Multiple posts across social media are claiming that contract cheating syndicates are providing students at the University of Melbourne with hidden cameras and covert ear-pieces to receive real time answers during this semester's exam period. 

Allegedly, these cheating syndicates posted images of the final exams for ECON10004 Introductory Microeconomics and MAST10007 Linear Algebra on two Chinese social media apps: Xiaohongshu (RedNote) and Douyin.

Screenshot from original Reddit post, since deleted.    Source: The Daily Telegraph, alleged screenshot from Douyin, since deleted.

At this moment in time Farrago has been unable to corroborate if these exams are the exact ones students completed this exam period.

Farrago approached the University of Melbourne for comment on this matter and a spokesperson replied with the following statements. "The University of Melbourne has rigorous policy and proccesses to respond to allegations of cheating. We closely monitor our exams and take all reports of suspected cheating or academic misconduct seriously. Any reports will be investigated and action taken as needed to ensure fair assessment for all students."

Across the recent social media posts exclaiming outrage for these alleged breaches of academic misconduct, users claimed that they have seen the same or similar cheating syndicates advertised on both aforementioned platforms. 

With one comment stating, “I can’t tell you how many professional cheating agencies there are on [RedNote]”. 

Another wrote, “I took the exam myself, so I am absolutely certain this is the exact paper I did”.

At least one of these profiles posting to Douyin appears to have been advertising their services to both UniMelb and University of Sydney students, with posts allegedly containing photos from each university's recent exams. 

The Daily Telegraph published a screenshot from an internal discussion board at the USyd (now apparently closed) for their Introductory Microeconomics course showing students posting about advertisements that allegedly show proof that their exam questions were leaked during the exam. 

Source: The Daily Telegraph, alleged screenshot from the University of Sydney’s internal class communications, since closed.

A spokesperson from the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency told Farrago, “TEQSA is aware of public reporting of ongoing and emerging risks to academic assessment integrity, including the use of technology to facilitate misconduct and the promotion of commercial cheating services through online platforms.”

“Increasingly sophisticated technologies make it challenging to identify cheating and protect the credibility and value of students’ learning outcomes and qualifications, across a course of study,” they continued.

Claims across social media are suggesting that this cheating was enabled by the use of hidden cameras, disguised as innocuous items such as shirt buttons, to capture a recording which was then live-streamed to an external team that fed answers back to the students in real-time through covert earpieces. 

The advertisements allegedly contained images of this equipment. 

Source: Instagram account, foreign.fillagadu.

There are multiple international examples of similar “spyware” being used in exams. 

An extract from a 2025 tribunal hearing at the University of Toronto stated, “The invigilator eventually found that the student was wearing a button camera and carrying other electronic aids.”

The same panel stated in a separate proceeding, “This Tribunal has seen an alarming increase in spyware cases ... It is pervasive and coordinated.”

It is important to note that none of these claims have been verified and that conclusions cannot be drawn from social media posts alone.

However, the TEQSA has previously confirmed that there are cheating syndicates that already exist within Australia.

They recently released a sector alert for tertiary institutions to be vigilant of “aggressive and direct promotional activities of commercial academic cheating services that target students studying for an Australian higher education award.”

If genuine, these posts would represent the latest example of how technology is reshaping the landscape of academic misconduct.

Image Source: Vimel Tech