10-group network collected millions from over 1,300 students; suspect confesses to generating papers using AI
KARACHI:
The Karachi police on Monday arrested four members of an organised network involved in leaking Matric and Intermediate Board examination papers, collecting millions of rupees from students in exchange.
The Karachi police chief had assigned the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) the task of tracing the network, which comprised 10 groups that leaked exam papers to students via WhatsApp a night before the examinations.
SIU Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Samiullah Soomro, speaking to The Express Tribune, said complaints of online fraud had been received for some time. The leaked papers, he noted, were 70% to 90% accurate.
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He said the arrested individuals had initially created eight WhatsApp groups with over 1,300 students added. Members were informed the night before an exam that the paper had been leaked and was available with the admin, with interested students directed to contact them via direct message to obtain the paper.
Soomro said police discovered two additional WhatsApp groups during the investigation. He added that the police had so far arrested the ringleaders of four out of the ten groups.
SSP Soomro said the police suspected that some individuals from the Matric and Intermediate Boards may also be involved in the network, through whom the papers were leaked to the suspects.
During interrogation, he said one suspect confessed that he had created the papers himself using artificial intelligence. The suspect claimed that he used past papers and guess papers to generate new ones with AI, which is why the leaked papers were not 100% accurate.
He then sold these papers to students through WhatsApp groups.
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SSP Soomro added that the suspects collected payments from students through online mediums, stating that the police had obtained records of these transactions. Further investigation found that the main number used to manage the WhatsApp groups was registered in the United Kingdom, with efforts underway to obtain its details.
The SSP further said that the police recovered cash, mobile phones, hard drives, and transaction records from the suspects, who were arrested in Malir, Surjani Town, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and New Karachi.
The SIU will present the suspects in court on Tuesday for their physical remand.
