In January 2022, AgentBee posted about the arrest in Algeria of a criminal gang suspected of scamming Algerian university students out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Algerian authorities said that at least 75 students were scammed by the gang, who had set up a fake education consultancy called Future Gate.
On 16 June 2022 an Algerian court sentenced the main defendant and owner of the company, Razaki Osama, to seven years in prison, and fined him one million dinars (€6,850).
Several social media influencers who helped to promote the company also found themselves before the court. Actor and influencer Farouk Boudjemline (aka Rifka), actress and influencer Numidia Lezoul, and Mohamed Aberkan (aka Stanley), have millions of young followers on social media. They were reportedly found guilty of scamming the students by using their social media accounts to promote Future Gate’s packages to students wanting to study abroad. The court sentenced each of them to one year in prison and a 100,000 dinar (€685) fine.
Do you have visibility over your agent network?
Working with education agents involves risks. An unprofessional or dishonest agent can cause significant and lasting damage to students and your institution’s reputation. Active risk management is critical, but it requires that you have access to information about new agents before you begin working with them, and the agents already in your network.
Your education agent network – what can’t you see?
Education Agent due diligence – implement best practice
AgentBee’s education agent due diligence solution supports educational institutions to implement best practice education agent due diligence processes.
Educational institutions can use it to:
- do due diligence on education agents – check new agents before agreeing to work with them, and run regular checks on current agents.
- protect your brand – detect cases of unauthorised agents using your institution’s name, logo or other IP without permission.
Note for institutions in Australia, NZ and Manitoba – our solution supports compliance with your regulatory obligations regarding agent checking and monitoring.
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Source: Middle East Monitor
