This is the first of three articles on academic fraud. This article describes the history and growth of diploma mills and counterfeit operations. The second article will focus on Axact, the world's largest diploma mill (a true criminal enterprise). The third will detail how to identify diploma mills. This article describes degree mills "hiding in plain sight" on the Internet, under the guise of a church, and operated from outside and inside prison. Fraudsters represent themselves as consultants, career consultants, consulting specialists, degree consulting services, credential evaluators, "academic research and referral center," "academic referral service," and more.