Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Scam MBA?

I received an email in my mailbox this evening. I certainly hope that this "David Smith" was being sarcastic. He asked me how much it cost my to obtain my Oxford degree. He got his "Oxford" MBA right here in Malaysia for only RM15,000 and pointed me to the programme - Millionaire's MBA, which he "took" part in. Yes, it's called the "Buiness School for Millionaires Mentored by Millionaires".

This MBA certification is granted by the "Oxford Centre for Leadership (OXCEL)" and it's complemented with the so-called "Oxford Business Club". And guess, what? You can obtain your "prestigious" MBA all within an "intensive" period of 5-days(!).

The website even attempts to pass off its "Oxford" credentials by highlighting "Oxford as an University City" within the site.

And oh dear, it's office is located within a stone's throw away from my current office!
OXCEL Asia
84-A, Jalan SS 21/35, Damansara Utama (Uptown), 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor,
MALAYSIA
Tel: +603 77291070
Fax: +603 7725 5071
Email: enquiry@MillionairesMBA.com
The apparent founders, Saiful and Ernest even got themselves featured in magazines, Usahawan and Dewan Ekonomi.

Well, let me assure you that the Oxford University is certainly not associated with the above programmes, and would certainly not offer a 5-day MBA programme. Oxford University has a Business School of its own, Said Business School and you can find out more about its 1-year MBA programme here. My former Economics tutor when I was at Keble, Dr Tim Jenkinson, is currently the Professor of Economics at the School.

However, you can be assured that an MBA there will set you back at least GBP30,000, excluding living expenses, 14 times more than the alleged RM15,000 "MBA" advertised above. This Millionaires MBA thing certainly doesn't sound too much different from the other infamous bogus university, Irish International University (hint: there's nothing Irish about it), which I've blogged about umpteen times.

So, guys, be warned.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

apparently a msian actor, ashraf sinclair, is also featured as one of the "MBA mentors". anyone watches gol dan gincu on tv?

lol

Kian Ming said...

What a scam! I especially like how they 'named' the Ye Olde Smokehouse the 'Traditional Oxford Smokehouse Hotel'! As far as I know, the only association that Ye Olde Smokehouse has with Oxford is that one of the owner's sons went there for his undergrad! Sadly, there will always be people out there who will fall for these kinds of scams.

Anonymous said...

I don't think people will fall for these kind of scams unless they wanted to. I'm sure the people who purchase those certificates know that they are bogus. And yet, having a bogus "paper" is still better than nothing. At least, it can be used to scam other people for their benefit. After all, you just need to show your paper once during the interview. If the interviewer didn't know that it's a bogus degree, then he can get a chance to earn big bucks. That's why the interviewer must be very careful and wise to conduct a detail background check. These kind of bogus "paper" seems to getting worse. People have became more and more desperate for recognition and try whatever measure to get rich fast. Sigh....

clk said...

An ignorant employer deserves an employee with a bogus diploma I suppose.....

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I bet lots of UNMO supporters will be registering there so by the next UNMO assembly all will have doctorates...

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I know of the family that owns the 'Ye Olde Smokehouse Hotel',Cameron Highland. It is true that one of the children went up to Brasenose, Oxford from Cheltenham in the eighties to read for a BA. The others went to UCL, LSE and Edinburgh after attending Cheltenham or Wycombe Abbey. The family sold off the Smokehouse Restaurant, KL and the Smokehouse Hotel Frasers Hill some years back and are not connected with the "MBA Scam".
Decency requires a correction here.

Anonymous said...

I went to the website of millionairesmba.com. I dont think that they are selling degrees, it looks more like a self-development programme.

Went to the OXCEL website and it doesn't say anything about degrees. "The Oxford Centre for Leadership awards various professional qualifications"

OXCEL Awards Available:-
Licentiate of OXCEL - Level 5
Graduate of OXCEL - Level 6
Master of OXCEL - Level 7
Fellow of OXCEL - Level 8

Looks like there may be some misinformation here. Do check your sources.

Anonymous said...

website information has changed

Who are you trying to fool, Mr Ernest?

Anonymous said...

Thank you for notifying us about this operation. I will refer the matter to Oxfordshire Trading Standards and Oxford University.

Phil Vine
Higher Education Governance
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
1E, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BT
Tel: 020 7925 6932
Fax: 020 7925 6664

Anonymous said...

Is OXCEL degree better than OUM degree ?

Anonymous said...

I did my Australian MBA at one of the local education centre for RM30K...

Trust me...the journey is more worthwhile than the destination!

If you get what I meant…life should not be a destination, it should be a journey!

Anonymous said...

The different between a fake and the genuine MBA is that the fake one will never stop faking and the real one will never stop learning.

Faking is an intangible and perishable vehicle that’s get you no where!

Anonymous said...

I am looking to do MBA program here in Malaysia. A prog that is affliated with some foreign uni.. can i know which is the best program available.. not too xpensive tho.. around 30k

Unknown said...

Good post.some informative material about MBA study in Malaysia