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Since 2019, there has been an increase in the number of searches for domains that participate in “academic fraud. The phrase “do my homework” on Google yields 270 million results. As a growing number of students learn remotely during the pandemic, hundreds of websites offer to do homework or take exams for them. However, these websites do not only provide poor content but also turn the web browsers of anyone else who shares the student’s network, into cryptocurrency miners or literally infecting their computers with malware.

A systemic study by Frontiers in Education in 2014-2018 found that 15.7% of university students commit contact cheating. In total, this potentially represents 31 million people. Meanwhile, the number of blackmail cases has increased as well. Research in the UK shows that 31% of the essay mills use misleading advertising and the majority do not guarantee content that meets the passing grade. To tackle contract cheating a joint effort is needed from legislatures, students, and professors.

The 2017 Kessler International survey highlighted that “79% of students admitted to plagiarizing their assignments from the internet, 42% purchased custom papers online, and 28% said they had a service take their online classes for them.” An expert on integrity and ethics in education argues that minimizing cheating during remote education requires effective communication and instruction, and that classwork and assessments should focus on mastery rather than performance.

14 students from the University of Calgary taking a third-year geology course received academic misconduct notices after sharing tutorial answers in an online chatroom. According to one student, the course was an open book and the professor gave them contradictory and confusing instructions. In addition to getting failing grades, students who accept guilt or are found guilty following an appeal are also required to take academic integrity workshops.

All of the exam questions for a Finance 311 class were loaded onto external websites while the exam was in progress. The release of the final exam scores and overall course grades have therefore been delayed pending an investigation into potential academic integrity violations. Students caught cheating can incur penalties from the Office of Student Conduct, including a 70% reduction on their exam grades, having to pass a module on academic integrity, a flag on their permanent record, and a $100 fine.

Reports indicate that not only do Chinese students cheat on their college applications, but many continue even after they have arrived in the U.S. An admissions official at the University of Southern California recognized that he earned $40,000 from clients over the years by providing “false college transcripts with inflated grades,” “fraudulent personal statements,” and “phony letters of recommendation” for the applications of his Chinese clients.

Several students anonymously admitted to using online private messaging and videoconferencing apps like Discord and FaceTime to collaborate with a group of 10 to 15 peers during the Advanced Placement government test while another student provided secondhand accounts of the group's calls during tests. According to the students, there was nothing to prevent them from collaborating and it was the least secure test they had ever taken.

Despite the efforts of teachers to prevent the use of phones during tests, students confess they are willing to do anything to “make the grade,” including cheating, lying, taking shortcuts, and hiding cheat sheets. For language tests, Google Translate has become a major tool for students wanting to cheat.

Boston University is investigating cheating after chemistry and physics students used the Chegg tutoring service to ask questions and get answers to online quizzes and exams. The university expects students to continue to behave ethically through remote learning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The University of California-Berkeley trusts its professors to design evaluation methods that balance concerns with the imperative of academic integrity during the pandemic. In the meantime, to ensure that students do not cheat during exams, a "browser lock" method will be introduced. This will prevent students from switching from one window or tab to another while taking online tests.