Exposed: the seedy creep behind Sponsor a Scholar

A creepy impostor is behind a website which claims to offer students up to £15,000 in return for sex with a ‘sponsor’.

As The Tab reported on Tuesday, Sponsorascholar.co.uk claims to offer wealthy men “a high level of sexual intimacy” if they pay for undergrads’ tuition fees.

The ‘assessor’…stay away from this guy

But an investigation by The Independent saw an ‘assessor’ from the website demand an undercover reporter go through a ‘practical assessment’ with him before he could find her a sponsor.

The assessor told the reporter, posing as a student, she would have to prove the level of intimacy she was willing to go to by returning to a nearby flat with him. He said the further she would go, the more money she would raise from a sponsor.

He said: “Whatever you put on your sheet what level of intimacy you’re prepared to go into, you and I will go through that today. We’ve got a questionnaire we’ll go through, your likes and dislikes and the kind of thing you’re comfortable doing.”

When the reporter said no to the ‘practical’, the man suggested meeting a later date in December. He said: “If we don’t do it tonight I can’t fit you in until then.”

A statement on Sponsorascholar.co.uk said: “Students are committed under the terms of a scholarship to meet with their chosen sponsor between one and four [times] a term.

“These meetings will always take place in a private location such as a hotel room (the exact number of meetings per term, together with the duration and the level of sexual intimacy expected will form the basis of the scholarship agreement).”

The website now appears to be down and says: “Sorry website unavailable for maintenance.”

The site as it appears now

On Tuesday, The Tab revealed how Sponsorascholar.co.uk is falsely registered as being owned by Dr. John Chalcraft, an LSE history professor.

Dr. Chalcraft denied any involvement with the site. He told The Tab: “I have not registered this or any other internet domain and have no connection with the business that is being operated from this site, or with the person using my name. I have reported this matter to the police.”

Anyone can be registered as the owner of a website without their permission, making this kind of hoax incredibly easy.

The Independent‘s investigation reveals the shady ‘assessor’ has been using Dr. Chalcraft’s name as an alter-ego. He used the professor’s name in the meeting with the reporter, in all email correspondence and even on his voicemail.

Sponsor a Scholar uses a false company number which in fact belongs to dating website Match.com.

A Match.com spokesman said: “The website is not affiliated with Match.com in any way and we are in the process of contacting them to legally require that all references to Match.com are removed immediately.”