In Hyderabad, Cyber Crimes Wing launches probe into TOEFL cheating scam
March 06, 2023
Original Article: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/cyber-crimes-wing-launches-probe-into-toefl-cheating-scam/article66464442.ece
The Cyber Crimes Wing of the Hyderabad police have launched a probe into the case of malpractices carried out by ‘agents’ working for cash by helping the aspirants cheat in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examinations in the city.
The investigation was launched following a complaint from the Education Testing Service (ETS), stating that they have conducted a decoy operation to unearth the scam.
Joint Commissioner of Detective Department, Hyderabad police, Gajarao Bhupal said that the case was under investigation and the teams had been deployed to work on clues and gather evidence.
The racket came to light when the Education Testing Service (ETS), a private non-profit educational testing and assessment organisation, had carried out a fake advertisement seeking parties to help in cracking the TOEFL examination.
“They had received a response from a person, who identified himself as Gunashekar, and demanded ₹23,000 while assuring that he could help in the exam by sharing answers via WhatsApp. It was further found that he would use the messaging application to share answers online. We have registered a cheating case and started a probe,” officials said.
ACP of Cyber Crimes Hyderabad KVM Prasad said the authorities had started a probe in the case and were yet to make arrests.