US Student Scholarship Scam Revealed on Reddit

Indian student used ChatGPT, fake website, fake teacher email address and forged documents to scam US scholarship! His boasting on Reddit led to his downfall. How did the moderator reveal the complex pattern?

Aryan Anand, a 19-year-old student from India, has been kicked out of Lehigh University and is facing deportation after his incredibly sophisticated scam was uncovered via a Reddit post by a moderator.

Anand, who secured a full scholarship to the 47th-ranked US national university, fabricated documents, including his father’s false death certificate, to gain admission and financial aid.

Aryan Anand’s fraudulent activities came to light when he anonymously posted on Reddit at u/TransportationOk4728 bragging about his achievements in a thread titled “I Built My Life and Career on Lies and Deception.”

The now-deleted post details how Anand forged his Grade 12 certificates, created fake school domains and email addresses that spoofed those of the school’s principal, and used AI tools such as ChatGPT to write admissions essays and passing exams.

The confession caught the attention of an alert Reddit moderator, who dug into Anand’s claims. The moderator’s investigation revealed that Anand was a student at Lehigh University, prompting them to notify university officials. This led to an internal Lehigh University investigation that ended with Anand’s arrest on April 30, 2024, and his subsequent expulsion and deportation.

Ananad’s Reddit post, in which he brazenly described his methods and boasted about his success, proved to be his undoing. Users expressed mixed reactions, with some condemning his actions and others expressing disbelief at the extent of his deception.

“My guy was an absolute genius, an idiot, a announcer of everything at the same time. Dude, I felt like I was reading a movie script about something,” one user commented, illustrating that the Reddit community took the incident not just as news, but as a gripping plot point for the film.

Another user described the reality of the situation, speculating on the possible consequences of this incident for the admissions process at US universities:

“Fuck this guy, he took advantage of good natured people and his actions will most likely now make the admission process more difficult for everyone else. There is nothing clever about faking your father’s death, only malice and greed. Just a risk-taking spoiled brat who got lucky in his actions.”

The moderator who discovered Ananad’s identity provided key evidence to Lehigh University, leading to a comprehensive investigation by the Lehigh University Police Department. Anand was charged with multiple crimes, including forgery, tampering with documents and theft by deception.

On June 12, 2024, he pleaded guilty to forgery and was sentenced to one to three months in Northampton County Jail, equivalent to time served. As part of the plea agreement, he agreed to return to India, and the university agreed not to seek repayment of $85,000 (about ₹70 lakh) in scholarship funds.

As Anand prepares to return to India, his story serves as a warning about the dangers of academic dishonesty and the power of digital communities to uncover the truth.

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