Community college isn't free but it is much less than 4 year colleges. You can take out loans that will cover things like books and other expenses. I'm not in financial aid so I don't know exactly how it works. I assume they aren't really "bots" but are people in another country who have faked an identity. Anyone could do it but if they used their real name the government will find them eventually. As faculty I could look at the "student's" schedule and see they were taking multiple online classes from different campuses in our system. I called the number on their accounts and two of them were no answer and the third I called was someone else who didn't know that name.

I assume that one person is running accounts for multiple "students" and from the boiler plate that one person submitted I wouldn't be surprised if it was an organized business like many internet/phone scams.