DOJ charges five in AI-driven 'ghost student' financial aid fraud scheme
The Justice Department charged five people and seized over $750,000 in cryptocurrency tied to a scheme that used stolen identities to enroll fake students in colleges and AI to simulate their coursework and attendance, keeping federal aid flowing. The case, part of an effort called Operation Ghostbusters, began after the Department of Education's Inspector General flagged unusual patterns in federal aid data, which the FBI traced through bank accounts and crypto wallets linked to Kenyan nationals.