4 ms·

Maybe a quick temporary fix would be to add a reCAPTCHA, and a better fix would be to mandate appearing on campus and verifying your identity before any account

Maybe a quick temporary fix would be to add a reCAPTCHA, and a better fix would be to mandate appearing on campus and verifying your identity before any accounts or financial aid is made available?

Proven 5y ago
fortran77 5y ago
But the colleges get "free money," too, for every fake student. So nobody wants to stop it. > But Rich believes that these colleges do fear enrollment drops if they remove the fake accounts. > At her college, the institution is considered a medium college — more than 10,000 students but less than 20,000 — but if it loses students, it will be considered a small college — less than 10,000 students — and lose funding down the road, the interim VP of academic affairs recently told instructors and administrators. We need to change the laws to give any taxpayer standing to sue when they see taxpayer money being misappropriated.
- gonzo41 5y ago
  In Australia it not that uncommon for the government to fund legal challenges via grants to it's own laws or to areas of unchallenged law to create rulings. But what you're describing almost seems like you need a anti corruption body that's publicly funded to sue for the best outcome of policy. Giving individuals standing would make it possible but cripplingly expensive to pursue.
  - whatusername 5y ago
    Have you got some specific Australian examples of that? I feel like I should know one or two - but nothing is coming to mind.
    - gonzo41 5y ago
      I was thinking about Family law court (federal in australia), in cases where it's complex migration and custody matters and some of the scenarios haven't really been seen before but may be considered on paper.
- newbamboo 5y ago
  Exactly the same incentives problem with EDD. The more fraud, the larger their budget gets and so there is only one metric they care about; increasing the total number of recipients. Similar issue with fake user counts in the tech world. User count = money. Unfortunately the dominant party also benefits from all of this fraud, so it is ultimately a political problem. Until there is viable outside political competition, there will continue to be zero accountability and wide scale fraud and corruption. User count = money = political power/voters. Mainstream candidates are owned, and so the only solution involves draining the swamp so to speak and it’s pretty clear at this point, the swamp usually wins.
- seoaeu 5y ago
  > We need to change the laws to give any taxpayer standing to sue when they see taxpayer money being misappropriated. If you did that, then any government aid program would spend all their time and money fending off frivolous lawsuits instead of providing aid to those who need it. Though maybe that’s the intended outcome
- kwatsonafter 5y ago
  I don't mean to insult your intelligence but, "changing the laws to give any..." could be just as easily achieved by we common citizens choosing to fund the IRS.
  - fortran77 5y ago
    I can't choose not to fund the IRS without risking spending time in prison.
killjoywashere 5y ago
And whitelists and blacklists and IP addresses.
matt-attack 5y ago
Yes. Let’s solve a $1B tax fraud using captcha.
- xbar 5y ago
  Captcha is effective at stopping a lot more fraud than $1B worth. Is it perfectly effective? No, but it stops a massive chunk of otherwise easy-to-execute fraud.
tomascalletce 5y ago
If you do that you run the risk of lowering your enrolment numbers and losing government funding for your institution. The problem is not tech related it is an incentives problem.
HarryHirsch 5y ago
Such is standard operating procedure on any campus where students receive federal funding. Phantom students are not common at all - anything with a name like "Open the Books" sounds like a lobby group, and one would like about their motives and funding sources.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

Maybe a quick temporary fix would be to add a reCAPTCHA, and a better fix would be to mandate appearing on campus and verifying your identity before any accounts or financial aid is made available?

Proven 5y ago

fortran77 5y ago

But the colleges get "free money," too, for every fake student. So nobody wants to stop it. > But Rich believes that these colleges do fear enrollment drops if they remove the fake accounts. > At her college, the institution is considered a medium college — more than 10,000 students but less than 20,000 — but if it loses students, it will be considered a small college — less than 10,000 students — and lose funding down the road, the interim VP of academic affairs recently told instructors and administrators. We need to change the laws to give any taxpayer standing to sue when they see taxpayer money being misappropriated.

gonzo41 5y ago
In Australia it not that uncommon for the government to fund legal challenges via grants to it's own laws or to areas of unchallenged law to create rulings. But what you're describing almost seems like you need a anti corruption body that's publicly funded to sue for the best outcome of policy. Giving individuals standing would make it possible but cripplingly expensive to pursue.
- whatusername 5y ago
  Have you got some specific Australian examples of that? I feel like I should know one or two - but nothing is coming to mind.
  - gonzo41 5y ago
    I was thinking about Family law court (federal in australia), in cases where it's complex migration and custody matters and some of the scenarios haven't really been seen before but may be considered on paper.
newbamboo 5y ago
Exactly the same incentives problem with EDD. The more fraud, the larger their budget gets and so there is only one metric they care about; increasing the total number of recipients. Similar issue with fake user counts in the tech world. User count = money. Unfortunately the dominant party also benefits from all of this fraud, so it is ultimately a political problem. Until there is viable outside political competition, there will continue to be zero accountability and wide scale fraud and corruption. User count = money = political power/voters. Mainstream candidates are owned, and so the only solution involves draining the swamp so to speak and it’s pretty clear at this point, the swamp usually wins.
seoaeu 5y ago
> We need to change the laws to give any taxpayer standing to sue when they see taxpayer money being misappropriated. If you did that, then any government aid program would spend all their time and money fending off frivolous lawsuits instead of providing aid to those who need it. Though maybe that’s the intended outcome
kwatsonafter 5y ago
I don't mean to insult your intelligence but, "changing the laws to give any..." could be just as easily achieved by we common citizens choosing to fund the IRS.
- fortran77 5y ago
  I can't choose not to fund the IRS without risking spending time in prison.

killjoywashere 5y ago

And whitelists and blacklists and IP addresses.

matt-attack 5y ago

Yes. Let’s solve a $1B tax fraud using captcha.

xbar 5y ago
Captcha is effective at stopping a lot more fraud than $1B worth. Is it perfectly effective? No, but it stops a massive chunk of otherwise easy-to-execute fraud.

tomascalletce 5y ago

If you do that you run the risk of lowering your enrolment numbers and losing government funding for your institution. The problem is not tech related it is an incentives problem.

HarryHirsch 5y ago

Such is standard operating procedure on any campus where students receive federal funding. Phantom students are not common at all - anything with a name like "Open the Books" sounds like a lobby group, and one would like about their motives and funding sources.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]