Oxford degree for £165
Fake Oxbridge degree certificates are available for purchase over the internet at just £165 each.
Despite a major court injunction four years ago and repeated legal action, Liverpudlian Peter Leon Quinn, who calls himself 'The Magician', is still trading in the illegal diplomas.
Merchandise on offer also includes fraudulent GCSE and A-Level qualifications.
Police have seized Quinn's computers but he is yet to be charged - despite the illegality of any unrecognised organisation imitating a university or offering qualifications that could be mistaken for a degree or other educational certificate.
The Oxford Student understands that universities can no longer afford to bring further costly and ineffective lawsuits against Quinn.
Quinn's website boasts: "All the documents I produce are authentic looking workable items, in the main they are accepted as the genuine article."
Undercover reporters working for The Guardian purchased a degree in medicine, purportedly from Oxford University, as well as a full set of GCSEs and a BA from the University of Strathclyde, which was said by a university spokesperson to be "quite authentic".
Following the investigation in The Guardian, the chairman of the education Select Committee, Barry Sheerman, pledged to raise the issue with Charles Clark, the Education Secretary.
Sheerman said: "We are renowned for high quality education in this country and anything that undermines this should be taken seriously, whether it is fake degrees on the internet or phoney universities."
Understandably, Oxford remains set against the practice, and extended a warning to other institutions.
A spokesperson said: "The integrity of academic awards is a matter of concern not just to those universities that are specifically named, but to all higher education institutions."
6th Oct 2004