Fake Fellowships Used as Recruitment Pitch
Two Trails, One Destination
Julia Hirschberg’s case can be traced two ways: through the documents, and through the money. Both trails end at the same place.
The paper trail begins in July, when the Columbia University computer scientist learned she had been elected to the European Academy of Engineering. [1] Days earlier, a separate honor had arrived: election to the Austrian Academy of Engineering. Earlier still, she had been elected to the National Academy of Artificial Intelligence.
The money trail begins a couple of weeks later. A man identifying himself as Michael Chu, the EAE’s secretariat, told Hirschberg the organization was choosing a rotating chairperson. [1] He wanted to nominate her. The role came with compensation of 2,000 US dollars per year.
Three prestigious international honors in quick succession is rare by any measure. Hirschberg was thrilled. Congratulatory notes flooded in from colleagues after Columbia published a public announcement about her accomplishments. “I was really excited,” she says. “I’ve never had anything that quick happen ever.” [1]
The Name on the Masthead
Then the details stopped adding up. When Hirschberg checked the EAE’s website, her name already sat prominently atop the leadership masthead. She had never agreed to take the post. She had never been asked for references. She had never attended a single meeting.
Most tellingly, she had not heard of any of these organizations before the invitations arrived. The honors had come to her, not from a community she recognized.
She never said she accepted the position.
A question about duties became, in the organization’s telling, a form of agreement.
Sources
1. Nature (DOI: 10.1038/d41586-026-02980-w) — Quote source (original article)
Mentioned organisations (context, not sources)
- Julia Hirschberg — Organisation (homepage)
- Columbia University — Organisation (homepage)
- European Academy of Engineering — Organisation (homepage)
- Austrian Academy of Engineering — Organisation (homepage)
- National Academy of Artificial Intelligence — Organisation (homepage)