Pakistan's HEC warns applicants against agents posing as authorised degree attestation facilitators
The Higher Education Commission says people falsely claiming to be authorised agents are offering to attest certificates, and reminds applicants that its attestation process is online and should be completed without intermediaries.
Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC) issued a public advisory on 3 November warning applicants about individuals who claim to be authorised agents for the attestation and verification of educational documents.
According to reports by ARY News and Daily The Destination, the commission said some people were approaching applicants and offering to get their degrees, certificates and other academic records attested through the HEC. The commission said such offers could be fraudulent and could be used to obtain personal information or misuse educational records.
What the commission advised
The HEC told applicants not to hand over original documents, academic records or personal details to unknown or unauthorised people. It said its attestation system is online and paperless, so applicants can submit requests from home without using agents or other intermediaries.
Applicants were urged to follow the procedure published on the commission's official website, hec.gov.pk, which includes an online help desk. The advisory listed the helpline numbers 051-111-119-432 and 0334-1119432 for queries.
The advisory did not say how many people had been approached or whether any complaints had been referred to law enforcement. It focused on reminding the public that the commission does not require applicants to use any middleman to complete attestation.
Context
HEC attestation is routinely required by Pakistani graduates applying for jobs, further study or visas abroad, which makes it a target for touts who promise faster processing. The warning follows recent official attention in Pakistan to forged academic documents and fraudulent overseas admission offers, including a Senate committee briefing by the Federal Investigation Agency in late October.
Practical points for applicants
Apply only through the regulator's own portal and keep a record of each application reference. Treat any offer to speed up attestation for a fee paid to a private individual as a warning sign. Never share login credentials, scanned originals or identity details with people who contact you unsolicited, and report suspicious approaches to the issuing authority.
This News Desk report summarises information published by the sources above, written in our own words. Persons named in criminal matters are accused, not convicted, unless a court has ruled otherwise. To report an error, use our contact page.
More from the News Desk
- Brazil federal court convicts man who used fake distance-learning diploma to seek professional registration
- Indonesian police say they are examining complaint over Vice-President Gibran's education equivalence letter
- NYSC official tells Abuja court ex-minister Nnaji's discharge certificate was not issued by the scheme
- Paraguay accreditation agency refers over 71,000 degrees from unaccredited programmes to prosecutors