Scammers on social media are charging students hundreds of dollars for offering fake General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and A-level papers ahead of the exam day, according to the BBC. These are the UK equivalent of school-leaving or university entrance examinations and are available in a wide range of subjects. One of the students the BBC spoke to said that an Instagram user asked for $620 (Rs 51,206). The student added that this is "the most talked about hype" of exam season.
Both sets of exams take place between May and June.
The 15-year-old first saw accounts claiming to sell GCSE exam papers on TikTok.
"I was taken aback because it was ridiculous prices. Anywhere north of 500 pounds for a paper was the typical offer from multiple accounts for one exam paper," she told the BBC.
The student said she did not buy the exam paper but knows students who have paid up to $1,116 (Rs 92,171).
Another student told the outlet that he paid $74 (Rs 6,111) was made but was left "hurt and annoyed" when the account blocked him and failed to send anything.
Exam boards, meanwhile, said that it is extremely rare for genuine papers to be leaked.
"There has been an increase in the number of social media accounts falsely claiming to sell genuine exam papers. These profiles often belong to a single user with multiple accounts, rather than many individuals," the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which represents the eight biggest exam boards, told Independent.
Exams watchdog Ofqual has warned students that anyone caught cheating, including procuring exam papers in advance, could face disqualification.
Social media platforms like Meta, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat have also said that accounts promoting fraud or scams would be removed if flagged.
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