The suspension on April 26 of the examination of the opposition for new places of Local police in the municipality of Tacoronteafter detecting the use of wireless technology and micro cameras to copyhas sown an avalanche of doubts about the cleanliness of oppositions to public administrations and forces to increase the measures that avoid the fraudulent use of new technologies to obtain a position as a public official without respecting the principles of equality, merit and ability. A brief search on the internet reveals that, for years, there has been a whole technological arsenal that is at the service of copycats. They are the not-so-new traps to oppose that are now once again worrying the courts that must ensure the cleanliness of the processes that allow access to a coveted job for life.
The system used in Tacoronte, whose connection failure allowed it to be detected, consisted of a microearpiece, inserted into the ear canal of the cheating opponent, connected to his mobile phone, which had an active call. On the other side, someone could see the exam through a micro camera, probably hidden in glasses or a shirt button (there are also cameras that are hidden in pens or attached to the wrist, under the sleeve), and dictated correct answers. The disconnection of the mobile and the earpiece transmitted the call to the telephone and that allowed a member of the court to hear a suspicious murmur among the belongings of the opponents.
This system would not have been detected if this failure had not occurred., since the micro earpiece, similar in size to a grain of rice, goes deep into the ear canal and is not visible. To extract it, a magnetized rod is used. These micro earpieces can be used for live communications but can also have pre-recorded content. They are sold at prices ranging between 39 and 960 euros in dozens of stores online. An earpiece with glasses bluetooth It can be purchased for just 110 euros, but there are more sophisticated equipment for up to 1,560 euros. There are even Spanish companies dedicated exclusively to helping you cheat in exams, such as Monoreanwhich is advertised with an explicit “Copy in exams with absolute discretion! The world’s best exam earpiece: communicate wirelessly and clearly without being detected”.
The sales platforms amazon and aliexpress are full of advertisements for these devices and in Youtube Dozens of videos can be consulted showing how to use these technologies to copy with titles such as “The best invisible earpiece of 2020”; “Undetectable Exam Earpiece”, “Eleven Ways to Cheat on an Exam”, or «Earpieces to pass your exams without studying». There are even tutorials to put on the earpiece well and offers to rent them “five days for 25 euros”.
The use of frequency inhibitors would allow most communications with the outside to be avoided, but in order to end recordings and anti-jammer technologies, which are already being announced, there may be no alternative in the future but to start using otoscopes to check the ear canals of all opponents. It is no longer enough to ask applicants to put their hair up.
The mini-pinganillos that are sold to pass without studying are undetectable with the naked eye
There are even systems that do not require connection to the mobile phone. There are mini hearing aids that connect to the network through a card sim attached to the body and allows controls with the movement of the feet. It is used to call or to listen to recorded content. The most important part of this system is hidden under clothing. Complete equipment with headphones, mobile connection, antennas and hidden cameras up the sleeves are sold through the internet. The short sleeve would help prevent some fraud.
In most oppositions, participants are required to discard their watches and keep them apart. And not only because of the existence of smart watch with the capacity to receive texts, images and messages from abroad. There are also clocks that show nothing to the naked eye but, with special glasses, they allow the offender to read previously entered text. They cost 50 euros. Along the same lines, scientific calculators are sold for about 180 euros with which it is possible to connect to the internet, receive messages or save a large number of texts and that even have a panic button to return to the numbers before they are detected. . They are used to search Google and even to chat with the outside. Some Spanish universities have already banned certain calculators and even bracelets and necklaces to prevent them from being used to cheat.
