Another TOEIC High-Tech Cheating Scandal
Both The Korea Times and The Joongang Ilbo have articles on a new TOEIC cheating scandal uncovered by police. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency detained two suspects, named Kim and Park, on charges of raking in some 50 million won ($38,750) from 28 university students and job seekers in exchange for using electronic devices to send test takers answers during the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). The scheme worked as follows:
- Kim would place a posting on the internet 20 days before a TOEIC exam, guaranteeing customers a high score on the exam.
- Upon receiving replies, he would explain the scheme to potential customers, after checking to be sure they had no police officers in their family.
- Customers were given the choice of two methods to receive answers during the test, either by text message on a cellphone, or via a small earphone, the size of a grain of rice.
- On the test date, Park, who is fluent in English, would enter the test site wearing an antenna resembling a necklace. He would use a small wireless device with buttons to send answers to Kim, using a code of one buzz for A, two for B and so forth. Then Kim would announce the answer to the examinee through the earphone.
According to the Korea Times, test takers who previously scored an average of 500 points, raised their scores to over 900 points. Most of them were in their 20s and 30s, 13 jobseekers, nine office workers and six university students.
This is not the first cheating scandal for TOEIC in Korea. Also, it should raise a red flag for everyone connected with the administration of TOEFL and other high stakes academic tests. Because the benefits of a high score (the “stakes”) are so high in English testing, there is no substitute for thorough, consistent and intelligent application of test security measures.