‘Ghostbusters’: Feds Find Fraudsters Use AI to Fake College Attendance and Receive Fed Aid

Oct 29, 2026 1:44 PM
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‘Ghostbusters’: Feds Find Fraudsters Use AI to Fake College Attendance and Receive Fed Aid
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Artificial intelligence has supercharged fraud to steal money from government student loan programs, according to new revelations by the Trump administration.

As of October 29, the U.S. national debt is $40.5 trillion, and I am not exaggerating when I say that it is increasing every second. There are two main reasons for this horrendous debt: politicians’ and bureaucrats’ overspending, and mass fraud. And when the Trump administration announces discoveries such as the huge scam, particularly involving Kenyans, manufacturing fake student personas in order to obtain taxpayer-funded aid, it helps illuminate how we became so insanely in debt.

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Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald announced new charges and explained how the fraud operates on Thursday. “Some use super intelligence to fill out college applications and complete coursework, so it looks like the ghost student is actually completing the class,” he said of the fraudsters. “Some even create the appearance of a fake student in an online classroom to trick schools into believing a real person is present. The goal is to keep the ghost student in school for as long as possible, semester after semester after semester, stealing money from the taxpayer.”

McDonald also confirmed the seizure of “more than $750,000 in cryptocurrency tied to this scheme and laundered through a network associated with Kenyan nationals. This is the first international seizure of its kind in Kenya. In Nebraska, a grand jury has indicted Francis Mogambi, a Kenyan national, on charges of theft of government money and aggravated identity theft.”

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Explaining further, McDonald said, “According to court documents, Mogambi allegedly worked with associates in Kenya to steal U.S. identities and enroll victims as students, redirect federal aid payments, keep a share for himself, and send the rest to co-conspirators in Kenya.”

Multiple individuals living in New Jersey “are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They allegedly acted as money mules in a scheme involving hundreds of ghost students and more than $1.3 million in proceeds,” McDonald stated. “Prosecutors allege that money was sent overseas, including to individuals connected to a Kenya-based safari business used as a cover.”

The Trump-McMahon Department of Education is coordinating with the Department of Justice “to identify and shut off fraudulent accounts, to stop this money from going to the fraudsters. If you steal American identities, if you steal taxpayer dollars, if you exploit programs meant to help students build their future, we are resolved to find you and prosecute you.”

It’s amazing how many foreigners have learned how to game our system while Democrats keep trying to raise taxes even more on Americans. “The American people deserve better than ghost students, fake applications, and stolen aid,” McDonald said. “This is not the end of Operation Ghostbusters. This is just the beginning.”

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As someone who personally spent over a year fighting with the government and its third-party loan contractor to prove I was not the person who had taken out federal student loans in my name for a university I’ve never even visited, let alone attended, this is a topic which particularly infuriates me. The Biden administration specifically removed a lot of verification safeguards that made it even easier for fraudsters to use stolen identities, and the Trump administration is now dealing with the aftermath. It was ridiculously easy to apply for and obtain student loans from the government, to get taxpayer money, but incredibly onerous and time-consuming for the victims to prove they are innocent.

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Democrats were deliberately making it possible for foreigners to steal our money.

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