内容摘要：and a missile program capable of reaching the continental U.S.

and a missile program capable of reaching the continental U.S.

in her name to scam the government into paying outWhen she checked her student loan servicer account, Brady saw the scammers hadn’t stopped there. A loan for over $9,000 had been paid out in her name — but to another person — for coursework at a California college.

“I just can’t imagine how many people this is happening to that have no idea,” Brady said.and the popularity ofhave led to an explosion of financial aid fraud. Fake college enrollments have been surging as crime rings deploy “ghost students” — chatbots that join online classrooms and stay just long enough to collect a financial aid check.

In some cases, professors discover almost no one in their class is real. Students get locked out of the classes they need to graduate as bots push courses over their enrollment limits. And victims of identity theft who discover loans fraudulently taken out in their names must go through months of calling colleges, the Federal Student Aid office and loan servicers to try to get the debt erased.On Friday, the U.S. Education Department

requiring students to show colleges a government-issued ID to prove their identity. It will apply only to first-time applicants for federal student aid for the summer term, affecting some 125,000 borrowers. The agency said it is developing more advanced screening for the fall.

“The rate of fraud through stolen identities has reached a level that imperils the federal student aid program,” the department said in its guidance to colleges.The exchange showed Burton’s direct role in helping with Groves’ escape, according to the arrest affidavit.

Burton faces a felony charge for conspiracy to commit simple escape.Burton also allegedly “picked up” and transported another fugitive, Lenton Vanburen, to a relative’s home during his escape.

Burton began working at the jail in 2022 and was fired the following year after she was arrested on allegations of bringing a folding knife and a bag of Cheetos containing tobacco and marijuana into the jail. The charges were dropped in part due to her lack of criminal history, and she “successfully completed” a pretrial diversion program, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office told The Associated Press.“I categorically deny any involvement in introducing contraband into the jail or assisting in any escape,” Burton said May 30 in a text message to The Associated Press. “These allegations are false and I intend to fully defend myself through the proper legal channels.”