Summary:

A nonprofit association that oversees and provides training, testing and credentialing for particular trades suspected that there was a ring of individuals in a particular area that had somehow obtained exam questions for their tests. We were engaged to find out if that was true and, if so, who was behind a possible cheating ring.

The Story:

We were contacted by an attorney for a large national non-profit association that develops testing and provides credentials for certain trades and professions. The association had become suspicious that there was a "cheating ring" in a particular county in California because of an anonymous phone call. The caller, and later the organization after some research, believed that somehow individuals in this particular area had access to the test questions before taking the exams because their scores were so high and they finished the tests so quickly - way above the national average. Many of the suspected cheaters were immigrants of a particular ethnic background and the client wondered if they knew each other and may have passed test questions and answers to each other.

 

We started by doing background investigations on suspected cheaters identified by the client and then did interviews with them. As we began the investigation, the anonymous caller also contacted us and we were able to determine his identity. It was clear to us that he did not really know what was going on but suspected one particular individual that he disliked.

 

During our first interview with one of the suspected cheaters, we learned that he attributed his stellar performance to the school where he studied. We then dropped by the school and spoke with the school's owner. He was initially very defensive. He said he did nothing wrong and was authorized by the organization we represented to teach classes. When we informed him that an anonymous caller had pointed to one particular individual, however, he cooperated, looked up that person in his records and said he had kicked that individual out of the school.

 

As we proceeded with the interviews, however, it became increasingly clear that all of the suspected cheaters had gone to that school. Each of them described the practice tests they studied at the school as having almost all of the questions as those on the actual exams, making the tests very easy for them.

 

After our reports, the attorney and the association decided they wanted us to send an undercover investigator into the school. Our undercover investigator was able to obtain photos of the practice tests that were given to students while they were studying at the school. These practice tests did indeed contain almost all of the questions that appeared on the exams. Unfortunately, despite cozying up to a couple of the teachers, our investigator was not able to find out how the school had obtained the exam questions.

 

At this point, regardless of what steps our clients take regarding the school, we did at least exonerate the students who had been suspected of cheating.

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