Why you can't find THAT uni cheating website anymore

Criminals are "preying on vulnerable students" who want their university essays written for them.

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Criminals are "preying on vulnerable students" who want their university essays written for them.

The higher education cops are coming for those who run university cheating sites and the ramifications may include jail time.

Contract cheaters "preying upon vulnerable students are suffering" as the higher education regulator moved to block 40 of the most popular academic cheating websites in Australia.

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is now actively investigating a number of the websites and aims to take "enforcement action in the future".

The maximum penalty of which is up to two years in prison or a $110,000 fine.

These 40 websites, a number of which are based offshore, were visited 450,000 times last month. That's about two-thirds of the traffic to all the cheating sites targeting Australian students TEQSA monitors - almost 600 of them.

"These are definitely the major players in this space and this action will significantly impact their business," Head of TEQSA's academic integrity unit Dr Helen Gniel told The Oz.

These now-defunct websites were mainly offering essay writing and assignment completion, while some offered to undertake exams on behalf of students, all while cheating at universities exploded as students moved to online exams during the pandemic. 

It's the first action of its kind in Australia and comes after TEQSA finalised bilateral agreements with each of Australia's major internet service providers last month allowing them to block access.

Dr Gniel said this action means "it's not just students that will suffer consequences from cheating" at university.

"The people who are providing these services, often really preying upon vulnerable students, are suffering as well," she said.

"(It's) sending a signal to those websites, but also to all the other websites like that, we won't tolerate these services being targeted at our students."

These "contract cheaters" often communicate with students through chatbots on their websites or via WhatsApp, and "target" students through social media. 

Yet Dr Gniel also had a stern reminder for students: "These services are illegal. They're not just distasteful and they're not in the grey area. They are illegal under Australian law".

This action will be ongoing. "If we see new sites emerging or new sites that are becoming increasingly popular, we'll see that reflected in the volume of traffic and will then go after them again," she said.

Also in TESQA's sights are large file-sharing websites used by university students.

In a statement, federal Education Minister Jason Clare said "illegal cheating services ... expose students to criminals, who often attempt to blackmail students into paying large sums of money". 

Media Release: Cheating websites blocked #auspolhttps://t.co/mcZubBGSb3 pic.twitter.com/lt6cqN5yDn

— Jason Clare MP (@JasonClareMP) August 4, 2022

In October last year, TEQSA was successful in its first application to the Federal Court to ask the internet service providers to block access.

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