Police pull plug on listening device cheats
A band of Spanish criminals who helped people cheat in their exams by giving them the answers via high-tech listening devices has been busted by police.
Among the many and varied ways to cheat your way to success, this has to be one of the most crafty.
Police investigations have revealed that 12 people who sat recent exams in Spain's Galica region used tiny earpieces to receive answers remotely.
The students coughed up €5,000 ($6,900) to boost their chances of passing the exam which would have allowed them to operate transport businesses.
They had to pay €1,000 upfront to the gang organizing the scam with the remainder due on the day of their test.
Police arrested four people for their part in the crime which involved first stealing copies of the exam and then helping the students cheat.
Officers also seized twenty-five radiotransmitters and €15,000 in cash.
Almost half of all Spanish students owned up to cheating in exams and 60 percent said they'd plagiarized somebody else's work, according to a study carried out by Jaume Sureda, teaching researcher at the University of the Balearic Islands.
"There’s a permissive attitude in Spain towards cheats," Sureda told The Local at the time.
"That, added to unclear punitive regulations and an evaluation system that needs revising, are the main reasons why copying and plagiarism are so prevalent.
But "Spaniards are no more corrupt than other Europeans, at least on an academic level," Sureda added.
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Among the many and varied ways to cheat your way to success, this has to be one of the most crafty.
Police investigations have revealed that 12 people who sat recent exams in Spain's Galica region used tiny earpieces to receive answers remotely.
The students coughed up €5,000 ($6,900) to boost their chances of passing the exam which would have allowed them to operate transport businesses.
They had to pay €1,000 upfront to the gang organizing the scam with the remainder due on the day of their test.
Police arrested four people for their part in the crime which involved first stealing copies of the exam and then helping the students cheat.
Officers also seized twenty-five radiotransmitters and €15,000 in cash.
Almost half of all Spanish students owned up to cheating in exams and 60 percent said they'd plagiarized somebody else's work, according to a study carried out by Jaume Sureda, teaching researcher at the University of the Balearic Islands.
"There’s a permissive attitude in Spain towards cheats," Sureda told The Local at the time.
"That, added to unclear punitive regulations and an evaluation system that needs revising, are the main reasons why copying and plagiarism are so prevalent.
But "Spaniards are no more corrupt than other Europeans, at least on an academic level," Sureda added.
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