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Be aware - people do try to use Fake Aggie credentials

5,389 Views | 34 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by Apache
HollywoodBQ
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Initial Warning - 20 years ago
I was warned about this by a guy who was a pharmaceutical sales recruiter. He said he ran into several people trying to pass themselves off as Aggies with some even acquiring an Aggie Ring.

I knew that guy from my time at A&M but his stories were always a little outlandish. So while I believed him, it was one of those things that sounded so ridiculous, it almost couldn't be true. We're talking about far more than putting an A&M sticker on your car or wearing an A&M t-shirt. We're talking about trying to pass yourself off as a graduate of Texas A&M which as most of us know takes a good bit of effort and can be checked fairly easily.

I have seen people who acquire an A&M Class Ring from a deceased parent, or family member but those folks will usually open up immediately to tell you about their loved one and how much they loved A&M. I recently met a guy wearing his father's Class of 1944 ring - amazing stories about his dad. That's not what we're talking about here.

First Encounter - 10 years ago
At a work conference, a friend introduced me to a guy who was about my age and was "an Aggie" and had been in the Army. I normally have long hair and I'm overweight so to the casual observer, I certainly don't look like I was in the Corps, or the Army or anything.

Anyway, this "Aggie" was wearing an Aggie Ring and I started asking him some questions about the Corps, A&M, etc. and he didn't seem to have any idea what I was talking about. I thought, maybe he was a non-reg and commissioned via OCS or something. But he really didn't seem to know anything about student life from the late 1980s, early 1990s.

Honestly, if you never had a beer at The Chicken or Dudley's or Harry's and never danced at The Texas Hall of Fame, or Graham Central Station, or at least hung out with Frat Daddies at The Tap, you did not attend Texas A&M during my era. (I'll spare us all from the memory of how good the Wrecking Crew was versus where we are today)

I backed off on my interrogation because a really good friend of mine presented this fellow as a really good friend of his and I didn't want to seem like a complete jerk but the fake Aggie's story didn't seem to add up.

Later, I used the Association's web site to look this guy up and could not find him at all. You can look up Lyle Lovett or Robert Earl Keen or any other Aggie but not this guy - because he was fake.

A year or two passes and one of this guy's friends posts a picture online of the fake Aggie from his commissioning into the Army. Turns out he did commission via Army ROTC - at Tarleton State. I knew that guy was fake, it just took a couple years to prove it.

This Week - LinkedIn Fakery
Fast forward to yesterday, I get a LinkedIn request from a guy who I share 30+ mutual connections with and LinkedIn lets me know that he and I both went to Texas A&M.

I'm thinking, cool, let's see who this guy is, do I know him, have anything in common so I click his profile. Well, he lists about 4 different colleges with the top one displayed in his profile as MIT. I look at his degree from MIT is and it says that he got a certificate in some course. I see a lot of Indian guys in the Bay Area do this and then list Stanford as the top school in their profile. So this guy is mis-representing himself to begin with so I look a little further.

Down the page, he claims to have a degree from Texas A&M in the mid-1990s. Also claims to have played Football and be a member of an honor fraternity.

There's no record of this guy in the Association's database.

Could he have used a different name? It's a unique surname and there's only one other male in the 1990s with that name. Not him.

Could he have attended a different school which is now called Texas A&M? Like how Texas A&I became Texas A&M - Kingsville. Maybe.

In summary, I just wanted to make you all aware that fraud and mis-representation of people's identities is alive and well. And there are people out there trying to pass themselves off as one of us so.... be aware.
canadianAg
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It definitely happens. I worked with a guy at a super major in Houston and was hearing rumors from friends that he didn't actually go to A&M but had an Aggie ring and told everyone he was an Aggie. So I just looked him up on the association and sure enough, he got 90 hours and the ring but didn't finish. He'd worked 10 years for this super major and they never knew he didn't actually graduate.

I didn't rat on him but someone in senior leadership found out pretty soon after that and fired his ass immediately. He eventually did finish and actually got an EMBA from A&M in city center. I was absolutely disgusted though when I saw the MBA program post a video on LinkedIn with him being featured because he's such a slimeball. I'm sure they didn't know he spent the first half of his career lying about being an Aggie but it pained me.
The Collective
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Stolen Aggie Valor.
The Collective
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Seriously though, I love A&M, but imagine choosing to fake an A&M degree. I say - go big or go home.
HollywoodBQ
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Agree. Stanford or bust!

In my industry, back in 2002, the CFO of a market leading software company got busted for lying about a Stanford MBA.
https://slate.com/business/2002/10/why-do-executives-lie-about-their-education.html
Quote:

But those who falsely claim the most cherished diplomas rarely escape being found out. Graduates of credential mills like Harvard and Stanford are inordinately jealous of their diplomas and have developed exceptional abilities to ferret out posers. That's why Lonchar's presumption of a Stanford degree was so brazen. Silicon Valley is rotten with Stanford MBAs, and it's a place where discussing school ties is a way for people to break the ice and establish connections. Falsely claiming a Stanford degree on Sand Hill Road is a little like walking around Park Slope, Brooklyn, and trying to pass as a book editorwithin a few minutes you'll run into somebody who, with a well-aimed "Do you know?" or "I just had lunch with," can unmask your falsehood.
agnerd
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I have a friend that didn't go to A&M but does have an Aggie ring he bought off his idiot coworker. Coworker can get a degree from A&M, but can't manage his finances well enough to stay out of debt. Friend bought the ring, and idiot aggie said he'll just buy another one when he gets out of debt. My friend uses it exclusively at northgate because he says the bouncers don't bother people with rings. He lives in College Station and could absolutely pass for an Aggie. He has a common name, and there are 8 people on the former student site that match his name. If you're hiring an Aggie, it's a good idea to request that the candidate have the university mail you an official transcript. Unofficial transcripts and diplomas are easy to fake.

Only reason I don't give my friend grief is that he is a delivery driver and I've never seen him wear the ring outside of northgate.
GoAgs92
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I get a lot of I went to A&M but they leave off the Kingsville ending or whichever non college station campus they went to.
Cruiser87
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Good to know. Thanks!
Captain Winky
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What? Bouncers don't give people with rings any trouble? What does this even mean?
AlphaBean
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GoAgs92 said:

I get a lot of I went to A&M but they leave off the Kingsville ending or whichever non college station campus they went to.


Yep. Automatic rejection. Same for any other school, too. Don't tell me you're a sip when you're really a roadrunner. What else are you lying about or misrepresenting?
HollywoodBQ
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Captain Winky said:

What? Bouncers don't give people with rings any trouble? What does this even mean?
Funny aside about that - on my first Business Trip to San Francisco in late September 1998, I went to a bar with some friends on Saturday night October 3rd and the doorman asked me how my team played today.

Since he was looking at my Texas Driver's License, I assumed he was asking about the Astros who were in the playoffs against San Diego that day. He said "No, the Aggies" and pointed at my ring. I was stunned that a doorman at a bar in SF knew what an Aggie Ring was.
HollywoodBQ
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AlphaBean said:

GoAgs92 said:

I get a lot of I went to A&M but they leave off the Kingsville ending or whichever non college station campus they went to.
Yep. Automatic rejection. Same for any other school, too. Don't tell me you're a sip when you're really a roadrunner. What else are you lying about or misrepresenting?
My mother graduated from t.u. in the late 1960s and I remember in the 1980s, she was complaining that now with all the satellite UT locations, she had to specify that she graduated from UT - Austin instead of just UT.

I guess we're just a few years behind in that respect.
agnerd
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Bouncers and bartenders. Carding you every time you order a drink even if the bouncer out front has already carded you. Not allowing you to open up a tab and instead requiring you to pay for each drink as you order it. If there are 2 bouncers working and both are outside checking IDs, after he walks in, one stays outside checking IDs while the other moves inside to keep an eye on "everyone." Local records don't show any arrests, so maybe he just looks guilty or like a problem waiting to happen? Stuff like that that I've never experienced and that he said stopped when he started showing up with a ring on.
coastalaggie
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canadianAg said:

It definitely happens. I worked with a guy at a super major in Houston and was hearing rumors from friends that he didn't actually go to A&M but had an Aggie ring and told everyone he was an Aggie. So I just looked him up on the association and sure enough, he got 90 hours and the ring but didn't finish. He'd worked 10 years for this super major and they never knew he didn't actually graduate.

I didn't rat on him but someone in senior leadership found out pretty soon after that and fired his ass immediately. He eventually did finish and actually got an EMBA from A&M in city center. I was absolutely disgusted though when I saw the MBA program post a video on LinkedIn with him being featured because he's such a slimeball. I'm sure they didn't know he spent the first half of his career lying about being an Aggie but it pained me.
Was it at Shell?
Fair Winds and Following Seas
Lake08
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I live in Waco and it's amazing how many people pretend to have graduated from Baylor til I offer to pay them $500 for a pic of the diploma. That shuts them up.

Note: why lie about graduating from that sheat hole.
StockHorseAg
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I live in Amarillo and there have been a few time people have told me that they went to A&M and after I ask them a few questions they say "well I went to West Texas A&M."

I had a coworker who would tell everybody that she went to Cal-Poly. I told her that my Wife went to Cal-Poly and she thought that was cool and that was that. Fast forward a few months and her and my Wife meet at a social function for work. Well after my wife talked to her it turned out that she had gone to Cal-Poly Pomona which is like WTAMU to TAMU. I thought differently of her after that.
Camo
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I wear my Dad's ring class of '79 - he passed away 2 years ago. I only wear it when i go out or special occasions. I never wear my ring on account, well I got a little chunky, i guess. When i tell people it's my dad's everyone, especially the ladies, think it's really cool.

Well then some asshat at the bar one night was on a mission to prove I really wasn't an aggie, i obviously dont look like i graduated in 1979. Overly aggressive, asking me anything and everything about TAMU, what bars i went to, what the weather was like May 13 in CS, just overtop. It got to be so abrasive, became borderline harassment.



one MEEN Ag
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First job out of college was on a weird team for a small service company. One of the freshouts got let go and was absolutely losing their mind about it. Saying things like he'd never get another engineering job, he'd have to go back home to his family.

Turns out the guy had been faking graduating from A&M with an engineering degree. He was using small companies who weren't checking stuff to skirt by. Was a weird situation all around.
HollywoodBQ
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Lake08 said:

I live in Waco and it's amazing how many people pretend to have graduated from Baylor til I offer to pay them $500 for a pic of the diploma. That shuts them up.

Note: why lie about graduating from that sheat hole.
So you'll think that they could afford tuition there.

Looks like Baylor is up to $55k/yr for just Tuition. That is insane.
https://admissions.web.baylor.edu/costs-aid/tuition-fees

Even the $12k/yr Tuition at A&M is crazy but Baylor is ridiculous.
https://aggie.tamu.edu/billing-and-payments/cost-and-tuition-rates/undergraduate-cost-of-attendance
HollywoodBQ
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That's cool that you have an opportunity to wear your dad's ring.

You should have told that guy you're a Highlander and you're really 400 years old.
HollywoodBQ
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I'm in information technology and there are most definitely people at small companies who might be great at their job but can't work for a big company because they can't pass the background check.

When I worked for Dell, they were really serious about background checks and drug testing and lying. I knew a guy who was working for Dell for 5 years and then one day, he was gone. Turned out he had lied about his criminal convictions on his initial application and somehow it came up and they fired him for lying about it.

When I went to work for a big IT company, they did want transcripts from my undergrad and MBA before they'd hire me.

Which reminds me, when graduated from A&M, I thought I was going to be real smart by getting a couple copies of my transcript to give to prospective employers. Before I could start working at the State of Texas, I had to get a new transcript because back then, they didn't add the words "Degree Conferred on Date" for a few days after graduation. My transcripts only said Degree Requirements Completed. Lesson Learned.
tamuags08
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The Collective said:

Stolen Aggie Valor.
AgLA06
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The Collective said:

Seriously though, I love A&M, but imagine choosing to fake an A&M degree. I say - go big or go home.
Picking one of the largest schools in the nation that is well ranked and thought of isn't a dumb idea compared to a small exclusive school where everyone knows everyone. Ever seen Suits?

I have people that didn't go to A&M all the time ask if I know so and so that went to A&M. There's the occasional yes, but usually it's "him and 50 thousand others across 9 colleges and how many satellite campuses while I was there".

Hell, I'm sure there's plenty of majors like business and education and engineering where people don't know half of their graduation class. Not the same at many of the schools that would be going big or going home.
AggieTrainer
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Can't imagine that it matters. Graduating from A&M has never opened a door, caused an introduction, or created any kind of opportunity for me in my professional life. My military service has always been helpful, but I've never met anyone who cared that I went to A&M, including other aggies. Unless he's impersonating an engineer or some other technical, I can't imagine anyone caring about his 'degree' either.
BTHOB
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AggieTrainer said:

Can't imagine that it matters. Graduating from A&M has never opened a door, caused an introduction, or created any kind of opportunity for me in my professional life. My military service has always been helpful, but I've never met anyone who cared that I went to A&M, including other aggies. Unless he's impersonating an engineer or some other technical, I can't imagine anyone caring about his 'degree' either.
Wow! I've had quite the different experience.

I've gotten a couple of job interviews SOLELY based on graduating from Texas A&M. I've gotten countless referrals for positions following conversations where somebody noticed my Aggie Ring and we talked about shared experiences while at school.

I've also gotten out of two speeding tickets after the officer who pulled me over noticed my Aggie Ring and mentioned (1) "My kid goes there... it's a good school." and (2) "My Dad was in the Corp there."

Anyway, I guess we all just have different experiences but I am certainly glad I am legitimately associated with the Aggie Network because it has paid dividends for me.

one MEEN Ag
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AggieTrainer said:

Can't imagine that it matters. Graduating from A&M has never opened a door, caused an introduction, or created any kind of opportunity for me in my professional life. My military service has always been helpful, but I've never met anyone who cared that I went to A&M, including other aggies. Unless he's impersonating an engineer or some other technical, I can't imagine anyone caring about his 'degree' either.
I am an engineer for a F500 company that helps out with recruiting. Internally, the best that rise to the top come from all over but A&M's brand certainly helps the company fill out its new hire slots. There are only so many university career fairs you can go to in one season on the company side. Even if you don't see it in your life, A&M draws a huge amount of companies in for hiring. Lots of older professional aggies want to see their company give A&M a shot.

A&M's brand profile is when you hire an aggie you're likely getting someone is who is generally smart and generally honest. That generally works for a majority of companies new hire needs.
htxag09
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Yep, I don't have a story of someone saw my Aggie ring and I got a job or anything like that....

But my first job after graduating was with someone who was pretty heavily involved in my major's professional organization and recruited it pretty hard....so I consider than an Aggie connection that got me a job.

A later job was with someone who recruited on the A&M career site heavily, even for non new grads. Finding that job on that site....again pretty much an Aggie connection.

The company I'm with now is recruiting for interns and was only able to choose a couple of career fairs. A&M was one, and my manager, who makes the decision, is a UT grad....but didn't chose UT.
The Collective
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AlphaBean said:

GoAgs92 said:

I get a lot of I went to A&M but they leave off the Kingsville ending or whichever non college station campus they went to.


Yep. Automatic rejection. Same for any other school, too. Don't tell me you're a sip when you're really a roadrunner. What else are you lying about or misrepresenting?


Weird thing is the system didn't really need to brand everything A&M, but they were ok creating this problem to make the other schools seem more appealing.
Fuzzy Dunlop
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I earned my ring and proudly wear it. However, I didn't graduate and I make it known when I meet fellow Aggies. I'm not proud of the fact that I didn't get my degree from A&M due to extenuating circumstances. I did get my degree eventually but I would have liked to have the opportunity to finish at A&M.

I do know others in my situation that lie by omission about graduating. They don't out right say they graduated but they aren't honest about it either. It makes me pretty mad but I just let it go.
Double Talkin' Jive...
Rudyjax
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I worked with a guy that wore a stolen SWC championship ring. No internet back in the day, ibut a guy on the team said this dude was absolutely not on the team.

So odd.
Win At Life
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htxag09 said:

Yep, I don't have a story of someone saw my Aggie ring and I got a job or anything like that....

But my first job after graduating was with someone who was pretty heavily involved in my major's professional organization and recruited it pretty hard....so I consider than an Aggie connection that got me a job.

A later job was with someone who recruited on the A&M career site heavily, even for non new grads. Finding that job on that site....again pretty much an Aggie connection.

The company I'm with now is recruiting for interns and was only able to choose a couple of career fairs. A&M was one, and my manager, who makes the decision, is a UT grad....but didn't chose UT.


The A&M career fair is the Olympics of college career fairs. My son came back all the way from his masters at Corvallis and got a job offer from a company in Portland that didn't even bother recruiting at Oregon State.
AJ02
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HollywoodBQ said:

Lake08 said:

I live in Waco and it's amazing how many people pretend to have graduated from Baylor til I offer to pay them $500 for a pic of the diploma. That shuts them up.

Note: why lie about graduating from that sheat hole.
So you'll think that they could afford tuition there.

Looks like Baylor is up to $55k/yr for just Tuition. That is insane.
https://admissions.web.baylor.edu/costs-aid/tuition-fees

Even the $12k/yr Tuition at A&M is crazy but Baylor is ridiculous.
https://aggie.tamu.edu/billing-and-payments/cost-and-tuition-rates/undergraduate-cost-of-attendance


Holy crap! It costs $30k/year to go to A&M now??? Assuming a kid graduates in 4 years (which isn't going to happen with taking 15 hours per semester like the estimator uses) that's $120k for a degree at A&M? More likely $150k bc it's going to get pushed to 5 years.
AgLA06
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$5k of that $30k is "travel and personal expenses in addition to tuition, books, room, and board / food.

So it's really $25k a year. I believe it was $18k when I graduated in 2007.

That's crazy, but lets put it into perspective. $25k a year including food, room, and board is also ridiculously inexpensive for a person to live for a year. And they get a degree that if chosen half intelligently allows a lifestyle multiples better at graduation and that should increase in the years after.

AJ02
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I remember my share of rent was $275/month. So for 9 months (I think that's what most leases were), that's $2475. And I remember writing out my check for tuition one semester and it was just under $3k. Granted, that was tuition only, and not books, meal plan, etc. But still....that means I was at around $9k per year on tuition and rent only. Just blows my mind how expensive rent/dorms have gotten. And I think a lot of the reason for that increase is former students coming back to CS to live out their years, along with everyone thinking their kids need their own fancy home or condo to live in while they go to school. So they're buying up all the homes for their kids. There are no "cheap" apartments and homes to rent anymore. Our 3 bedroom, 2 bath house we had behind north gate...$825/month. I can't even imagine what it is now. It was a bit of a dump, constantly had plumbing issues with sewer backing up into the showers. But still....isn't that kind of a part of college life? Surviving on ramen noodles in a ****ty house/apartment that you have to share with 4 other people? And not everyone had their own bedroom and bathroom? I had a blast in college and I was dirt poor.

I dunno. I get it...inflation. It just seems like we're losing so much of what makes the college experience unique and fun. And paying SO MUCH for it as well.
Apache
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Quote:

Graduating from A&M has never opened a door, caused an introduction, or created any kind of opportunity for me in my professional life.
What kind of work are you in? This is hard to believe.... I've met countless people across the US & Europe just because of my Ring or A&M gear.
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