If someone falsely claims to have a Ph.D. on the jacket of a book and they profit from that claim, is that criminal fraud?

Question

Say someone had started a Ph.D. but failed to complete, and wrote a book presenting themselves as an expert in their field, and claimed on the jacket to have a Ph.D.

The book sells many copies, and helps establish them as an expert in their field, leading to a lucrative career in consultancy and speaking events, i.e. they profit substantially from the book.

Would this be criminally actionable fraud? What could the consequences be? Are there any examples of this kind of thing happening and the person facing legal consequences? Would the publisher of the book be liable too?

This is for a book published in the US.

Answer 1

united-states

In U.S. law, this probably wouldn't be the basis for a civil action unless the publication was such that the author having a PhD was a necessary part of its value (e.g. an expert witness report in a court case). This would, however, be almost entirely a matter of state law, rather than federal law, so the answer might not be 100% uniform across every U.S. state and jurisdiction.

There is a long tradition of pseudonymous publications in U.S. history, going all of the way back to the Federalist Papers. Generally, this practice, or other misrepresentations about who wrote something, isn't actionable (a different analysis might apply if you were selling, e.g., an allegedly original journal purportedly written by a famous person that would be virtually worthless but for its authentic connection to the famous person, i.e. where the buyer is buying the authorship and not the content itself and only the authorship is material). While like of liability in these circumstances isn't necessarily compelled by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it is colored by that tradition.

For example, the book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" (1997) by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter, is full is major misrepresentations about Kiyosaki's personal experiences which are a core part of the argument that the book makes for the personal finance advice that it gives. But this is not actionable in U.S. law.

Unlike Germany, the U.S. has almost no statutory regulation of when academic and professional titles can be used beyond common law fraud. But, common law fraud sets a high bar to claims.

Generally, if the book is the book that the title proclaims it to be (and not, for example, a knockoff of another real book with a misrepresented title and author written by a third-party's AI), a misrepresentation of the author's identity or credentials will not constitute a material misrepresentation of fact for purposes of common law fraud, which is an element of that claim.

Answer 2

The U.S. Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) may be closer to an answer. Having established that it is false advertising (and there may be state-specific laws on this and, assuming the product crossed state lines,etc.).

However there may be a case based upon merchantability of the product. Specifically, it sold the information it contained, that advertised as written by someone with a Ph.D. The value of the information upon which you can act is now much less that it was discovered to not have been written by a Ph.D. That is someone who achieved the highest degree possible in a field. Thus it is just an uneducated opinion.

However, unless you acted upon the information, and it was blatantly wrong and you incurred other damages, the most you might be able to recover is the cost of the book. And even then it might cost you more to recover it.

However, a class action suit is designed for this type of situation, where the individual harm is small, but there are many. Such as the price of a book, but the publisher makes millions because they sell millions of books.

Answer 3

germany has a specific criminal offense for this (§132a StGB, abuse of titles, job designations, and insignia). The job designations in this law are an enumerated set like "physician" or "lawyer," but there is a blanket prohibition of false academic titles.

Answer 4

england-and-walesnorthern-ireland

It is capable of being fraud. Whether it is or not depends on the author's state of mind.

It will be fraud if all of the following elements are met under Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006:

• The claim to have a PHD is untrue or misleading
• The author knew that it was, or might be, untrue or misleading
• They made the claim dishonestly
• By making the claim they intended to make a gain to themselves or another or to cause a loss to another or expose another to a risk of loss

It seems likely in this case that all elements are satisfied, so it's probably fraud.

The consequences are set out in Sections 1(3) and 1(4):

(3) A person who is guilty of fraud is liable —

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the general limit in a magistrates’ court or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or to both);

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to a fine (or to both).

(4) Subsection (3)(a) applies in relation to Northern Ireland as if the reference to 12 months were a reference to 6 months.

It's less likely that the publisher would be guilty of fraud if they simply took the author at their word. It would only be fraud if all of the above elements also applied to the publisher.

Answer 5

This is clearly fraud

While the nuances differ between jurisdictions, the essence of fraud is dishonestly obtaining benefit by wilful deception. The situation you describe ticks all the boxes.

In addition, this is misleading and deceptive conduct (MDC) which violates consumer protection law in many jurisdictions even if it is not dishonest or wilful.

Fraud is a serious crime which can carry substantial prison time. MDC is an offence usually punishable by fines.

Your question reminded me of the case of Neil Lennie. In 2021, when Lennie was 72 and retired, he pled guilty to four counts of Obtaining a Financial Advantage by Deception and sentenced to 3 months suspended and A Community Corrections Order.

Lennie had been a teacher for over 40 years starting in the 1970s, by all accounts an outstanding one, finishing with nearly two decades as the successful headmaster of a prestigious Victorian private girls school. However, he had never completed and undergraduate education and had never been registered to teach in Victoria (or anywhere else). The deceptions had been saying he was on the applications for the four teaching jobs he held over his career and the financial reward was the salaries he had been paid.