Many people in the academic integrity world are already familiar with contract cheating websites, those that deal in the business of buying and selling exams, bespoke term papers, theses, and exam questions and answers.
But this business isn’t limited to the millions of K-12, high school and post-secondary students. The exam fraud business is alive and well for professional accreditation exams for folks who either want to bypass a formal university degree or to supplement existing credentials.
For example, in the IT industry credentials are often the golden key to new opportunities. Certifications and accreditations (allegedly) validate technical skills, offering (so-called) proof that a candidate has the expertise needed for a professional role.
Taking into account supply and demand, with job candidates being in high supply and well-paying jobs being in high demand, certification and accreditation fraud is alive and well in the IT industry, as well as other industries. This is a trend employers cannot afford to ignore.
Exposing the Fraud: How Buying and Selling of Certification Exam Questions Works
Certification fraud occurs when individuals falsify credentials, purchase counterfeit certifications, or misuse legitimate certifications obtained by others. But there’s this sneaky grey area that exists when a person actually sits a professional exam themselves, but they’ve prepared by buying the exam questions and/or the answers from an online vendor.
I won’t name specific companies that do this in this post, because I’m not in the habit of advertising for these fraudsters, but I want to show you how they work, so here are some screenshots:
Screenshot #1: Home page
At the top of this website, the company claims that 94% of the exam questions that they sold were “almost the same” and that 97% of customers passed the exam using their materials. (Who knows what happened to the other 3%…?) Finally, 98% of customers found the “study guides” effective and helpful.
There’s that phrase that we commonly see on contract cheating websites, “study guide”. For the uninitiated, this is a euphemism for “exam questions”.
Screenshot #2: Saying it like it is: Not affiliated with any certification provider
In this screenshot the company states plainly that they are not affiliated or certified by any certification provider. Reading between the lines, the message is ‘caveat emptor’ or ‘buyer beware’. They are telling you upfront that they are in the business of selling exam questions and make no guarantees about their products.
Screenshot #3: Samples of accreditation exam questions for sale
Look at all the options: You can buy exam questions for certifications offered by DELL, English language proficiency exams, Citrix, Adobe, and Amazon, and Google just to name a few.
Screenshot #4: More samples of certification provider exam questions for sale.
But wait! There’s more! You can buy exam questions for certifications offers by Oracle, IBM, SAP, and others.
Assessment Security
Sites like compromise the assessment security of certification exams that are meant to qualify individuals to do a particular job. If this term is new to you, I recommend Professor Phill Dawson’s book, Defending Assessment Security in a Digital World. For a quick (and free) overview, of Phill’s work, this slide deck from one of his presentations is worth checking out.
Businesses that buy and sell exam certification questions engage in fraudulent practices undermine trust in the certification system and create significant risks for employers.
Consequences for Employers
Hiring someone with counterfeit credentials can have dire consequences. Unqualified employees may lack the technical skills to handle complex tasks, leading to project delays, costly errors, or even security breaches. Beyond the financial impact, fraudulent certifications can erode team morale, as employees with genuine qualifications may feel undervalued when working alongside those who faked their way in.
What Employers and Hiring Managers can Do
Employers, and especially hiring managers and those working in HR, must take proactive steps to safeguard their hiring processes. Some of you may be asking if this kind of practice is actually illegal. I’m not a lawyer, but what I can say is that although contact cheating for students is illegal in countries like Australia, the UK, and Ireland, if you’re not a student, then you might get to live a proverbial grey zone. To the best of my knowledge, it is not actually illegal to buy and sell questions for professional certification exams in most countries of the world.
So, what can employers do? First, trust but verify! Verifying certifications directly with issuing organizations is one step. Many certification bodies offer easy online verification tools to confirm a candidate’s credentials. Additionally, employers should stay informed about recognized accreditation standards and avoid unverified institutions.
Having said this, verification of credentials and certification won’t help if someone has bought exam questions online and then taken the test themselves. Their results could be ‘verifiable’ in a sense, because there’s an assumption that a person who has passed an exam had the knowledge to do so. But when someone buys their exam questions before sitting the test, it means that they have prepared for an exam and may not necessarily have internalized the knowledge or skills that should match the certification they receive from passing an exam. An exam is one measure of knowledge, but it isn’t the only one.
Having prospective employees demonstrate their skills and respond to technical questions that could only be answered if the person has the knowledge to back up their documentation can also help. One possibility is to give an interviewee a real-world scenario that could happen at your organization. Ask them how they would go about problem-solving it. If they struggle or stumble, it could be a sign that they lack the necessary skills for the job. (It could also be a sign that they’re just nervous or that interviewing isn’t their strength. So let me also make a plug here for having an inclusive and equitable interviewing process.)
Investing in robust, inclusive, and equitable hiring practices not only protects an organization from the pitfalls of fraud but also helps to create a culture of accountability and excellence. By placing a premium on authentic certifications combined with demonstrable knowledge and skills and inclusive hiring practices, employers signal their commitment to integrity and ensure they are building a team of qualified professionals.
Bottom line: If you’re hiring someone who says they have an IT certification based on taking exams, it’s worth it to find out if they actually have the knowledge and skills to do the job.
And this is just one example of one site. Rest assured that it is not the only one out there. Exam cheating companies like this one don’t exist in isolation. They’re in the game to make money, and lots of it.
In an industry where skills and knowledge drive success, vigilance against certification and accreditation fraud is not optional—it is a driver of success.
Future Outlook
Fraud and corruption are alive and well education and industry. There is a growing community of sleuths, scholars, and activists who are ready to sniff out fraud and expose it and naïveté about these matters is quickly going out of fashion.
There may have been a time when it was acceptable—or even fashionable—to clutch your pearls, proclaim moral outrage, or just refuse to accept that educational and professional fraud are more commonplace than you might have previously thought. GenAI is here to stay, and so are companies whose business is educational, accreditation, scientific, and professional fraud. These companies are profitable because they have customers willing to pay for their goods and services.
Vigilance, sleuthing, and exposing fraud are very much on trend as we move ahead into the new year. And if you’re a hiring manager, taking steps to protect the integrity of your operations is definitely part of the job in 2025 and beyond.
References and Further Reading
Carmichael, J. (2023, June 7). Understanding Fake Degrees and Credential Fraud in Higher Ed. The Evollution: A Modern Campus Illumination. https://evolllution.com/programming/credentials/understanding-fake-degrees-and-credential-fraud-in-higher-ed/
Eaton, S. E., & Carmichael, J. (2022). The Ecosystem of Commercial Academic Fraud. In. Calgary, Canada: University of Calgary. https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/40330
Eaton, S. E., Carmichael, J., & Pethrick, H. (Eds.). (2023). Fake degrees and credential fraud in higher education. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21796-8
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Sarah Elaine Eaton, PhD, is a Professor and Research Chair in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, Canada. Opinions are my own and do not represent those of my employer.
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