Influencer Angel Murdock Accused of Faking Being a Duke Physician Assistant Student To Secure Netflix Show

TikTok has been sent into a frenzy after influencer Angel Victoria Murdock was accused of spending more than two years pretending to be a student in Duke University's Physician Assistant programme.

Murdock reportedly built an extensive online persona around her supposed life as a Duke PA student, documenting her alleged journey for hundreds of thousands of followers. During that time, she is said to have secured brand deals and even appeared on a Netflix reality show, making the claims particularly shocking.

How She Made Her Duke Student Persona Look Real

According to people who investigated Murdock's claims, the influencer reportedly went to extraordinary lengths to make her supposed student life appear authentic.

She allegedly filmed herself wearing medical scrubs, purchased medical equipment and travelled to Duke's campus specifically to record content before returning home. Online sleuths also claimed that fake identification badges were made for her to use in videos, further adding to the appearance that she was enrolled in the prestigious programme.

Questions reportedly began emerging when an actual student in Duke's Physician Assistant programme congratulated Murdock online for being part of the course. The student allegedly said she had never seen or heard of Murdock being enrolled and was blocked shortly afterwards.

As the semester continued, other students reportedly began noticing the same thing. According to those fact-checking the story, none had seen Murdock attending classes, appearing on campus or taking part in programme events.

Graduation Photos Sparked Even More Questions

The alleged deception reached another level when Murdock later posted photographs appearing to show her graduating from Duke.

The images reportedly showed her standing in front of Duke Chapel wearing a graduation cap and master's hood. However, viewers quickly began questioning whether the colours and academic regalia were correct for the programme she had claimed to complete.

That prompted further examination into her alleged qualifications.

According to people looking into the claims, Murdock does not appear to have an NCCPA certification number in North Carolina, despite allegedly presenting herself as a certified physician assistant.

Social media users also reportedly found that a recording of Duke's roughly two-hour hooding and graduation ceremony was publicly available online. Graduates were called across the stage in alphabetical order, but Murdock's name was reportedly never announced, and she does not appear to have participated in the ceremony.

Following the allegations, Murdock's social media accounts, which reportedly had hundreds of thousands of followers, were deleted.

Reactions Online

The claims have since sparked widespread discussion online, with viewers questioning how an alleged fake academic background could have been maintained for so long and how the persona helped Murdock build a substantial platform.

One user said, 'I don't know what she was thinking. Did she really think people at school wouldn't notice? She faked it for over 2 years!' Another wondered if all her brand deals have been cancelled along with the Netflix show.

Surprisingly, there are also those who actually tried to make sense of her actions. NYC Councilwoman Vickie Paladino said, 'I'm gonna be honest — this is pretty funny. She's putting on an act for social media, which isn't terribly different from 99% of influencers anyway. It's all just varying degrees of fiction. If she presented fake credentials to land a job in medicine or academia then it's a very different story, obviously. But this is just taking influencer culture to its logical conclusion. Wow she fooled TikTok and some brands. So do all of them lol.'

Those on X also pointed out that it's a growing problem in today's social media crazed society, arguing that 'fake intellectuals' online take people at face value for some reason and it's why that space has the most liars and scammers.