Chinese police arrest three in high-tech exam cheating scheme

By Donald Melanson | June 9, 2007

As we’ve seen countless times, the temptation to cheat on tests using various gadgets and wireless technology is often too great for students to overcome — even chess players have occasionally given themselves an unfair advantage. While much of the test cheating involves nothing more than hidden iPods or cellphones, it can sometimes raise to the level of elaborate test cheating crimes rings, with students forking over big bucks for a little assistance. As Reuters reports, that appears to be what has gone down during China’s recent national college entrance exam, where three men were arrested for relaying answers to a student from a van parked outside the school. Apparently, the student (who paid $1,500 for the “service”) wore a wireless microphone to read out the questions, with the men in the van using a pair of computers to look up the answers. That’s not all the police had to deal with, however, with them also reportedly turning up 42 pairs of so-called “cheating shoes” with “transmitting and reception ability” prior to the exam, as well as some “cheating wallets” and hats.