By RYO OYAMA/ Staff Writer
December 8, 2022 at 18:43 JST
Cellphones and textbooks seized by Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department included a reference book for TOEIC. (Keita Yamaguchi)
A man arrested on suspicion of taking online company entrance exams for paying students has admitted to offering a similar service for English proficiency tests, investigative sources said.
Nobuto Tanaka, a 28-year-old employee of Kansai Electric Power Co., said he was paid to take TOEIC, or the Test of English for International Communication, for others.
TOEIC is a standardized test that assesses communication skills in English. Many businesses use the test results in their hiring and promotion practices.
Tanaka, an Osaka resident, was arrested last month by Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department over allegations he took online company entrance exams for around 300 job-hunting students. He is believed to have received around 4 million yen ($29,400) in payments from the students.
He pitched his service on Twitter by boasting about his academic achievements as a graduate of the elite Kyoto University’s graduate school.
When investigators searched his home in July, they discovered several TOEIC reference materials, according to the sources.
On Twitter in February and March, Tanaka pitched his service to take the English exam.
“I can occasionally accept requests for taking TOEIC,” one post read. “Please feel free to consult me since I can easily score 700 or 800,” said another.
In another post, he wrote: “I took TOEIC for somebody, but my score was 785 because I intentionally gave wrong answers to nearly 10 questions.”
The perfect score for TOEIC, which tests listening, reading and writing skills, is 990.
More than 2 million people took the test in fiscal 2021.
Companies and schools can give TOEIC tests to applicants in person or online.
Since 2020, the Institute for International Business Communication, which runs the test, has made available an optional service for businesses and other organizations that aims to detect cheating in the online test.
The option allows examiners to monitor the test takers in real time with a webcam, according to the institute.
In addition, recorded footage of the test takers is analyzed by AI for any suspicious behavior.
Tanaka said in a tweet that his service is limited to tests without a webcam.
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