Speaking to FMT, Azlina said it was human nature to be lazy in thought and not challenge what they had already understood and believed to be true.

She was commenting on the case of businessman and motivational speaker Azizan Osman, founder of Richworks Group of Companies, whose claim of having a doctorate was debunked earlier this week.

Three local varsities denied ever having conferred doctorates for Entrepreneurship, Business Administration and Philosophy on Azizan, as claimed on his Richworks website.

Azlina said that people had bought into Azizan’s image and developed what is known as a ‘schema’, which would get stronger over the years, with more evidence of success. “Society at large does not think to question him or his credentials.”

However, lawyer Simon Sabapathy, told FMT that providing false information of one’s educational background was risky and might constitute a criminal offence of cheating if someone lied about his qualifications and profited from it.

People could seek legal recourse if they had bought a book or paid for a programme believing that the author or person who conducted the event was a certified expert. However, such legal action was usually taken on a case-by-case basis.

Earlier this week, Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur denied ever conferring Azizan with PhDs.

On his official Twitter page, Azizan describes himself as an entrepreneur, a marketing strategist, author, trainer, coach and television celebrity. He is known for his motivational courses which relate to starting up businesses, many of which several local celebrities have also attended.

Among his courses are “Millionaire Marketing Mastery”, a three-day session for which he charges RM2,997.