How did the fake diploma gang bypass the Ministry of National Education, ÖSYM, and YÖK step by step? A gang member explained it one by one!

The inner workings of a gang that infiltrated the systems of Turkey's most critical educational institutions, such as the Ministry of National Education (MoNE), the Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM), and the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), to register fake diplomas into the state's official digital infrastructure, have come to light through the confessions of a member.

A gang member reached by Batuhan Serim from Cumhuriyet explained step by step how the state's official education systems were breached. According to the confessions, many public systems, including e-Devlet, were compromised from within by an organized structure.

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA REGISTERED IN THE SYSTEM IN THREE STEPS

The gang member stated that the process of making high school diplomas valid was completed in just three stages. Explaining that they first gained access to school databases affiliated with the MoNE, the gang member provided the following information:

“We enter the student registration system of schools affiliated with the MoNE through a special application. We identify empty registration fields for individuals who have not previously graduated.”

Stating that the so-called graduation procedures were initiated in the second stage, the member explained that they created a document called a “certificate of graduation” (tasdikname) through the system, ensuring that individuals appeared as graduates:

“We enter the person's name, Turkish ID number, school code, graduation date, and diploma grade. The system recognizes this as a temporary graduation certificate.”

In the third and final stage, this document is automatically recognized by the digital system as a “verifiable diploma.” Thus, the person begins to appear as an official graduate in the MoNE system.

UNIVERSITY DIPLOMA ALSO LOOKS REAL

Explaining that a more complex and multi-stage process is applied for university graduation documents, unlike high school diplomas, the gang member said that first, fake but identical-looking diploma documents are prepared.

The gang does not stop at creating a diploma image in the system; they also digitally construct a fake university placement process. The gang member revealed that they intervene in the ÖSYM database using a special ‘integration’ tool.

THEY GO ALL THE WAY TO THE YÖK INFORMATION SYSTEM

In the final stage, the fake graduation procedures are transferred to the Higher Education Information System (YÖKSİS). Stating that information such as diploma number, degree, and graduation year is entered here, the gang member expressed that with this process, the person achieves full official graduate status on e-Devlet.