For about two weeks, Kacy Claassen, 28, was living life as a high school student. She had a fake name, a fake backstory, and a school-issued ID. She thought of almost everything, except making her Facebook profile private.
Last month, Claassen walked into Westchester Square Academy in the Bronx and enrolled as Shamara Rashad, a 16-year-old who had just moved to New York from Ohio with her sister. She attended classes, got issued a school ID with her fake name and age, and kept the whole thing going until the school’s principal, Marques Rich, started digging. And it wasn’t long before he found her Facebook page.
The profile listed her real date of birth as July 29, 1997, included photos of her holding a baby, and at least one post where she mentioned having a daughter. When Rich confronted her, Claassen held the line, insisting she was Rashad. Then he put a screenshot of her own profile in front of her, and she was forced to come clean.
Enrollment Fraud is a Real Crime, So Don’t Pretend to Be a Teenager
Her explanation, per a criminal complaint obtained by ABC 7 and the Associated Press, was that a friend had talked her into the scheme so she could collect public assistance money from the city. Police believe some kind of benefits fraud was the motive, though they haven’t gone into specifics. Claassen was arrested on April 27, charged with criminal impersonation, trespassing, and endangering the welfare of a child, and released. She pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on June 15.
In a statement shared by USA Today, NYC Schools called enrollment fraud “a serious crime that fundamentally undermines New York City Public School values,” adding that the NYPD is actively investigating and will pursue appropriate legal action.
The case also exposes a broader and growing problem. At the collegiate level, a scam known as “ghost students” involves fraudsters enrolling in community college courses under fake identities, collecting financial aid, and disappearing before anyone notices. The Department of Education identified $150 million lost to the scheme in 2025 alone. Claassen’s version was lower tech, but the logic was similar.
The most baffling part of this entire story is that it took two weeks for someone to just Google her. A Facebook search ended a two-week identity scheme in minutes. In 2026, that’s kind of on all of us.
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