A reader has kindly sent us a spam email from someone offering University Diplomas for a fee ("No required tests, classes, books, or interviews. Bachelors, masters, MBA, and doctorate (PhD) diplomas available in the field of your choice. No one is turned down." Hang on! This doesn't sound kosher).

The interesting thing though is that it purported to come from the Securities Institute (a respectable professional body for "practitioners working in securities, investment management, corporate finance, derivatives and related businesses"). Oh dear, open relay alert. You'd expect more from a company calling itself Securities Institute wouldn't you? Apparently, its "purpose is to set and maintain professional standards and to promote excellence in matters of integrity, ethics and competence". It needs to work a bit harder on it, we reckon.

Anyway our kind reader tracked the email back to a Concentric account and promply emailed the whole sorry affair to Securities Institute, Concentric, PSI Net, the FTC and of course El Reg. Just thought some of you would be interested. ®

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