Four days ago an ad appeared on Craigslist (Pittsburgh) seeking someone to take their place at Harvard in return for $40,000/year. The ad has since been removed, but screenshots of it are still floating around the web:
You must have either a 4.0 GPA in high school, or a 3.5 or higher GPA from a university to get hired for this.
Your age does not matter, but you must be a male since I have a male name.
I am looking for someone to attend Harvard University pretending to be me for four years, starting August 2014. I will pay for your tuition, books, housing, transportation, and living expenses and pay $40,000 a year with a $10,000 bonus after graduation. All you have to do is attend all classes, pass all tests, and finish all assigned work, while pretending you are me.
You do not need to worry about being accepted, I have already taken care of that.
If interested please email me a little info about yourself, and we can meet in person to discuss further.
When we meet you will be asked to sign a non disclosure agreement, so you can not reveal who I am or any further information, whether you're selected or not.
I'm assuming the ad was a joke, but it's an interesting concept. Like a more elaborate version of paying someone to take the SAT for you.
The problem I see is what happens four years later? How do you make the switch back? And what if the imposter doesn't want to switch back? They'll have four years of documentation suggesting that they're the real person (yearbook photos, etc.). The craigslist poster could end up having paid someone to steal his identity forever.
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