Even universities that have a .edu are scams!

[bjcheung77]

Just an FYI and letting some forum members know that there are many fake universities out there, even if they own a .edu domain, they can be fake and trying to scam you as their programs are not accredited nor recognized by the countries they are located and operating from.  Here's an example of a famous fake university that is targeting mainly Desi/South Asian students, they are still operating as of this day, authorities can't seem to shut them down:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bircham_In...University

[scorpion]

Educause administers .edu domains and is the sole registrar for that gTLD. They do have strict requirements that would normally prevent unaccredited institutions from acquiring an .edu. However, most of these rules went into effect in 2001, and anyone holding an .edu before then was grandfathered in.

They take compliance seriously -- you may want to file a complaint with Educause to verify that Bircham has the right to use bircham.edu.

Bircham.edu was activated in 2000. They're grandfathered in.

Code:

Domain record activated:    22-Aug-2000

---

bircham.edu WHOIS

Code:

This Registry database contains ONLY .EDU domains.
The data in the EDUCAUSE Whois database is provided
by EDUCAUSE for information purposes in order to
assist in the process of obtaining information about
or related to .edu domain registration records.

The EDUCAUSE Whois database is authoritative for the
.EDU domain.

A Web interface for the .EDU EDUCAUSE Whois Server is
available at: http://whois.educause.edu

By submitting a Whois query, you agree that this information
will not be used to allow, enable, or otherwise support
the transmission of unsolicited commercial advertising or
solicitations via e-mail.  The use of electronic processes to
harvest information from this server is generally prohibited
except as reasonably necessary to register or modify .edu
domain names.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Domain Name: BIRCHAM.EDU

Registrant:
    Bircham International University and College
    Av. Sierra 2 (Urb. Guadamonte)
    Villanueva de la Canada
    Madrid, MADRID E-28691
    ES

Administrative Contact:
    William Martin
    Bircham International University
    Av. Sierra 2 (Urb. Guadamonte)
    Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid E-28691
    ES
    +34.918162397
    willy@bircham.edu

Technical Contact:
    William Martin
    Bircham International University
    Av. Sierra 2 (Urb. Guadamonte)
    Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid E-28691
    ES
    +34.918162397
    willy@bircham.edu

Name Servers:
    DNS10.TRAZART.NET
    DNS11.TRAZART.NET

Domain record activated:    22-Aug-2000
Domain record last updated: 15-Jun-2020
Domain expires:             31-Jul-2021

[cecilgambe7]

Scammers always find a way...

[Tedium]

So you mean all those reminders of what constitutes a trusted source that every school ever has made me sit through might be wrong?!

Crazy.

I never liked the idea of blindly trusting a site based on domain. This is a good reminder.