Backdoor service "pie in the sky"
IELTS, APTIS, TOEIC... are important English certificates for students in Vietnam today. Having these certificates with appropriate scores, students and researchers have a great advantage in university and graduate school admission. This is also a mandatory factor to study abroad and an important condition to find a job.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha (born in 1998) is currently an employee of a public service unit in Lao Cai. She is interested in pursuing a master's degree. One of the requirements for applying is that she must have a B1 APTIS certificate. However, many years after graduating, she no longer remembers her foreign language knowledge and had to register for an APTIS class in Cau Giay district (Hanoi).
During her studies, Ms. Ha received many advertisements on Facebook about services to take this type of certificate. Reporting to Lao Dong, Ms. Ha provided a series of invitations from Fanpages: "TOEIC-IELTS-APTIS exam guarantee"; "IELTS-TOEIC-PTE certificate exam support"; "Foreign language certificate exam support center"... and hoped that the reporter would clarify the above issue.
Posing as a person in need of using the APTIS B1 certificate rental service, Lao Dong Newspaper reporter contacted the Fanpage "Foreign language certificate rental center". Through initial discussions, the owners of these pages all requested private messages or phone numbers for contact, not public exchanges. The service price for the APTIS B1 certificate is 6 million VND, including the exam registration fee.
The proxy testing organization said that they will register the person in need and a "proxy examiner" at the same testing location. After completing the procedures to enter the testing room (fingerprint, camera check...) and the process of "saving the camera" in the testing room, there will be a supervisor (who has been "worked" with" in advance by the proxy testing organization) to help change the positions between the two people so that the "proxy examiner" can conduct all 4 parts of the listening, speaking, reading, and writing tests for the person in need.
To gain trust from those in need, on his personal Zalo, the subject also posted many photos of messages announcing the passing rate, certificates of "customers" who had been supported to take the APTIS ESOL, IELTS, TOEIC exams... However, when we used the excuse of asking to meet before transferring money for fear of fraud, the exam proxy said: "I did it through a back door so this is a sensitive matter, please understand."
Desperate to take risks, get a bitter ending
While recording the APTIS B1 certification exam, the reporter approached a victim who had been scammed out of more than 3 million VND. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Manh (name changed) was a candidate who took the APTIS B1 certification exam on October 21 with Ms. Ha. This was also the 5th time Mr. Manh took the exam.
Mr. Manh said that he had registered for the English certificate exam proxy service from the Fanpage "Foreign language certificate exam proxy center". Like Ms. Ha, Mr. Manh received an invitation to use the service when he had taken the exam for the third time without passing. "I studied for a long time but couldn't get in, took the exam for a long time but couldn't pass. Therefore, I was desperate, so I had to take a risk, transferring more than 3 million VND for them to register me and the lecturer to take the exam for me" - Mr. Manh shared with reporters.
Mr. Manh recounted that October 12 was his 4th APTIS B1 exam organized by the British Council's distributor in Vietnam. With the required fee of 6 million VND covering all 4 skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing), Mr. Manh had to transfer a deposit of 3 million VND to the subjects of "Foreign Language Certificate Exam Center", transacting online. However, on the exam day, Mr. Manh still went to the exam room to attend as previously instructed by the subject. However, his name was not on the list of candidates taking the exam.
When he contacted the center again, Mr. Manh only received the message "this account has been locked". Having lost 3 million VND the fourth time taking the exam, he decided to try to study and take the exam the fifth time and is waiting for the results.
