Man tricks university into giving him a law degree by pretending to have transitioned

[SydneyCarton]

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/man-tried-to-trick-university-into-giving-him-law-degree-by-pretending-to-be-a-former-student-whod-transitioned/ar-AAJ6I7G?ocid=spartandhp

Because this never happens.....

It looks as though the fraud was only discovered when the real student contacted Durham for a reference, so presumably the university did actually issue a new degree certificate based solely on "a very convincing document" . No mention of whether they requested a GRC or any other supporting information.

Ha, I was just thinking about Day of the Jackal!

You don't even have to be dead now! www.businessdictionary.com/definition/Day-of-the-Jackal-fraud.html

If you create a system full of gaping loopholes, the naice will hold back and the exploiters will go for it.

No one will bother unless it is exploited to the extent it becomes unworkable, makes a mockery and causes embarrassment, or it costs a lot of money somewhere....…….

No one will bother unless it is exploited to the extent it becomes unworkable, makes a mockery and causes embarrassment, or it costs a lot of money somewhere....…….

Fake lawyer will cause a bit of trouble, surely. (Mind you, this fraudster won't have done the followup to that law degree, or have got a training contract, so thankfully there should still have been some barriers in his way).

Trans identity fraud attempts are on the rise. Sounds like Durham needs to review it’s policies here

Do you have any sources for that, GrumpyHoonMain?

As for Durham reviewing its policies, yes, of course it should, but it's worth saying that a law (GRA) which is hard to implement and is more than a little vulnerable to user error is a bad law!

I wonder if the University would have been so accommodating if Mr Nathan Hogg had tried to impersonate a male graduate, by claiming just to have changed his name?

What we do not know from the press reports (the original seems to have been in the Evening Chronicle) is why Nathan Hogg chose to impersonate that particular female graduate.

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/nathan-hogg-durham-university-court-17102835

Was it just convenience? That she just happened to have the degree he wanted and enough public info on Linked In to cobble an alias together? Or did she happen also to be a match for his date of birth and place of birth registration, ie. the only info apart from a person's name that is shown on a UK Short Form Birth Certificate?

This is making me a bit jittery for yet another reason about the "streamlined, simplified admin procedure" to obtain a GRC as per proposed GRA reforms. I do not recall seeing any details of how the "simplified admin procedure" with no "medical gatekeeping" would operate or what proof would be required of identity and "transition" or "proposed transition". Was anything ever published?

If we are to believe the Lawyering Golfer, obtaining a GRC is already a cheap, quick and legal way to get a revised birth certificate with a new name and a new "legal sex":

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3717890-Mumsnet-to-argue-in-court-that-TWAM?msgid=90830972

Genuine question: Exactly how much easier is the Government proposing to make it for the likes of Nathan Hogg, or someone with much worse intentions, to go through an official process that "proves" they are the individual they are impersonating, ie. backed up by a genuine, GRC-obtained Birth Certificate?

Of course, we know this would never happen - just like the Nathan Hogg case would never happen - but if it does become ridiculously easy then it's a dead cert that some pycho will find a "match" with someone who has the same birth date recorded in the same Registration District, then get a GRC and new birth certificate in their target's name.

I'm sure universities would absolutely not ask the same questions once the T- word was mentioned. Rigour goes out of the window to avoid offence or reputational damage in terms of being seen as non-woke. I work in one...