Don't fake it till you make it
The London Police Service
released a statement on March 11
that three Toronto-area residents
were charged with “Possession of a
Forged Passport, Possession of a
Forged Document, Personation at
Examination and Personation to
Gain Advantage” in an English
proficiency test writing scam.
Some foreign students paid the individuals up to $7,000 to write the tests on their behalf.
The London Police Service explained the process: “When the surrogate attends the testing centre, they present a counterfeit passport that shows their picture along with the identification of the person that hired them. The surrogate would then write the exam and receive a passing score allowing the person that hired them to be admitted into a college or university.”
Though this is just coming to light, Bruce Wilson, manager of Fanshawe's International Services, said it's not uncommon.
“It's not something that isn't unknown,” he said. “It happens at different places around the world, but organizations such as ours have things in place to make sure we try and make sure this is not going to affect [us].”
Wilson explained protocol has been in place all along at Fanshawe and said such situations are not a concern here.
“If they came to Fanshawe College, we would take that person's picture and put it on their photo ID,” he said. “When the person comes to Fanshawe College ... we have a special way of going back into the system for whatever test it is and checking to make sure the test is valid and that the person is valid.”
Reasons for cheating might have initial benefits, but Wilson said it would likely be short-lived.
“These people would fail,” to put it bluntly. “Our system here is not foolproof, but it's as foolproof as we can make it regarding making sure that the student has the right level of English or the test required before/after they're here.”
Though removal of a student from the country is not Fanshawe's responsibility, the right people would be notified if there were a problem.
“[Canadian Border Services] would legally proceed with some sort of action against the student and their legal process would kick into place,” said Wilson. “If we thought there was a problem, we would let Canadian Border Services know ... it's up to them to decide whether or not they want to handle it.”
Alan Yan, 25, of North York, Li Huang, 39, of Richmond Hill and Mengshi Yue, 27, of Toronto were arrested and charged on March 7.
Further investigation is being taken care of by Canadian Border Services.
Suffice to say, don't do it.
“It's not worth any potential repercussions,” said Wilson.
Some foreign students paid the individuals up to $7,000 to write the tests on their behalf.
The London Police Service explained the process: “When the surrogate attends the testing centre, they present a counterfeit passport that shows their picture along with the identification of the person that hired them. The surrogate would then write the exam and receive a passing score allowing the person that hired them to be admitted into a college or university.”
Though this is just coming to light, Bruce Wilson, manager of Fanshawe's International Services, said it's not uncommon.
“It's not something that isn't unknown,” he said. “It happens at different places around the world, but organizations such as ours have things in place to make sure we try and make sure this is not going to affect [us].”
Wilson explained protocol has been in place all along at Fanshawe and said such situations are not a concern here.
“If they came to Fanshawe College, we would take that person's picture and put it on their photo ID,” he said. “When the person comes to Fanshawe College ... we have a special way of going back into the system for whatever test it is and checking to make sure the test is valid and that the person is valid.”
Reasons for cheating might have initial benefits, but Wilson said it would likely be short-lived.
“These people would fail,” to put it bluntly. “Our system here is not foolproof, but it's as foolproof as we can make it regarding making sure that the student has the right level of English or the test required before/after they're here.”
Though removal of a student from the country is not Fanshawe's responsibility, the right people would be notified if there were a problem.
“[Canadian Border Services] would legally proceed with some sort of action against the student and their legal process would kick into place,” said Wilson. “If we thought there was a problem, we would let Canadian Border Services know ... it's up to them to decide whether or not they want to handle it.”
Alan Yan, 25, of North York, Li Huang, 39, of Richmond Hill and Mengshi Yue, 27, of Toronto were arrested and charged on March 7.
Further investigation is being taken care of by Canadian Border Services.
Suffice to say, don't do it.
“It's not worth any potential repercussions,” said Wilson.
