1.0 Fraudulent Documentation:

ACREVS Inc. follows a "Zero Tolerance Policy" towards fraudulent documents. The company takes the integrity of its document evaluation process extremely seriously and has implemented multiple layers of prevention, detection, and response measures to uphold this commitment. ACREVS has taken the following measures:

Created a “Zero Tolerance” logo which is posted on the “home-page” on its web-site, this ensures that every single visitor to its web-site sees this as one of the first things.

Published its Zero Tolerance Policy on its website to discourage anyone attempting to use its services with fraudulent documents.

As part of the application form the applicant is made to sign the application form, which contains a statement that asks the applicant under penalty of perjury to sign that the documents submitted to the company are genuine. U.S. States such as Oregon have used this penalty of perjury commitment to prosecute applicant submitting falsified documentation. (as highlighted in the Zero Tolerance Policy”).

To give this topic further light and to make it very clear to applicants that ACREVS will take serious note of fraudulent documents, this message is repeated multiple times throughout ACREVS’s website.

Many applicants bring their documentation into the office in person. Posted in the lobby, where the applications see the office manager, is the “Zero Tolerance Policy” on fraudulent documents. The applicants are encouraged to read this policy prior to submitting their documents.

At least two individuals at the company will examine every document to provide a check-and-balance system for integrity purposes. If anyone of them has any doubt, the “Assurance-Double-Sure” approach as defined in the “Documents Acceptance Policy” is taken.

2.0 “Zero-Tolerance” Policy on Fraudulent Documents

ACREVS practices a Zero Tolerance policy towards Fraudulent Documents. If the documents submitted are false or have been altered in any way, ACREVS reserves the right to:

• Confiscate the documents and NOT return them to the applicant;
• Inform Federal, State, and Local governments and law enforcement agencies;
• Inform other evaluation services;
• Inform State and Federal licensing boards;
• Inform educational universities and institutes;
• Inform employers;
• Take any other action deemed necessary to reveal the fraud.

ACREVS strongly advises applicants NOT to submit an application for evaluation if their documents are not genuine. This stringent policy exists because submitting fraudulent documents is not only illegal, but also deeply unfair to other students who have worked diligently to earn their educational qualifications with dedication and sincerity.

Applicants should be aware that listing falsified documents is an unlawful activity in certain states, and these states rigorously enforce laws and bring criminal charges against individuals who list falsified qualifications.

This Zero Tolerance Policy shall be:

• Appropriately worded and posted as the Fraudulent Documents Policy on the ACREVS website.
• Appropriately worded and posted in the reception area of all ACREVS physical locations where applicants bring in their documentation.

3.0 Documentation Requirements

3.1 Original Documents

ACREVS will accept ONLY "Original" documents from applicants for regular evaluation. The following are NOT accepted:

• Copies
• True copies
• Certified copies
• Notarized copies
• Copies certified by law firms

If transcripts, diplomas, or certificates are received directly from the educational institution in a sealed envelope with every sheet stamped and signed by the institution, they are accepted, and the evaluation report will state how the documentation was received.

3.2 Exception to the Original Documents Requirement

The only exception to the above rule applies under the following criteria:

If academic records are unavailable due to a natural disaster, political upheaval, or the closing of the institution. The company has a separate policy to address this, documented in ISO Procedure titled: "Documents Acceptance Exception Cases Policy". Please refer to that document for further details.

3.3 Complete Set of Documentation

Only a complete set of documentation is accepted. This requirement serves as an additional safeguard against fraud. Examples include:

• If an applicant requests only a "General Evaluation" where only the Diploma/Degree certificate suffices for evaluation purposes, it is mandatory that the applicant also submit originals of the transcripts/mark sheets.
• In instances where an applicant only wants a Master's degree evaluated, they must submit Diplomas/Degrees and Transcripts/Mark sheets for both their Bachelor's and Master's programs. This paper trail method is another attempt to eliminate fraudulent documentation.

We are very proactive in contacting institutions to verify the authenticity of documents, and use published and online resources to verify institutions. If documents are found to be genuine, we prepare an evaluation report. If they are found to be fraudulent, we follow the Zero Tolerance procedures outlined in Section 2 of this policy.

4.0 Documentation Verification process

The company will use one or more of the following techniques to verify documentation submitted by applicants:

4.1 "Look and Feel" Verification

Physical examination of documents includes consideration of the following:

• Does the document look too new based on when it was issued? Does it appear to have been made to look intentionally old?
• Does the quality of the paper, type of paper, or artifacts on the paper raise any red flags based on evaluator experience?
• Do the weight, texture, and size of the paper — and sometimes even its smell or watermarks — cause any suspicion?
• Does the presence or absence of dry seals and stamps cause suspicion? Do any sections of the documentation appear to be tampered with?

4.2 Verification Against Experience and Document Database

Creating a document library builds a strong context within which to examine what should and should not be present on a document. This includes:

• Comparison against documents from the same educational institution based on evaluator experience and scanned documents stored in ACREVS's database.
• Examination under industrial magnification: after documents have been scanned, they are magnified (e.g., up to 6,400%) to detect peculiar artifacts.
• Serial number analysis: checking how serial numbers are assigned and comparing them against records from other applicants who attended the same institution to reveal any peculiarities.

4.3 Verification Against Fraudulent Documentation Detection Criteria

Country-specific resources are used to confirm:

4.3.1 Country-Specific Resources

• Is the program of study offered by an officially recognized, degree-granting institution?
• Was the program of study offered at the time the student was enrolled?

4.3.2 Format of Education Documents

Documents generally contain the following artifacts, which require careful examination:

• The institution emblem
• The seal
• The degree terminology
• Signatures of the proper authorities

4.4 Warning Signal Checklist

The following checklist is used to flag suspicious documents during evaluation:

Artifact to Examine	No	Yes
Misspellings
Unusually high grades
Awkward or forced lettering
Awkward or forced signature
Inconsistent fonts/typeface
Weak seals
Blurry emblems
Scanned images
Cut-and-paste quality
Incorrect paper size
Incorrect terminology
Lack of watermarks
Incorrect diacritical marks
Lack of appropriate seals
Incorrect coloring
Incorrect paper texture
Refusal by student to submit original document
New document format
Chronology doesn't make sense
Program does not exist at time of study
Noticeable inconsistencies
Handmade watermarks
Lack of holograms or other safety features
Examination under UV light which makes certain artifacts glow from certain institutes
Is the date format correct for that country (e.g. Latin America = day, month, year format)
Document is a color copy
Document is marked "confidential" and yet it is submitted by an applicant
Lines, words, numbers appear crooked on the page
Lines, words, numbers etc., are missing from the use of whiteout
The document is not signed and/or sealed

4.5 Verification Against Diploma Mills Samples

ACREVS maintains a library of sample documentation offered by diploma mills. Many of these have samples published on the web. These samples are used to identify and verify suspicious documents.

5.0 Making “Assurance-Double-Sure”

In cases where doubt exists about the authenticity of documents, one or more of the following approaches is taken:

• Sealed documentation is sought directly from the college or university.
• In countries where ACREVS has In-Country Verification resources, those individuals are tasked with contacting the college or school to verify authenticity, including a line-by-line review of submitted documents.
• Where fraud can be proven conclusively, the procedure stated in Section 2 (Zero Tolerance Policy) of this document is followed.
• In cases where the above approaches cannot provide conclusive evidence of the originality of documentation, an evaluation or verification is NOT performed. The documents are returned to the applicant with the notification "Cannot Verify Documentation," and the applicant's fees for the evaluation are refunded.

6.0 Fraudulent Documentation

In cases where it is confirmed that the documents are fraudulent, ACREVS will take immediate action in accordance with the Zero Tolerance Policy outlined in Section 2 of this document. This includes, but is not limited to, confiscation of documents, notification of relevant authorities and institutions, and any other action deemed necessary to address and expose the fraud.

No evaluation report will be prepared for applications involving confirmed fraudulent documentation.