Note: This document is really designed for teachers, not
cheaters. I compiled it after weeks of “lurking”
on cheat sites. Most tips are in the cheaters’ own
words.
Get advance copies of the exam
• break into professor's office
• hack into professor's computer
• bribe copyist
• bribe TA
• consult test banks (most commonly maintained by
fraternities and sororities). These are copies of tests
gained either legally from professors who let students keep
tests (this one is not cheating - it's the prof s fault
for repeating questions), or illegally by people who don't
turn tests back in or take an extra copy while it's being
passed out.
• if there is more than one section of the class,
interview people who took the test in an earlier section.
You could bribe several people to each memorize just a few
questions and then get together to reconstruct the whole
thing after the exam-worthwhile if you share the answers
(and cost) with others.
• pay for exam answers from someone else who does
any of the above.
Copying from neighbors' papers
• Sit next to the person you want to cheat from. If
there are different versions of the test, either mix them
up while they're being passed out (so you and your seatmate
end up with the same version) or sit diagonally behind the
person you want to cheat from.
• Several people can cheat by sitting in a "Flying
V" formation, where the person to be cheated from sits
at the head of the V and the cheaters fan out behind in
diagonals.
• You or someone else can "accidentally"
drop a paper on the floor so someone else can look at it.
• Walk up to the front to ask the professor a question
and peek at other people's tests on the way up and back.
• Use a small mirror to "adjust contact lenses"
while really using it to peek.
Crib sheets
Students have devised a wide variety of places to hide cheat
sheets.
• Desk/Chair: the night before, write the crib sheet
on the desk you'll use. Either write in pencil (hard to
see, easy to erase) or whittle an eraser to a point and
write using the eraser. You could also write in on the back
of the chair in front of you (if you're bold enough, you
can do this on the day of the exam after you sit down),
the floor, or the desk edge. One anecdote tells of a female
student who wrote her crib notes on the edge of the desk
where her breasts would obscure them as she hunched over
her exam.
• Food/Drink: Bring a bottled water or soda into class
with you- the kind that has an easily pealed off paper around
it like Cherry Coke. Before going to the class, write the
cheats on the liner, and reattach it FIRMLY to the bottle.
Any time you need an answer, take a drink of your soda and
you will see some answers. Do NOT do this with a clear or
light colored beverage! (NOTE: other mentions of hiding
crib sheets in food items are common: in chip or cookie
packages, computer-printed fake labels, a piece of tracing
paper inside a gum wrapper that gets chewed with the gum
after it's used).
Body Parts
• Hands/Arms: the old standby! Write on your hands
or arms and hide it from the professor with hand position
or sleeves. The webbing between the fingers is a good place.
• Ankles: cross your leg over your knee and pull down
your sock to view.
• Legs: Make a crib sheet with all the important information
from the class, or you can write the information on your
thighs. If you use the crib sheet tape it to the inside
of the part of your skirt that covers your behind. Every
time you need some information just lift the front of your
skirt enough so you can see the crib sheet and whatever
information you need. Anyway, the nice thing is that the
instructor can't really do anything, because if they accuse
you of cheating by this method you can always call the instructor
a "pervert." The odds of the instructor reporting
a cheating incident like this are pretty slim because the
administration will ask, "How did you determine that
she was cheating?" What would they say? Whatever they
say, though it is true, will make them look like some lowlife
child molester, and who wants that?
• Fingernails: I used to use mechanical pencils to
write on my bare fingernails. Formulas, verbs, quotes, you
name it, and I wrote it on my nails! If the teacher came
by, I would curl my fingers under or put my hand in my lap.
If worse comes to worse, you can rub off any evidence with
one swipe of a sweaty (or spitty) fingertip. Females also
report writing crib notes on the underside of false fingernails
before attaching them.
Clothing
• Shoes: Write some facts on the bottom of your shoes.
• Hat: Hat: write notes on it in pencil to read during
the test while your head is down. The teacher can't see
your eyes looking up at your visor because the visor blocks
their view. The pencil then erases or rubs off rather easily
so that you can wear it on non-test days, too, to throw
off suspicion.
• Shirt: Wear an open flannel shirt to school. Have
answers secretly taped to the inside, and when the teacher
isn't looking, just open it just enough to seethe notes.
Or use a "cheating shirt"-a tiedyed or other print
shirt with information worked into the designs.
• Tie: Write all important notes or formulas on the
back of your tie
• Belt: tape the cheat sheet inside your belt. Either
use a belt that's too big or you'll have to un-do it and
slide it out during the test.
• Watch: Write a very small crib sheet, one that is
about the size of a watch face. Empty the contents out of
an old watch and insert the cheat sheet. Wear the watch
with the face on the inside of your wrist. Never wear a
t-shirt; only wear clothing with long sleeves!
• 101): For tests we have to show ID. Whenever I am
going to have a quiz or test or whatever I write info on
the back of my id card. Then I lean back and when I lean
forward my card plops write on my desk. Just look at the
back of your card and copy away. When the test is done just
erase it off because the card is plastic,
• Other: eyeglass frames, mirrored sunglass lenses,
band-aids...
Pencil/Pen
• Engraved Pencil: Etch them (notes) on a standard
#2 pencil (the 6 sided type) with a new sharp razor blade.
Don't etch too deeply. Then, when you need the engraved
information just rub your sweaty fingers over the etchings
to get some dirt into them so they become visible. It's
virtually undetectable if you only use 3 sides of the pencil,
and rotate it when someone is walking by. NOTE: the most
elaborate organized cheating scam of all time sold pencils
pre-engraved with the answers to standardized tests for
up to $9,000 apiece!
• Engraved Pen: Put a pin in a mechanical pencil where
the lead is supposed to be (cut the head off of the pin),
and carve your cheat notes into the pen(s) you are using
for the exam.
• Empty Pen: take a pen that has run out of ink and
write your notes on a sheet of paper. The paper becomes
a "scratch sheet" for the test, and you can view
the writing by looking at the paper from the proper angle.
• White-Out: write on your "scratch" paper
with white ink or White-Out error correction fluid.
• Fluorescent Pen: Student writes on "blank"
blue book or scratch paper with invisible ink --- visible
only when ultraviolet light is shined on it. Thousands of
cheap ultraviolet light pens are sold annually.
• Eraser: write answers on the bottom of the big erasers
people use; can also be a method of sharing answers with
others wince most professors will let you borrow an eraser
from someone else during a test.
• Masking Tape: It's better to write crib notes on
masking tape than to write it on your body, because if they
suspect you and it's written on your body you're busted!
With thin masking tape you've at least got a chance to get
rid of it because that stuff compresses into a ball that's
impossible to unwrap.
• Tissue: write your crib notes in pencil on a tissue.
If the professor starts to come by, blow your nose into
it and wad it up. If you can't blow your nose, spit into
it so it looks like you've blown your nose (gross!) and
wads together permanently.
• Sticky Film: Use a good Laser printer to print your
cheat notes using a very small font size (2-4). This way
you can print off a lot of notes in a small area. You can
buy transparent sticky film for laser printers. a transparency
sheet, and if you print your cheat notes on these 'stickies'
you can stick them on your tools: calculators, erasers,
rulers, etc. If you have a black pen or calculator, the
transparent film will not be noticeable since they are clear
and the laser toner is black. You can read the text when
the light shines on it the right way.
• The Room: write coded information on posters, blackboard,
podium, in dust on cabinets, etc.
• Note Card + Rubber Band: write your notes on an
index card. Punch a hole in the comer and thread a rubber
band through the hole. Safety pin the non-card end up your
sleeve and pull the other end down (the one with the card)
and loop it around your thumb. Conceal the cheat sheett
in your palm. Just in case the professor comes to check,
simply release the band which is around your thumb and it
will spring back up inside your sleeve! Only make sure you
have all the information you need because once it's released
you can't access it again!" NOTE: other students claim
the cards can be retrieved at will.
• Cover Your Crib Sheet Tracks: write crib notes in
a way that can be erased or obliterated immediately. If
you must write them in pen, carry an alcohol prep pad or
soak a moist towelette in fingernail polish.
Using Technology to Cheat
• Calculator: programmable calculators can hold text,
formulas, even pictures.
• Watch: "data bank" watches can hold crib
notes
• Pager: Setting electronic pagers to store messages
students can conveniently call up when the teacher's not
looking. In one variant, a high-tech student used a tiny
wireless video camera in a hat to transmit images of the
test to an accomplice, who sent pager messages (the pager
set on vibrate) to indicate answers! A related story regard
the GRE: people taking it on the East Coast were reportedly
beeping answers to persons on the West Coast.
• Palm Pilots and other personal digital assistants
(and some calculators, too) allow information to be beamed
across a distance via infrared. A student can use a laser
pointer (many look like pens) to "write" the answers
or as part of a code (e.g., left top side of floor tile
= "A" , right top = "B", etc.
• Walkman: record your notes, take a Walkman to class
and listen to it during the test. It helps to have some
music on their so if the prof walks towards you by the time
they get there the music is playing.
• Micro-recorder: used when the same test is delivered
in multiple sections; questions are whispered into microphone
for later transcription.
• Wireless Monitor: used by musicians, this consists
of a body pack transmitter concealed under clothing combined
with a small flesh-colored earpiece; the wire is hidden
under hair and clothing. A cell phone plus a small earpiece
can be used for the same purpose.
• Camera: at least one instance of a student transmitting
exam questions via a tiny wireless camera and receiving
answers via a wireless monitor has been reported. And a
watch that incorporates a digital still camera has already
been released in Japan.
Using Old Exams
If the prof gives old tests back, take one from a previous
semester and write all over it. Ask what colors of paper
they use on tests and make copies of it in those colors.
When the prof s not looking, take out the test of the same
color, slide it under the real test, and cheat away.
Blue Books
On exams for which you have to bring you own paper or test
booklets,. write all the information that you need in and
outline form. If an instructor asks you about the outline
(though doubtfall) simply explain that it's a pre writing
work to help you organize better for the actual essay or
problem. To let you know, I think many people across the
country have used this method on bluebook exams. It works,
and is very hard to catch, just make sure your teacher doesn't
collect them at the start of the exam, and redistribute
them.
Leaving Class
Leaving the test room and getting help (most often, under
the pretense of a bathroom break).
Ringers
Convince someone else to take the test for you. If the proctors
check IDs, either pay for a fake ID for them or pick someone
who resembles you. On test days, they should try to look
as much like you as possible. Take the test, but have the
ringer sit next to you so you can copy off them. Take the
test, but switch papers with the ringer and turn in the
ringer's test instead of your own (they can turn in their
test using a fake name, or better yet, steal the test for
a test file.
Take a Make-Up
If it's the night before the test and you still haven't
studied, call the professor and plead illness or a relationship
breakup, acting all distraught. Professors cut you more
slack if you call them in advance. If you can't, and you
miss the exam, it depends on how strict they are: with some,
you can plead your way into a makeup without any proof;
with others, you might have to fake a doctor's note or con
your doctor into giving you one. Of course, in the meantime,
you've interviewed your friends to find out exactly what
was on the test (most instructors don't go to the extra
trouble of making out a special make-up test).
Turning In The Exam
• Not handing in the test and later acting all upset
because the professor lost it.
• Gleaning answers from turried-in papers or a post-exam
solution sheet, then correcting their paper before handing
it in.
• Go up to ask a question and distract the professor
long enough to snag someone else's test or answer sheet.
Take it back to the desk, copy answers, and turn both in
(be sure not to put them back to back in the stack if you
can help it). As a variation, if you don't like the person,
change some of their answers to wrong answers!
After The Exam
• Substituting correct solutions for incorrect ones
after the graded tests are handed back.
Collusion
• I sat right behind a girl that I was very good friends
with and she had long wavy hair that remained stiff due
to hairspray. Come test time I would simply insert my crib
sheet into her hair and pull it aside when I needed an answer.
I would then lean forward and whisper the answers to her.
• One person goes up to ask a question to the professor,
but is really there to distract him/her while others cheat.
• We'd ask good-looking girls to dress really sexy
(like short skirts and low-cut shirts) on the day of the
exam and sit up front to distract the professor so we could
all cheat.
• Cheater sits by window and confederate outside indicates
answers.
• The better prepared person creates a cheat sheet
for the lesser-prepared person during the exam, then finds
a way to deliver it to them (e.g., dropped, written on eraser).
• The confederate takes two answer sheets and places
them together, then writes hard enough on the first to leave
impressions on the second. They then find a way to share
the "blank" sheet with the cheater.
• Your friend fills in two answer sheets, one with
your name and one with his. You both wait until that "crunch"
where a bunch of people are leaving at once, then he/she
turns in both while you leave without turning in yours.
If the test requires names to be written, yours is left
blank; either you immediately return because you'd "forgotten"
to write your name on yours, or just wait --- most professors
will automatically assigned an unnamed paper to the person
missing the exam score.
• If the instructor has you swap tests and grade each
other's tests, make a pact to misgrade each others' exams.
Communicating in Codes
• The old tap and eat some colored candy routine!
On multiple-choice tests, I tap out a number like - -- (which
I think Lina is trying to say is one tap, then 3 taps, thus
1-3 which becomes 13) is 13 and -- ---- is 25 you get the
drift, really simple. Then the person answering gives the
answer by eating an M&M or Skittle, where lets say red=A,
blue=B, yellow--C, etc.
• NOTE: there are dozens of codes students have devised:
hand position, foot position or foot tapping, test position,
noises like clicking of pens, clothing positions, etc.
Badger the Professor
• Go to their office and get them to change your grade.
You have to find out what works for the individual professor
--- with some, it's being sexy, for others it's being nice,
or crying, or just being a pain in the ass long enough so
they'll give in just to get rid of you.
Alter Records
• Hack into their computer
• Change their gradebook
• Steal their gradebook
• Steal the exams before grades are entered
If You're Caught
o Deny, Deny, Deny: Never admit cheating --- ever! Invent
a plausible story. If you stick to your story, say it enough
times with enough conviction and emotion, they'll start
to doubt themselves. Once they doubt, their conscience will
bother them: after all, what if they're making a mistake
when a mistake could ruin someone's life?
o Badger: Go to their office to plead your case and don't
take no for an answer --- don't leave their office until
they give in. Most people won't call the police on you,
so keep saying you're going to leave but don't leave. Eventually,
most profs get frustrated and figure it's not worth the
effort.
o Squeaky Wheel: if you raise a big enough stink far enough
up the line, they'll cave in because it's not worth the
trouble. And if they don't, their boss or their boss's boss
will.
o Ignorance: If possible, say you didn't know it was wrong.
o Remorse: if the evidence is really against you, cry uncontrollably.
Sob about how one small mistake will ruin your whole life
and your family's lives.
o Not on the Syllabus: argue that since it wasn't specifically
prohibited on the syllabus, it wasn't prohibited.
If All Else Fails...
Get to be friends with the instructor. Students have even
been known to sleep with the instructor, sell dope to the
instructor, or even blackmail, frame, or unjustly accuse
the instructor.
