How to cheat on Online exams with proctoring

Marina Novoselova
Examus blog
Published in
4 min readMay 14, 2021

We live in a highly changeable and tech-led world and nowadays, due to a pandemic, education becomes online in almost all aspects. Webinars, zoom-calls, google-hangouts, MOOCs, online lectures, online tests, online exams. It seems that there is only one thing, that stays the same: students, and their desire to cheat on exams. So is it possible to cheat on an online exam? How to cheat on an online proctored exam?

There are several ways to do it. They might work from time to time, but students should be aware, that online proctoring platforms are aware of these methods.

1. Cheating on proctored exams: Old-School Method

Many students still don’t realize how advanced online proctoring really is. Some students still use the “old-school” cheating methods. Just like for regular in-class exams, students prepare small notes on paper, their palms, or even on their legs if they are lucky to have a good enough vision! What they don’t realize is that online proctors pay close attention to students’ surroundings. AI-automated remote exam proctoring solutions now use facial recognition and detection technology that not only verifies student identities, but also detects when test takers leave the area, move around or turn their head, flagging potential concerns for faculty.

2. Cheating on proctored exams: Rage Against The machines

On the other hand, there are many tech-savvy (or the ones that pretend to be) students who try using tools for cheating. Cellphones, smart watch, ear bugs, you name it! It is funny to see how creative students are when it gets to cheating the online exam. Yes, to see, we still see it all. Examus proctoring solution camera works both ways and on top of that are able to detect other technology in use by the student.
Ok, if a separate piece of technology doesn’t help, maybe some shortcuts will be left unnoticed, they wonder. Good luck with that! Examus Live proctors can tell the difference between a student who is typing an answer and one who’s trying to take a screenshot on most occasions.

3. Cheating on proctored exams: Operation Hydration

Education is important, as well as staying hydrated. Some exams take longer time than others and proctors allow students to bring their own water bottles. Water bottle may seem to be an innocent object, but not when it is used by a skilled cheater! Some students manage to turn the bottle’s cover to a cheat sheet. This method might work successfully in the classroom, since one or two proctors simply cannot watch every student evenly at any point in time. Unfortunately for online exam takers this will not work. Examus online proctoring solution has a gaze detection feature that flags the situation when a student keeps looking at a particular spot for a long time or too often (in this case — bottle).

4. Cheating on proctored exams: Under Cover

My home is my fortress, and a hideaway from proctors for many! Exam takers use furniture to cover cheat sheets — closets, desks, chairs and beds — all act as shelter for cheaters looking to game the system. Blinds and curtains are on the list of favorites for some dodgy students.

To cheat during an online exam students tape the answers to white curtains or blinds in front of them. Good work! We really hope that writing down the cheating sheet helped remembering material better. Unfortunately though, Examus online proctoring solution asks you to show your surroundings before the exam and to remove the “extras”. Use your time wisely!

5. Cheating on proctored exams: Partners in Crime

“Just remember if we get caught, you are deaf and I don’t speak English”. Good friends are a blessing. They truly want us to succeed in life, including passing the online exam. Some use tech help with calls and messages, some use a Bluetooth headset, but Examus webcam technology can immediately spot the device. Others use less techy undercovers, but not everything that happens behind the curtain stays behind the curtain. Just because you can’t be seen, doesn’t mean you cannot be heard. Online proctoring high-quality audio detection in both live and automated proctoring flags suspicious sounds on a spot.

Obviously, cheating ways on online exams are not limited to the named above methods. If you came across some interesting way of remote exams cheating, feel free to discuss it with us on Facebook or Twitter.

We also found some idioms about exam cheating and honesty:

“Plan how to study for exam. Not how to cheat on exam”;
“Life is the most difficult exam”;
“Honesty — is the best policy at all times”;
“A clean hand wants no washing.”

So, stay safe, wash your hands before and after the exam, good luck&stay tuned!

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