Axact’s immensely profitable empire is centered on its network of hundreds of websites. The stars are the sites for fictitious high schools and universities — some have names and details evoking the appearance of American or British schools, others of Persian Gulf-region institutions.
Critical support for the scheme comes from a host of dedicated Internet search portals, and a smaller list of dummy accreditation bodies meant to put potential customers at ease by giving Axact’s fake schools a more credible appearance.
Below is a partial list of sites analyzed by The New York Times and determined most likely to be linked to Axact’s operation in Karachi, Pakistan. Some of the details came from interviews with former employees of Axact, who identified roughly 50 sites, along with servers used by the company and blocks of custom website coding it developed.
Starting from the list of employee-identified sites, The Times scoured the Internet for other sites that included similar technical details, servers, content and supporting links. More than 370 sites included at least some of those identifying components; the list below is of sites that correlated most closely with all of them.
School Sites
Alford High School
High School Diploma Profs
Brooksville High School
Federal High School
High School Diploma Experience
Foster City High School
High School Diploma Pro
High School Diploma Fast
Jersey High School
Lorenz High School
Luther City High School
Mary Grand High School
McCain High School
McFord High School
McHill High School
Pacific High School
High School Diploma Professionals
Panworld High School
St. Angelo High School
Stenford High School
Victorville High School
West Coast High School
WinFord High School
Woodfield High School
Global Institute of English Language Training and Certification
Adamsville University
Al Arab University
Al Khaleej University
Al Khalifa American University
Alpine University
American Gulf University
American Mideast University
Anchor Point University
Arab Continental University
Arab Women University
Ashbery University
Accredited Degrees Pro
Ashley University
Bakerville University
Barkley University
Baycity University
Bay View University
Baytown University
Belltown University
Branton University
Brooklyn Park University
Cambell State University
Camp Lake University
Chapel University
Columbiana University
Creek View University
Crestford University
Fast Online University
Fort Jones University
Galewood University
Gibson University
Glenford University
Grant Town University
GreenLake University
Grendal University
Hansford University
Harvey University
Headway University
Online University Programs Pro
Hill University
Hill Online Degrees
James Adam University
James Harding University
Johnstown University
Kennedy University
Kingsbridge University
Kings Lake University
Laurus University
Madison Hills University
McFord University
McGraw University
Affordable Accredited Degrees
McGraw Online Degrees
McKinley University
Midtown University
Mount Lincoln University
Nelson Bay University
Nicholson University
Nixon University
Northern Port University
Northway University
Olford Walters University
Panworld University
Accredited Online Degrees Now
Advance Online Degrees
Paramount California University
Parkfield University
Payne Springs University
Pine Hill University
Pittsford University
Port Jefferson University
Queens Bay University
Ray University
Affordable Degrees Pro
Redding University
Riverwood University
Rochville University
Roseville Community College
Thompson University
WalesBridge University
Walford University
Western Advanced Central University
Online University Profs
Western Valley Central University
Westland University
Wiley University
Wilford University
Willington University
Windham University
Woodbridge University
Woodfield University
Woodrow University
Accreditation Bodies
Accreditation Bureau of Online Education and Training
Arab Accreditation Council
Association for Accreditation of Business Schools and Programs
European Accreditation Board for Online Education
European Accreditation Council for Online Learning
Global Accreditation Board for Distance Learning
Global Doctorate Council
Gulf Accreditation Council
Gulf Bureau of Higher Education
Gulf Engineering Council
International Accreditation Board for Business Studies
International Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Education
Education International Accreditation Board for Psychology Education
Education International Accreditation Council for Open Education
International Accreditation Organization
International Business Accreditation and Regulatory Commission
