‘Ghost’ students are hijacking millions from colleges—and locking real human students out of classes

College students moving around man at desk in classroom - stock photo (Credit: Chris Ryan—Getty Images)

• Scammers disguised as thousands of fake students are flooding colleges across the U.S. with enrollment applications. The “students” are registering under stolen or fabricated identities, getting accepted to schools, and then vanishing with financial aid and college-minted email addresses that give the fraudsters a veneer of legitimacy.  

Jeannie Kim went to sleep thinking about budgets and enrollment challenges. She woke up to discover her college had been invaded by an army of phantom students.