Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSCO) unit of Delhi Police has busted an online syndicate and arrested six people for solving the Graduate Management Admission Test examination (GMAT) with the help of Russian hackers, an official said on Wednesday.
GMAT has been the most widely used exam for MBA admissions. Reportedly, around 2,00,000 candidates worldwide take the GMAT exam each year.
According to the official, the members of the syndicate were able to get their clients a score of 780 out of the 800 maximum marks in the said examination. Deputy Commissioner of Police K.P.S. Malhotra told IANS that one of the arrested accused, identified as Raj Teotia from Haryana, was carrying a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head. "
He was also wanted in a case by the CBI," he said. Notably, the involvement of Russian hackers has also been revealed during the investigation. "Russian hackers were used by the syndicate to get access to various examination portals," added the official.
The accused downloaded the disguised remote access software, which was not detected by the safety measures and Proctor. "The accused Teotia was in touch with Russian hackers and also visited Russia in 2018 while Russian hackers stayed at his place during the lockdown," Malhotra said.
Sharing more startling details about the case, the official said the accused got a tool developed to remotely access the online examination system.
"They connived with lab owners, installed the tool through LAN and later on accessed the systems through remote access," he said, adding the syndicate opened several online examination labs for this purpose.
The IFSO unit of Delhi Police functions under the Special Cell and is a specialised unit that handles all complex and sensitive cases of cybercrime.
Earlier also, on November 30, last year, the IFSO unit busted a racket helping people cheat in online competitive exams and arrested three persons, including the two masterminds from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, for allegedly running the operation.