Fake exam certificates are on the rise as desperate students from overseas try to con their way into British universities, admissions staff were warned this week.
Fraudsters are employing increasingly sophisticated technology to make it harder than ever to distinguish bogus certificates from real ones.
And, as clearing got under way, admissions tutors were warned to be extra vigilant as fraudsters were thought to be exploiting the rush for places to slip past university defences.
David Law, chairman of the Admissions Practitioner Group of the Academic Registrars' Council, said the problem was growing and needed to be taken seriously.
He predicted a further increase in the number of fake certificates as the European Union expands to take in countries from Central Europe. He said:
"There obviously is a problem with fraudulent applications. The gaining of a place at a British university is a valuable commodity.
"Universities need to make sure that they operate rigorous checks, but also turn around applications speedily."
One academic, who wished to remain anonymous, said that he had asked an applicant to leave once he realised his certificates were fake. He said:
"It was only when I questioned the student closely that I found out that he knew nothing about the subjects his certificate told me he had passed with flying colours.
"Hard-pressed admissions tutors with a quota to fill may be tempted just to take the fee and not ask too many questions about the qualification."
The problem has been recognised by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, which has issued a guide on how to prevent and detect fake certificates.
The guide warns of "a sustained growth in the amount of fraud being perpetrated against the higher education admissions system".
It says: "Until recently, fraudsters have tended to target mainly London-based institutions, particularly those new universities that have traditionally recruited large numbers of applicants late in the cycle.
However, there is mounting evidence that suggests that all geographical areas of the country can now be affected. No institution should therefore consider itself immune to the fraudsters."
It goes on to warn admissions tutors that fraudsters will have "an uncanny knowledge of which institutions and courses have vacancies and of the pressure to fill those vacant places. They will often be extremely persistent, at times even aggressive, the intention being to intimidate vulnerable staff into accepting them with only cursory checks."
A man who made a fortune from selling fake GCSE and A-level certificates had his business shut down by a High Court judge two months ago. Peter Leon Quinn was fined £30,000 for producing fake GCE and GCSE exam certificates.
Ellie Johnson Searle, director of the Joint Council for Qualifications, said: "The JCQ is determined to protect the integrity of the qualifications issued by members."
Sue Warren, international communications manager at University of Cambridge International Examinations, said: "We work closely with experts in security printing to ensure sophisticated measures are used to prevent forgery of our certificates."
She said that some security features were kept secret.