one and a half years. A graduation certificate that can be found on the Internet.
The course consultant recommended to Song Hao the so-called "self-examination package" projects of several universities, and emphasized that the company has signed an agency agreement with the school and can get the answer and "package it."
As for the tuition fee, the course consultant said that the original price of the service was 19,800 yuan. Through discounts and exemptions such as applying for bursaries, signing up with a group, and recommending others to get commissions, students only need to pay about 16,800 yuan and they can get them within one and a half years. The graduation certificate of the relevant colleges and universities, but does not include the degree certificate and thesis, the students can also pay more to "package".
The above-mentioned personnel emphasized that the company's "packaged" service and other institutions selling training courseware are completely different models, which is also the reason for the high fees.
She also revealed that the prices offered by the other three institutions in Beijing that operate "self-examination packages" are all over 20,000. Compared with other similar institutions, Yuanneng Education offers the most favorable price.
The Paper reporter pretended to be candidates and claimed to apply for Jiamusi University, and contacted Yuanneng Education’s course consultant. The other party said that Yuanneng Education, as a “student aid unit”, has established cooperation with many universities based on “confidentiality agreements”. relation.
Candidates only need to pay the tuition fee of 14,800 yuan to obtain a graduation certificate from Jiamusi University; if they want to obtain a degree certificate, candidates need to pay an additional 7,000 yuan, and the dissertation can also be "packaged".
As for the exams that need to be taken, the course consultant claims that if the students are in Beijing, 80% of the subjects can be taken in Beijing in the form of school internal examinations, and 20% of the national unified examinations are in Jiamusi University.
Before the exam, Yuanneng Education will open relevant courses, "wrap the answers" and "just prepare people and pens."
The course consultant even claimed that candidates do not need to consider the correctness of the answers in the exam, and they can pass the exam even if they fill in randomly.
When reporters questioned whether Yuanneng Education has a cooperative relationship with relevant colleges and universities, and asked to show the documents signed by both parties, the other party refused to disclose it on the grounds of "agreement confidentiality".
According to the course consultant, the company’s agency for self-examination enrollment is “compliant and legal”, and all the company’s basic information is found on the relevant websites, and private information cannot be disclosed.
She said, “The company and the school have signed an agency agreement, and the school requires confidentiality. We must not violate the agreement.”
Exam arrangements were repeatedly delayed, and candidates were denied refunds
Under the strong guidance of the institution, the examinee found that after paying the money according to the contract, the examination arrangement was repeatedly delayed, and even the request for refund was rejected.
In February this year, Song Hao signed a self-examination service agreement and paid 15,800 yuan to Yuanneng Education.
The person claiming to be Yuanneng Education's general academic affairs issued a notice to Song Hao that the self-examination candidates of Hunan Normal University had to take a total of 3 exams, including two offline exams, in April and October, and an online exam.
However, in the next few months, the above-mentioned academic staff has not yet decided on school arrangements, and has repeatedly shied away from similar reasons such as delays affected by the epidemic. , "Contract" to appease Song Hao's emotions-"We have been doing this for more than 6 years, and we have served 5 batches of students, all of whom will get the certificate within the specified time." Obtain the certificate", "Everything is strictly in accordance with the contract, and the time for obtaining the certificate will not change" and so on.
Until August, when Song Hao failed to take the self-examination test within the specified time and sought a refund, the above-mentioned personnel claimed that "tuition fees have been submitted to the college and cannot be refunded."
After realizing that he had been deceived, Song Hao reported to the police.
The Paper noted that there are not a few similar victims. Sina's consumer service platform "Black Cat Complaint" revealed that many netizens complained about false propaganda and induced consumption by some educational institutions.
The official website of Yuanneng Education shows that it was established on June 8, 2015 and has served more than 4,000 students to obtain graduation certificates.
According to Tianyan Check, the predecessor of Yuanneng Education was Beijing Jingwei Lexue Education Consulting Co., Ltd. ("Jingwei Lexue Education"). In November 2019, the Beijing Chaoyang District Market Supervision Administration directed Jingwei Lexue Education Random checks were conducted, but no contact was made through the registered business premises, and Jingwei Lexue Education was included in the list of business abnormalities.
In August 2020, Jingwei Lexue Education was renamed Beijing Yuanneng Education Consulting Co., Ltd., the legal representative was changed from Wang Jianjing to Zhang Haiyu, and the registered capital of the company was also changed from 5 million yuan to 60 million yuan.
School statement: No cooperative relationship, beware of being deceived
A few days ago, as to whether the school has a cooperative relationship with Yuanneng Education, The Paper contacted the School of Continuing Education of Hunan Normal University. The staff said that the school has no cooperative relationship with Beijing Yuanneng Education Consulting Co., Ltd., nor does it have any form of cooperation. Cooperation agreement.
Except for the 22 cooperative correspondence education stations publicized on the college's official website, the college has no cooperative relationship with other institutions, and there is no such situation that the college entrusts Yuanneng Education to enroll students.
The above-mentioned staff also told reporters that the college has recently noticed the false admissions information on many We-media platforms, but it is difficult to trace, and has issued a statement on the college's official website to refute the rumors, reminding the majority of candidates not to be deceived.
If a candidate is defrauded by a fake partner organization, the above-mentioned staff suggests that the candidate can call the police for help.
Once candidates encounter similar fraud, they must first raise their awareness of prevention, pay attention to the information on the school's official website when registering, and secondly look for formal cooperative correspondence stations or other official cooperative institutions of the school when paying.
The Paper noted that on August 26, the School of Continuing Education of Hunan Normal University issued the "Solemn Statement on Further Regulating the Admissions of Adult Higher Education", stating that in the recent past, criminals have conducted adult higher education under the name of our school’s partner unit. The phenomenon of enrolling students in violation of education regulations occurs from time to time. The school strictly prohibits correspondence education stations (points) from entrusting any other institutions and individuals to conduct enrollment publicity, and strictly prohibits any form of student source trading and student source affiliation.
In addition, the School of Continuing Education of Xiangtan University also issued a statement on June 7 stating that it is understood that someone fraudulently used the name of Xiangtan University or the School of Continuing Education of Xiangtan University to implant in Toutiao through Weibo, Douyin, Kuaishou and other self-media platforms. Advertisements, various browser pop-up advertisements, etc., release false information and make false promises such as "exemption from exams, no need to study, 1.5 years of graduation" and other false promises.
Our hospital solemnly declares that it has never authorized any institution or individual to conduct enrollment consultation and online promotion through the above-mentioned online channels.
(This article is from The Paper. For more original information, please download the "The Paper" APP)
The Paper Journalist Wu Yi and intern Hou Wenmao