Right now, there’s another Isaiah Alvarado wandering like a ghost through the halls of a public university in California. This fake doppelganger uses my information: name, Social Security number, date of birth. For three months, I’ve been trying to convince the bureaucrats at that school of a basic truth: that I am Isaiah Alvarado. I’m not alone in this strange and complex identity theft scheme. Around 1.2 million fraudulent applications to community colleges and universities across the state were detected in 2024. This is how sophisticated gangs of fraudsters, some operating from abroad, stole more than $11 million that year.
Those who run the California Community College (CCC) system say they are addressing the issue and using artificial intelligence and other advanced methods to immediately detect fraudsters. However, the problem seems to be outpacing the government’s ability to respond; officials have yet to find a formula to stop it.
“We are constantly seeking to improve these measures to ensure that only genuine students can complete the application process and enroll,” the CCC Chancellor’s Office said in a statement sent to EL PAÍS.
The problem became clear to me in mid-January when I was trying to enroll in classes at a community college in Los Angeles. While creating a student account, the system indicated that a profile with all my personal information already existed. The only way to register was to recover my password— but the reset link would be sent to a Hotmail account. Only the scammer had access to it. I had to report what had happened.
What followed was a frustrating process that highlights how difficult it can be for victims to even confirm they are being scammed. There doesn’t seem to be a clear or centralized system to help anyone. Calls are transferred from one office to another. There’s no protocol establishing who is responsible for taking the case, let alone resolving it. You have to deal with a bureaucracy that doesn’t fully grasp the magnitude or urgency of the problem. At one point, they asked me to send photos of my passport and driver’s license, but even then, they couldn’t verify my identity. The other Isaías Alvarado is still “taking classes” at that school, and I don’t know what else he’s done in my name.
How scammers operate
There are 116 community colleges in California, with over 2.1 million students enrolled, 48% of whom are Hispanic. These low-cost schools offer short-term programs of up to two years, basic courses, and transfer programs to universities that grant professional degrees. Anyone who applies is admitted, at least as long as no one else has already taken their spot.
Since the pandemic, virtual and hybrid classes have increased, creating vulnerabilities that are being exploited by fraud groups operating both inside and outside the United States. So far, no one has been criminally charged for this type of fraud.
The CCC governing body has identified three stages in the so-called “ghost student” scam. The first is when the fraudster gets no further than submitting an application. The second covers the period after they pass the initial filters and begin trying to enroll in courses. The third unfolds in a far more dangerous zone for institutions: the scammer stays in virtual classes long enough to quietly request government financial aid for books, food, housing, transportation, and other school-related expenses.
The criminals who have reached this stage have made a killing. In 2024 alone, they used this method to misappropriate some $8.4 million in federal aid and $2.7 million in state assistance. That year, there were 1.2 million attempted fraudulent enrollments, representing as much as 31% of all enrollment applications. Another headache: these faceless “students” take up limited spots, shutting out real applicants.
“It’s a huge issue,” Jason Williams from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General told ABC News. “As they’re stealing identities … these loans are not being repaid.”
Citing security reasons, the CCC Chancellor’s Office declined to disclose to this publication which schools have been most affected. “It is critical to note that combating fraud is an ongoing process that evolves as criminals continue to modify their attacks and employ increasingly sophisticated techniques,” the office stated. “As we improve our ability to combat fraud, criminals adapt and change their approach.”
The administration of California’s public universities says artificial intelligence has proven useful in spotting suspicious data patterns “within a rapid‑response framework” during enrollment. “It can identify clusters of fraudulent applications and registrations,” the administration explained.
One proposal that the CCC hopes will add to its list of strategies would be to require applicants to show a driver’s license issued by the California government or verify their identity through the specialized platform ID.me.
“These strategic levels have been implemented to support efforts at both the state and local levels, ensuring that staff time and financial aid funds are directed to actual students,” the agency said.
This reliance on automated systems also reveals another underlying problem. In recent years, the CCCs lost 20% of their workforce due to resignations and voluntary retirements. Because of budget constraints, these vacancies were never filled with new hires.
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