Exam Proctors Describe The Most Elaborate Attempts At Cheating They've Ever Witnessed
Students who have not prepared for an exam somehow have the energy to devise a plan to cheat.
Although most exam proctors are wise to the cheating students' ways – no matter how elaborate their attempts are – there are a few whose clever ploys keep them from getting busted.
Curious to hear about the experience of exam proctors, Redditor Atlfitguy asked:
"Exam proctors of Reddit, what is the most elaborate attempt at cheating that you've witnessed?"
While Redditors shared what they witnessed in the test room, not all were witnessed by exam proctors. Some responses were submitted by students who were impressed enough not to rat out their peers.
Ploys
These Redditors witnessed answers being relayed to students by an unassuming accomplice.
While the tactics may have looked good on paper, they failed to fool anyone.
Using A "Translator"
"At the test center I used to work candidates were allowed to bring a translator of their choice as long as it got approved by the state. Most of the time it was a family member and we would listen in on the conversation using a headset and record it. Once in a while, while replaying the recordings we would hear signals and patterns given by the translator telling the candidate which option to choose. Busted!"
– Csuz9022
Braiding Hair
"Not an exam proctor, but a student who heard of this afterwards. It was two girls, and the one who knew the answers sat behind the other. During the test, she started braiding the other girl's hair. When the teacher wasn't looking, the one in the front would make a number with her fingers on the side of her thigh (the question), and the other responded by pulling her hair on specific spots (A, B, C, D)."
"They made a habit of braiding each other's hair everyday days before the exam so the teacher wouldn't find it weird. I was the goody two shoes who never cheated, but even I had to respect them."
Tap Tap Tap
"My mom told me that she would sit in front of her (smart) friend, who would tap on my mom's back in some form of code to give her the answers."
Gender Bender
"I was proctoring a common exam for 5 different lecture sections. A male student came in and attempted to take the exam for his girlfriend. One had to scan their ID to be issued an exam... He scanned his girlfriend's ID and then claimed he was a transman who had recently transitioned."
Sounds Elaborate
"My friend braided her earphones into her hair and had recorded her written French exam essay which she then wrote down. Didn't get caught, have mad respect for people who cheat the shitty exam system."
"And I'm a teacher."
"EDIT: Should mention this wasn't for a regular exam. This was for her final GCSE exam."
Notes To Self
Some students used their own bodies to scribble down the answers – including on thighs, arms, and even mixed among freckles.
All that work disguising the answers could have been spent on studying.
Yet, here we are.
Notes On Thighs
"I'm not an examiner but my mate once wrote out loads of notes on his thighs then went to the toilet during the exam- the examiner led him to the toilet to check the cubicle out first etc then waited to listen for papers rustling etc. He wasn't very smart but that could well be the smartest idea he's ever come up with. Absolutely do not condone though!"
Nailing It
"Not very elaborate, but I used to very lightly write equations on my fingernails in pencil before math tests. At the start of the test I'd immediately write them down on my test packet (which wasn't unusual, we were encouraged to write them down first so we wouldn't get nervous and mess them up) then wipe off my fingernail with another finger."
Camouflage With Freckles
"I have a lot of freckles on my arm, which would turn lighter if I put pressure on the skin, which gave me an idea. If I used a marker with a similar color as my freckles, I could make dots that formed letters or numbers, and when I pressed my arm just right, the freckles would fade for a second or two, but the ink would remain dark. Couldn't write a lot like this, but enough for notes on more difficult concepts. Never got caught."
Two "BUSTED" Students
"Not a proctor but I witnessed two students get caught cheating while we were taking exams."
"One girl wore cheap/thin leggings that were slightly too tight. When she sat down, they would stretch out further and would basically become see-through over her thighs. She had a bunch of equations written on her thighs that one of the proctors noticed as they walked around the testing room. BUSTED."
"One guy had a bunch of stuff written on the insides of his arms, near his wrists . He wore a long-sleeved shirt that he would pull up/down. One of the proctors noticed him messing with it across the room and had him pull his sleeves up. BUSTED."
"Don't cheat, kids. You really don't want to have to explain to future employers or grad schools why you have an academic suspension or worse on your transcript."
Tricks Up My Sleeve
Instead of relying on accomplices or their own flesh canvases, the following students devised ingenious ways to cheat.
One proctor was astonished while watching one particular student who, like a magician, produced slips of paper from "everywhere."
Printing Personalized Labels
"I knew a guy who would make his own labels for soda/water bottles, but change the nutrition info to be useful equations for the test. The labels' material was identical to regular ones, even down to the gloss of the paper. Seems like if he spent the time studying, instead of making perfect labels for cheating, he wouldn't need the labels in the first place."
So 2020
"My friend came up with the realization that you can slip a paper into your mask and then pull it to see what you wrote."
The Pen
"In high school, circa 1996, I somehow obtained the answers to a 20 question test. I proceeded to go to the computer lab and type the answers and then printed them in size 3 font. Then I cut them out and taped them on one side of a white Bic pen. During the test I could roll the pen so the answers weren't visible, and then when I need to look I could tilt the pen slightly and see the answer. I missed two on purpose so the teacher wouldn't figure I cheated."
– Flip17
So Many Slips Of Paper
"Guy came in to sit an exam (along with one or two dozen others), wearing an eyepatch and with one arm in a sling with a prosthetic hand. Pretty unusual, but whatever. But I got suspicious when he started fiddling with his eyepatch, pulling it way away from his face and then putting it back. So I pressed the button on my desk that turns the cameras on (not sure why they didn't just record all the time, but this was back in the mid-eighties). I wasn't actually supposed to intervene in these cases, so I just sat there and watched, astounded, as this guy proceeded to pull little slips of paper from all over the place -- the sleeve of his supposedly injured arm, under his tongue... incredible. I don't know how he fooled himself into thinking nobody would notice."
False Alarm
"I used to make fake fire emergency posters with notes, and taped it to the wall next to my desk. I was never caught."
– didi-k97
Dictionary Disguise
"For the german equivalent of the SAT, you get an English-English dictionary for use during the English exam provided by the school."
"Someone in my year bought the one used by the school, cut the cover off and glued it onto a German-English dictionary. The school found out when they tried to jam 11 books into the shelf-space for 10 books after the exam. The culprit wasn't found. Kind of looking forward to the 20 year anniversary; I want this mystery solved."
– alphager
It must be amusing for fellow classmates or exam proctors to witness various methods students go out of their way for in order to cheat.
Their tactics are audacious and risky.
And while cheating on any exam is a cardinal sin, there should be a separate category for some students to earn points for the most elaborate schemes.
Writing on thighs? Not so much. But the hair braiding system was hardly a harebrained scheme.
However, the bottom line should be: Don't cheat on your exams, kids!
Not everything is a good idea and not every invention should be placed on the market.
But you'll never know what can be a success without seeing if people like it.
It may sound like a billion dollar idea but in the end, you may take a loss.
Redditor istrx13 wanted to discuss the products that went nowhere, so they asked:
"What product was supposed to be the next big thing but wound up failing miserably?"
Life is all hit or miss.
Especially when inventing.
Transport Revolution
"The Segway was once touted as a revolutionary transportation device, but ultimately failed to live up to its hype due to its high cost, limited practicality, and safety concerns."
fulfillmen25
Drunk Fried Chicken GIF by Ethan BarnowskyGiphyShattered
"Google Glass."
doublebankshot
"I dropped I think it was $1400 on it back then, and when I got them it was immediately obvious that they were going to be a huge disappointment; everything from UI to battery life to comfort to photo quality was so bad that my first impression was that they felt almost like a joke product rather than an actual product manufactured by a tech company, not even an early developer version."
ds445
A great idea...
"Zune was supposed to be the death of Apple's monopoly on MP3 players."
HoopOnPoop
"Zune actually wasn't a bad piece of hardware. It was just that by the time it came out, iPod was already entrenched. It was around the same price, so it couldn't undercut Apple on pricing. ZunePass was actually a pretty great idea, years before Spotify."
Wulfbak
"My favorite thing about Zune is that it featured what was actually a pretty cool and interesting design feature wherein a user could send a song to another Zune user for free, but Microsoft chose the single worst possible name for this feature, calling it 'squirting.' Zune kids back in the day had to be like 'Ayyy bro that song is fire, squirt that at me.'"
HostileSkittles
Fly High
"Hoverboards. I think their primary problem was their lack of ability to hover. Also 300 ish dollars for something that goes as fast as... legs is just dumb."
IceClimbers_Main
"Their main downfall was the many, many cheap and dangerous clones from china. When the OG hoverboards were too expensive for most, the big Chinese companies saw a hole to get into the market making them for pennies on the dollar by removing safety devices, using cheaper batteries, lower gauge wire, etc. It was for the worst."
ptthree420
Entertainment Options
"Curved TVs… oh and 3D TVs we’re a thing for a while too!"
Sherlockssocks
"I own a curved 3D TV. I've probably used the 3D less than a hundred times. I think if they'd pushed the spilt screen gaming thing a bit more they would have sold more."
Signal-Morning7669
Shake Your Rump Television GIF by Beastie BoysGiphyThose curved TVs freak me out.
I just liked my DVD
"Laser discs...? I think they were called. Picture a DVD the size of a record."
Drawn-Otterix
"Laserdiscs were successful, they're just an obsolete format now."
Born_Anteater_3495
digital audio spinning GIF by Feliks Tomasz KonczakowskiGiphyCleansed
"Olestra/Olean. It was going to transform all junk food into low fat. Instead, it transformed lower GI tracts."
1800sMan
"OMG this! Around 1998 I worked for a huge ad agency on Madison Ave in NYC that had the Pringles account. They were pushing that Olestra trash at the time and obvi it was to be part of the campaign we were creating. One day I grab a can and start munching away."
"Well 15 minutes later I feel like I’ve swallowed a hand grenade and start racing to the bathroom where I proceed to destroy the bathroom for a good half hour. It just would not stop. I swear I saw a demon that day while emptying my poor bowels. Never ever again with that Olestra garbage."
bruh_wut69
Guess What?
"Oh man this is really specific to my career field in childcare."
"Smart diapers. Yep, diapers that will inform you on your app when your child uses them. I don’t know anyone who seriously considered getting these. But I remember seeing ads on my social media for them. Guess what? No one wanted them."
Onlyfansnanny
"As a law student, my son worked on getting the patent and prototype on these a little over ten years ago. At the time, however, they were being marketed to nursing homes. IDK whatever happened with that."
Ok-Bee1579
The Mess
"Meta."
SuperScario
"I finally decided to look up what meta was on Youtube a few months ago and I swear I thought I was watching some Nintendo wii game or something. My jaw hit the floor when I realized that's what meta actually looked like, billions of dollars for a Nintendo looking world, what a f**king dumpster fire."
twister55555
Bute Sized
"Quibi."
chyna094e
"Part of it was the worst timing imaginable. The service was meant to be 'bite sized' entertainment, something you could watch in 5 minutes while standing in a queue or maybe a couple segments on a public transit ride."
"They launched the first week of April 2020. Remember all the queues you were standing in and public transit rides you took then? Yeah, the same as everyone else - NONE because 95% of the population was stuck at home for 6 months!"
alinroc
Minis...
"Spore. It was hyped as a game that went from spark of life to galactic conquest. It's just a bunch of mini games."
rosanymphae
College Hoops Sport GIF by NCAA March MadnessGiphyI missed the spore phenomenon.
Oh well.
When in public with your significant other, we all try to play nice, but people don't always know who is and who is not together.
So their is no reason to incite a brawl if someone flirts with your person.
But it can be difficult to sit back and watch.
Is there a calm etiquette for these situations?
Redditor Hot_Wine_2004 wanted to hear from the guys out there, so they asked:
"Men of reddit, what would be your response to a guy who suddenly starts flirting with your girl?"
I've always let a partner handle their own flirts.
Just like I do.
Thanks
"Had a guy buy our margaritas when my GF ordered them for us at the counter. I thanked him from across the restaurant, free margaritas taste better."
whiskeyriver0987
Episode 2 Margarita GIF by FriendsGiphySweet
"I’d step in and say something. Not because I feel I need to or because my wife can’t handle herself, but because I know her and she likes the feeling of being looked after. I know this because she’s told me."
Psycle_Sammy
"That’s very sweet. Just because you can stand strong doesn’t mean you should always have to. It’s good to know you have backup whether that’s your friends or your husband."
mickbubbles
Give Move Guy
"My wife had a guy offer to buy her drink and when she said she was married he said something to the effect of 'Then let me buy the lucky man his drink instead.' Which I thought was a great way to handle it, and gets you a bar friend most of the time since the guy gets a free drink, and if he is jealous or protective will respond better because he didn't buy her a drink after all."
WurthWhile
I Get It
"Nothing, She is beautiful and I get it. When she shoots them down and they keep trying is when I would step in because its harassments at that point and that is a problem."
To_Fight_The_Night
"Exactly. I had a customer invite my wife on a helicopter ride the other day, totally trying to chat her up. When he asked what she did there she just pointed at me and said 'I’m just hanging out, I’m married to him.' You could see him deflate like a balloon."
Nippon-Gakki
"Yep. My wife's a grown adult and can handle her own."
Kiss my Wife
"I looked at the dude and said 'sorry dude you are not my sister's type' then I immediately kiss my wife. We are both blonde so people think we are related all the time lol."
sled-gang
Let Me Go Love GIF by 3 Doors DownGiphyKeeping it in the family is healthy.
Hey Stud
"Ask him if he’s down for a 3 way to make him uncomfortable."
Smellmyhand
"Plot twist - dude is bi and is totally down for that."
RandomJPG6
Ice Cream Summer GIF by MochimochilandGiphyShe Got It
"I once let my girlfriend handle a situation on her own, and the thing I learned in the process is that it takes a woman a lot more work to deter an aggressive guy."
"As soon as I stepped in, Handsy McNoboundaries apologized to me. Not the stranger whose a** he touched and complimented. She absolutely could handle the situation on her own, and my first impulse was not to treat her like a possession some other guy was touching. But on some level it feels I was condoning the behaviour."
ClusterMakeLove
Trust
"My wife constantly gets hit on.I don't care if men hit on her. I trust her completely and have since the start she has never given me a reason not to trust her."
"When we used to goto the bar together she would get hit on. Guy's would offer to buy her drinks, she would always tell them my drink of choice."
"After she gets the drinks she would thank them walk away then hand the drink to me."
"If people don't respect her boundaries that's where I step in. We have never had any bad experiences with men hitting on her. Normally once they see her with me they basically just walk away."
Islefive
They Get the Idea
"It depends on the situation. Most the time I think good luck man, hope she doesn’t embarrass you. I know she’s coming home with me at the end of the day."
"If the guy is obviously creepy and making her uncomfortable, I typically step in and make sure he gets the point."
"I’m not a small guy so they usually get the idea."
"I don’t really care for confrontation or violence, but with that said, I won’t tolerate someone harassing my wife or making her uncomfortable."
assa9sks
Beautiful
"My wife is gorgeous in my eyes, but she is incredibly hard on herself. After kids, antidepressants, and being 20 years older than she was when we started dating she doesn’t always see that she’s the most beautiful person for me. Someone else gonna start talking her up and wants to get in her pants? I’d just tell her I told you so."
fuqaduck
beautiful happy endings GIFGiphyThe ladies got it handled and so do the men apparently.
The audience must be engaged from the start. Filmmakers have the challenge of quickly trying to win over moviegoers in the hopes that they'll remain invested in the succession of events about to unfold.
Some films fail to deliver on their promise of wowing audiences with a misleading or clumsy opening–while others brilliantly pull it off.
Strangers online discussed some of their favorite films when Redditor ah-screw-it asked:
"What movie has the greatest opening of all time?"
These cinematic masterpieces impressed audiences from the get-go.
Epic Pan
"Contact."
"Starting at Earth, then panning out of the solar system, then the galaxy, then out to the edge of the universe, all while listening to older and older radio transmissions. Genius."
– Midnight-Ran
The Dystopian Thriller
"Children of mens opening scene is definitely up there."
– Ahhhsnowmen88
"Whole film is a work of art."
– nutmeggerking
"Goodfellas"
"As far back as I remember, I always wanted to be a gangster"
– geobass76
"People looked at me differently and they knew I was with somebody. At thirteen, I was making more money than most of the grown-ups in the neighborhood. I mean, I had more money than I could spend. I had it all. One day the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother's groceries all the way home. You know why? It was out of respect."
– MR_NIKAPOPOLOS
Oh, the horror!
There's nothing like a serious jolt to kick-start an action or horror flick.
Killer Opening
"Scream 1996 - I was startled."
– RavenGirls
"What really sold the opening at the time was the fact they really played up Drew Barrymore as starting in the film. So much so that she’s the main draw on the poster. The entire theater was shocked."
– Cheese_booger
From "Inglorious Bastards"
"Au revoir Shoshana!"
– fearthebeard037
"Tarantino said he kept Waltz out of all the rehearsals so that the reactions from the cast on film would be genuine."
"And one point when he asks one of the daughters to get him some milk, he grabs her wrist is a friendly way. Waltz later said that his character had the ulterior motives of checking her pulse to see if she was nervous. The subtly of his character was as terrifying as anything."
– UnfairMicrowave
Master of Shock Value
"Tarantino openings are, by and large, some of the most iconic there have ever been."
– throwdownhardstyle
The establishing shots in these iconic movie classics raised the bar for the next generation of film directors.
Trippy And Mind-Bending
"The Matrix."
– Living_Murphys_Law
"Screenwriter guy: We're gonna start the movie with some cops trying to arrest this lady Trinity and she's gonna kick all their butts."
"Producer guy: How is she gonna do that?"
"Screenwriter guy: In such a way that movies are gonna try to imitate for a full decade."
– Wilma_Tonguefit
Iconic Archaeologist
"Raiders of the Lost Ark!!"
"No contest. It’s movie magic defined."
– canadianleroy
Spielberg's War Film
"Saving Private Ryan."
– astragalblack
"I knew a few survivors from ww2. One of them was a medic in the first wave of Omaha beach. He didn’t speak often about the war but he said the movie was pretty darn close to being what it was really like."
– EnderOfHope
A Gangster Genre Landmark
"The Godfather. That opening scene with Brando, the cat, the music. Just perfection!."
– REAIMY
Don't underestimate cartoons.
"It's The Circle Of Life"
"Lion king"
– wetlettuce42
"Using that opening as the movie's official trailer was absolutely brilliant. When that trailer dropped, it was an event. Every kid was counting down the days for when it came out, we all knew that movie was going to be life-changing."
– QuarantineTitans
When Reality And Toons Collided
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit was classic!"
– prince-pauper
"The transition from cartoon to the real world cartoon kitchen was so well done."
– Spongedanfozpants
Disney films in the 90s did a fantastic job setting up their opening shots.
I have to give props to 1991's Beauty and the Beast for its brilliant prologue–owing its effectiveness in part to Alan Menken's haunting musical underscore.
The stained glass art depiction of how the spiteful prince came to be forever transformed by a curse with the narrator concluding the introduction with, "for who could ever learn to love a beast"–before introducing our heroine in the musical number "Belle"–remains a powerful opener preceding Lion King's "Circle of Life" in 1994.
No matter how happy we are with our lives, most of us can think of at least one thing that we wish we could have done differently.
Even if that just means starting to do the same things a little bit sooner.
Feeling reflective, Redditor AbortiveBases1 asked:
"What's something you wish you started doing sooner?"
Letting People Go
"Learning that just because someone is your friend for a long time doesn't mean you have to deal with their toxicity or narcissistic behavior."
"You can leave those friendships. It sucks at first but it's worse staying friends with people like that."
- SadStone2265
Getting Divorced
"My mom and dad got divorced in 2022 when my siblings and I were all between the ages of 27 and 31."
"We couldn't be happier. It could (and should) have happened way earlier, like 10 to 15 years earlier. Our childhood definitely suffered for it."
"I have no complaints about my mom, she's the best lady ever, but things would've been a lot more pleasant at home if they divorced then."
- doomed_danny
Creative Outlet
"Making things."
"I 3D print, do woodwork, and do home renovations. It’s made me more self-confident (I now usually believe I can do anything), more creative, and changed the way my brain works."
"I can’t imagine what kind of person I’d be today if I had been doing this all throughout my 20s."
- AirZurk
Sugar Intake
"Weaning myself off sugar."
- CouldMurderACarvery
The Perfect Partner
"My wife. She's the granddaughter of a friend of my aunt, so I could have met her a lot sooner, but we only met when I was 29."
"The way we clicked together and got lost in conversation with each other... I only wish it had started sooner."
- netheroth
"You can't guarantee that you would have clicked earlier."
"It was the same with my wife, I had met a bunch of her close friends over the years through friends and vice versa. There are pictures of us at the same events when we were 17, 18, and 20, but we just never met. Ships passing in the night."
"We met finally at 29 and realized we had all the things in common and clicked immediately and are happily married with a beautiful two-year-old."
"Looking back, had we met at 17, I don't think we would have gotten together. We both had a lot of growing to do before we were right for each other."
- sirhcdobo
Ditch the Hustle
"Focusing on friends instead of the grind."
"I worked two jobs through the 2010s. As a freelance digital artist at night, I made a lot of 'friends' through conventions, online chat groups, and social media."
"However, the pandemic hit, and the conventions closed. Freelance business dried up. Our clients disappeared. With my evenings more open, I focused more intently on ascending in my day job, and now only have one or two contacts left from my digital art years."
"They're all I have left. And we don't even talk that much."
"I'm working on rebuilding a friends circle, trying to reconnect with everyone who still remembers me, lives close enough, and didn't die years ago unbeknownst."
"It's an awkward process, trying to again find similar interests now that everyone has a wife, kids, and home to take care of, while I seem to have dropped out of a time portal from 2003."
- QuarantineTitans
Understanding Mental Health
"My wife."
"But seriously, endorphins."
"And understanding the importance of endorphins on mental health."
"Even a small amount of physical activity has a major improvement on my mental health, energy, and moods."
- ksozay
Work History
"I wish I'd started working sooner."
"My mom sent me money for food and essentials while I was in college because she said a job would just distract me from getting good grades. Unfortunately, she simply forgot to send the money, a lot."
- stellathewizard
Home Yoga Sessions
"At-home yoga. It's free AND my back doesn't hurt anymore!"
- mekkimegz
Prioritizing Sleep
"Enforcing my own bedtime. My mood is 1,000% better on days when I get enough sleep."
- lights_camera_pizza
The Value of Therapy
"Therapy. Seriously, if you are considering seeing a therapist, then just do it."
- Avjycjc8ttghu478
Exercise Routine
"Two-a-day workouts. Once you figure out intensity pacing and treating one as a 'light' workout, it’s not hard."
"Getting up at 5:30 most days isn’t awesome, but I get 14, 45-min hits of exercise almost every week, and I’ve never had as much energy, positivity, and overall health. Plus, weight management-wise, I can eat d**n near anything I want to. I had a 'mostly' clean diet before, so I wasn’t going bonkers. But it makes eating pretty enjoyable."
- superstarrrr99
Better Self-Talk
"Replacing self-depreciative jokes with sarcastic compliments on myself."
"For example, instead of saying, 'My hair looks like something died in it,' say, 'I was born a queen. Look how great I look on a bad hair day too!'"
"Fake it till you make it kinda works. Eventually, I'm not feeling as insecure about myself as I used to."
- saagarammm
Sentimental Photos
"Taking pictures with my husband and kids. I hate the way I look in pictures so usually, I’m the one behind the camera. It wasn’t until last year that I read a post here on Reddit that made me change my way of thinking."
"It said something along the lines of, kids don't see wrinkles, extra fat, or bad hair. You know, all the things we nitpick about ourselves. They just see Mom."
- Dazzling-Nature-6380
The Next Phase
"Retirement. Did it at 68 but was enjoying running my own publishing business, so I stayed on."
"Now in retirement, I’m having a blast doing so many things I never previously had time for that I wish I’d taken the plunge at 60, or earlier. (Let that be a lesson to all you young ‘uns out there.)"
- SkepticalSenior9133
While it's so easy to regret things in our lives, sometimes it's important to think about the things we're doing right.
Sometimes we'll be so proud of what we're doing, we'll only regret not getting a jump on it sooner.