The officials of the Higher Education Commission in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were already alert to foil cheating attempts when thousands of aspirants appeared in the MDCAT exams on September 10, BBC Urdu reported.

Secretary of Higher Education Aneela Mahfooz Durrani busted a cheating scheme involving cutting-edge technology in KP as the officials apprehended dozens of students attempting to use covert Bluetooth devices for cheating.

The attempt was uncovered after officials received a tip-off that a group of people were planning to manipulate the entrance test by allegedly using hidden Bluetooth devices to transmit answers to students who had paid them.

Enhanced security checks were implemented at the entrance to examination halls, and during the exam, staff monitored and detected the use of Bluetooth devices.

According to an official, dozens of students from 44 examination centres have been handed over to the police stations and first information reports have been registered charging them with using unfair means during the examination.

The device used for cheating

According to officials, the Bluetooth device has two to three parts. One of them appears to be in the shape of a pen or a card.

A SIM is inserted into the device to activate it. The same device also has a charging port due to which the device can work for up to eight hours. The earplug is hidden inside the ear which is used to communicate with the person outside the hall for cheating.

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These devices have been developed by a Chinese company for espionage purposes.

According to the company’s website, the devices are intended to assist in surveillance, VIP protection and investigations.

These devices are easily available at a low cost from $45 to $60 on various websites.

Countermeasure by the authorities

The staff members were instructed to turn on the Bluetooth on their mobile phones and see if they could get a signal from any device during the exam.

An official said that they would stand near students in the hall and turn on Bluetooth on their mobile phones and if they received any other Bluetooth signals, they would search the students sitting nearby.

During the search, several students were found with a specific type of Bluetooth device, the main component of which was an earplug hidden in the ear, using which the students were cheating.