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<p class="MsoNormal">We currently use an identity verification that is built into our Slate admissions process. We have identified several potential fraudulent students when they refuse to provide the proper verification (picture ID) or provide verification
that does not match their application details—mainly online. We have also been able to catch some fraudulent students through financial aid verification.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We are also fortunate to have tech savvy folks that have found bad applications by researching the person on LinkedIn and Facebook when information wasn’t matching up. It definitely sends up a red flag when someone with a JD in New York
is trying to get admitted for an online undergraduate degree in Oklahoma. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#242424;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Liz McLain, DPA<b><br>
</b>Director of Admissions and Recruitment</span><span style="color:#242424"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#242424;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">East Central University</span><span style="color:#242424"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#242424;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">1100 E 14<sup>th</sup> Street</span><span style="color:#242424"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#242424;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Ada, Oklahoma 74820</span><span style="color:#242424"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#242424;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">580-559-5528</span><span style="color:#242424"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://apply.ecok.edu/apply/"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-ligatures:none;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="102" height="33" style="width:1.0625in;height:.3437in" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image003.png@01DCA70B.9BB7DFF0" alt="A close-up of a black background
AI-generated content may be incorrect."></span></a><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"> Oacrao-l <oacrao-l-bounces@lists.onenet.net>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Johnson, Adam<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, February 26, 2026 9:52 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> oacrao-l@lists.onenet.net<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Oacrao-l] Fraudulent applications increasing<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<strong><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">[CAUTION]</span></strong><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"> This email originated from outside East Central University. Do not click links or open attachments unless
you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Good morning!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">SWOSU has seen a growing number of fraudulent applications come through in the past several months. While others were easier to spot/track, they are becoming increasingly more difficult to identify.
</span>In a recent example, the fraudulent applicant used someone else’s identity to gain admission (and Financial Aid), and someone is actually submitting assignments in their enrolled courses (asynchronous fully online).
<span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Here’s my question for you all - what are you doing to help prevent these kinds of fraudulent applications coming through? Are you using some kind of in-house process to verify every student’s identity or partnering
with an outside vendor? If in-house, is the process in your Admissions area or Financial Aid office (or both/other)?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you for your insight! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/mysignature.io/?utm_source=logo__;!!IMGxvw!EOO4m3wq8o0u6_mS4Ot1JiAeUGvQ7LvTfmP16Vsz78BaGA9FMnauDn5Q9Fa38cGSPNQFOSkwthrwdA_EmrH7EhJs$" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:blue;mso-ligatures:none;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="165" height="72" style="width:1.7187in;height:.75in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image005.png@01DCA70B.9BB7DFF0" alt="created with MySignature.io"></span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:.1pt"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#293F6F;mso-ligatures:none">Dr. Adam Johnson</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:.1pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#000001;mso-ligatures:none">Vice-President for Student Services</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:.1pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#000001;mso-ligatures:none">Office of Student Services</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#000001;mso-ligatures:none">p:
<u><a href="tel:580-774-3063" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000001">580-774-3</span></a>177</u></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#000001;mso-ligatures:none">f:
<u>580-774-7035</u> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#000001;mso-ligatures:none">w:
</span><u><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:blue;mso-ligatures:none"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.swosu.edu/__;!!IMGxvw!EOO4m3wq8o0u6_mS4Ot1JiAeUGvQ7LvTfmP16Vsz78BaGA9FMnauDn5Q9Fa38cGSPNQFOSkwthrwdA_EmpIU61Zt$"><span style="color:blue">swosu.edu</span></a></span></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#000001;mso-ligatures:none">e:
</span><u><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#0563C1;mso-ligatures:none"><a href="mailto:adam.johnson@swosu.edu"><span lang="PT-BR" style="color:#0563C1">adam.johnson@swosu.edu</span></a></span></u><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#000001;mso-ligatures:none">
</span><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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