Fraudsters Used Mobile Gadgets to Transmit Answers

By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

A group of people were caught transmitting TOEIC answers through wireless headsets and cell phones.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said it arrested Kim, 42, and Park, 31, for interfering with the business of the Korea TOEIC Committee. A total of 28 test takers were booked without physical detention Tuesday.

According to police, Kim and Park reaped 50 million won ($39,000) in illegal gains for providing TOEIC answers from February to May. Each applicant paid 2-3 million won for the service.

They collected their ``customers'' by guaranteeing high TOEIC scores. Park, a former English instructor, who lived in the United States for 27 years, took the test and sent the answers through a wireless set, and Kim, waiting outside the testing facility, re-transmitted the answers to their customers.

Kim used a special wireless system for nearby applicants and text-messaged via cell phone for examinees at farther locations.

The test takers, who previously recorded an average score of 500, scored more than 900 points each. Most of them were in their 20s and 30s ― 13 jobseekers, nine office workers and six university students.

The cheating came to the light after another test taker reported the suspicious acts on the Internet and reported it to the local TOEIC committee. The committee requested the police to investigate.

``The fraudsters took advantage of the desperateness of low-scoring test takers, as TOEIC scores have a big effect on getting jobs and promotions,'' a police officer said.

Police said Kim and Park interviewed the examinees beforehand to check if any family members were police, and did not reuse the mobile phone used for the crime.

Kim was caught for TOEIC cheating three years ago and conveyed the method to Park, who he met in prison, the police said. The investigation is being expanded for tests conducted before February.

``The proctors take away cell phones and store them before the test. However, some do not submit theirs and there is no way to restrain it since we cannot search every applicant,'' Kim Hak-woo of the committee said.

meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr