November 21, 2004
Students held for (Text Message) exam scam
According to The Korea Times, police are expanding an investigation into what appears to be the largest cheating scandal involving high school seniors after securing evidence suggesting about 100 students allegedly used cell phones to cheat during the national college entrance exam held on Wednesday.
"Initial investigations show the students purchased cell phones from a Seoul-based telecommunications company before taking the exam,'' a police officer at the Kwangju Provincial Police Agency said. "They gathered at a motel and practiced the cheating to get good scores.''
The police in Kwangju said some 100 students, including more than 40 first-year and second-year students, engaged in the cheating. Students who excelled at certain subjects sent their answers to first-year and second-year students outside the classrooms through short message services and they relayed the answers to others.
According to JoongAng Daily, "investigators said that during the exam, top students were paid to send correct answers to accomplices outside of the test centers. The answers were then passed on to large numbers of other students taking the exam.
One of the students involved, identified as Mr. Yun, told police, "I heard that similar cheating [by mobile text] took place the year before last year." Authorities say that top students who relayed correct answers received about 500,000 won ($430) while those who acted as middlemen received about 200,000 to 300,000 won".
Picture from related article in Digital Chosunilbo, "100 Implicated in Cell Phone College Entrance Exam Cheating Scheme".
Related articles:
-- Maryland University students caught cheating by SMS - Twelve students were accused of cheating during an exam at the University of Maryland by receiving the answers by SMS from friends outside the classroom.
-- Click here for links to articles on how schools are considering mobile phone setectors to curb cheats.
And a twist on cheating:
-- Cheating teachers arrested - At least seven high school teachers in Shangai were arrested for selling exam answers to their students amid charges of widespread cheating in a central Chinese province.
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