The Chronicle of Higher Education reported an unusual discovery on Monday. The founder, editor and columnist of a website that bills itself as a resource for student loan news does not exist.The Chronicle was seeking information from "Drew Cloud" because reporters there were skeptical of a survey conducted by The Student Loan Report and published on its website. More than one in five students were using excess money from their loans to invest in cryptocurrency, according to the survey."Cloud" brushed off the probing reporters and The Chronicle's Chris Quintana published an article with experts who voiced doubt over the survey's findings. But then "Cloud's" digital presence simply "evaporated," reported The Chronicle. So reporters spent a week and a half looking beyond his bio – "a journalist" who "wanted to funnel his creative energy into an independent, authoritative news outlet." Quintana told NPR that a source sent the publication an old email from Nate Matherson, the CEO of LendEDU, a student loan consolidation and refinancing company. The message announced the launch of The Student Loan Report. When The Chronicle reached out to Matherson, he ultimately admitted that Cloud had been fabricated. "I questioned my reporting initially because it was such a wild conclusion to reach," Quintana said to NPR. "There was a little bit of disbelief when we reached the conclusion that he probably wasn't real."Before the story broke, "Cloud" got around. News sites such as The Boston Globe, Fox News and Inside Higher Ed quoted the fictitious source in their coverage of the survey on students investing in cryptocurrency. The Washington Post also quoted Cloud, though it removed references to him following The Chronicle article. (NPR did not quote "Cloud" but it has referred to analyses from The Student Loan Report.)After The Chronicle article published, The Student Loan report posted a statement from Matherson on its homepage. "Hello, My name is Nate Matherson, and my company runs The Student Loan Report," it starts. Then it describes the origins of the fake persona: