Photo/Illutration A Chinese graduate student is believed to have been hired to help others cheat at this venue in Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward on May 18 for the TOEIC English proficiency test. (Noriki Nishioka)

Organizers of the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) have invalidated the exam records of 803 individuals who are believed to have cheated through a hired imposter.

The Institute for International Business Communication will also disqualify those individuals from taking a TOEIC for five years, officials said July 7.

Wang Likun, a Chinese graduate student at Kyoto University, was arrested in May on suspicion of trespassing at a TOEIC exam venue in Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward by impersonating a test-taker.

The Metropolitan Police Department believes Wang was expected to mumble out the correct answers to other test-takers engaged in cheating.

The 803 individuals applied for TOEIC using the same or near-identical address as Wang’s since May 2023, according to the organizers.

TOEIC exam venues are assigned based on test-takers’ addresses. Applicants from the same neighborhood sit for the test at the same place.

The institute also said it ensures that test-takers have turned off their cellphones before the exam to prevent cheating.

Wang, 27, was hiding a small microphone with an antenna in his mask and wearing a pair of smart glasses with camera functions when he was arrested in May.

He was rearrested twice on suspicion of forging admission tickets to enter other TOEIC exam venues in Tokyo in February and March.

The suspect has refused to discuss the cases, according to investigative sources.

Wang initially told police that he received a message in Chinese around winter 2024 and was told he would be paid if he took the test.

The MPD believes others have provided correct exam answers in similar arrangements.

After Wang’s arrest, police found that 77 Chinese nationals who were scheduled to take TOEIC at a venue in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward on June 7 used the same address in their applications.

Also, 18 people who were to sit for the exam at a venue in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on June 22 used the same address.

Six of those test-takers told police that they were trying to cheat on TOEIC. One admitted to applying for a fraudulent arrangement through social media and paying 50,000 yen ($340).

The MPD suspects that masterminds in China are leading an organized cheating scheme.

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