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Cheating Is No Longer Child's Play

Jobseekers flock to web for answers to professional exams

By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 26, 2007 8:24 PM CST

(Newser) – Crib sheets have gone high-tech, the Boston Globe reports, as legions of job seekers from would-be medical technicians to school bus drivers resort to the Web for a leg-up in passing professional qualifying exams. The result is a booming black market for “braindumps,” or exam answers. Some are individuals who auction test answers on sites like eBay; others are overseas websites that do millions in business.

Officials estimate that TestKing.com, a site owned by a car enthusiast in Pakistan that specializes in technology exams, sells about 146,000 sets of answers for about $10 million a year, the Globe reports. Specialists gripe that the government isn’t doing enough, and that the honor system doesn't work any more. “Cheating is much more acceptable,” said one test administrator.

In San Diego, city employees allegedly used answer keys to cheat on a Department of Homeland Security exam, triggering a DHS probe, the Boston Globe reports.
In San Diego, city employees allegedly used answer keys to cheat on a Department of Homeland Security exam, triggering a DHS probe, the Boston Globe reports.   (Getty Images)
The rise of cheating has paralleled the increasingly large role testing plays in the American workplace. Over the last 15 years, hundreds of businesses and trade organizations have instituted formal certification programs to measure and verify employee skills, the Boston Globe reports.
The rise of cheating has paralleled the increasingly large role testing plays in the American workplace. Over the last 15 years, hundreds of businesses and trade organizations have instituted formal certification...   (KRT Photos)
Some companies are now using recognition technology to thwart would-be cheaters.
Some companies are now using recognition technology to thwart would-be cheaters.   (Getty Images)
  (Getty Images)
  (Getty Images)
Microsoft has filed suits against dozens of providers of study guides available on the web and no longer tries out new versions of exams in India, China, and Pakistan - countries that account for nearly half the world's population - after finding that answers to draft questions tried out in...
Microsoft has filed suits against dozens of providers of study guides available on the web and no longer tries out new versions of exams in India, China, and Pakistan - countries that account for nearly...   (Getty Images)
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