Social Media Sites urged to ‘shut down’ Fake Exam Paper Scammers

As the UK exam season approaches, exam boards have said social media sites need to do more to “shut down” scammers selling fake exam papers to students.

TikTok and Instagram insist they do not allow the sale of exam papers on their platforms.

However, it has been revealed that dozens of accounts are falsely claiming to have access to 2024’s exam papers, with some charging hundreds of pounds.

According to students, the accounts are “very easy to find”.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which represents the UK’s eight largest exam boards, says it is very unlikely legitimate papers are being leaked online.

Ofqual says if students try to cheat, they could lose the qualification they have been studying for, even if the papers they try to buy are fake.

At The Commonweal School in Swindon, students said the fake accounts can be found with “a simple search”.

Shreya called the accounts she has seen on Instagram “psychologically manipulative” for students who might be duped into paying.

She said: “The kind of language they use is all very positive.

“It’s so misleading for people who are so stressed. It’s messing with them.”

Headteacher Chas Drew said the “reprehensible and unacceptable” actions of the scammers meant the school was taking a proactive approach to tackling the issue.

Leading up to the exams, teachers are showing students fake accounts so they know what to look out for.

Mr Drew told the BBC: “There’s nothing we do that’s more important than teaching them [students] how to keep themselves safe.

“A lot of that is keeping themselves safe in the virtual world as well as the real world.”

Exam board analysts monitor social media sites to look for scammers and report any fraudulent accounts.

But incidents can only be reported the same way as any other social media user.

Some of the scam accounts often remain active for several days after they have been reported.

The JCQ wants exam boards to be granted direct access to the social media site’s enforcement teams to shut the accounts down more quickly and stop students being “conned”.

JCQ chief executive Margaret Farragher said:

“Anything we can do together with social platforms is absolutely crucial.”

A spokesperson for Meta said it does not allow exams to be sold on its platform and removes any accounts that are flagged.

TikTok said it removes any content that tries to defraud users and urged them to report any accounts claiming to sell exam papers.

Meanwhile, The International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) has said “a very small number of students” have accessed some of its exam papers after they were shared online.

Over 150,000 students aged 16 to 19 study for the International Baccalaureates in 143 countries, including the UK.

According to some students, some exam papers were leaked on Reddit and Telegram.

An IBO spokesperson confirmed there have been instances of time zone cheating, where students who have completed their exams in certain countries share information with those yet to sit them.

However, the IBO said this activity was on the “fringes” and added there is “no evidence of widespread cheating”.

Any students found to have cheated could receive no marks for individual exams or be banned from sitting any future IBO exams altogether.