Facebook and TikTok urged to stop exam paper scams

Meta and TikTok have been urged to crack down on fake GCSE and A-level papers sold on social media.

Exam boards have warned that the companies must do more to “shut down” accounts scamming students, the BBC reported.

It uncovered dozens of accounts on TikTok and Instagram claiming to have access to this year’s exam papers, with some selling them for hundreds of pounds.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which represents the UK’s eight largest exam boards, said it wanted its members to be given direct access to enforcement teams on social media sites, to shut down accounts more quickly and prevent scams.

“In recent years, we have seen a persistent number of accounts, discussion threads and forums, across multiple social media platforms, that attempt to scam students by claiming to have access to exam papers,” a spokesperson for the JCQ told The Telegraph.

“On some platforms this activity occurs in closed groups where there is no protection or moderation to safeguard young people from being targeted.”

No way to report directly

Teams of analysts at exam boards scour social media sites looking for scammers and flagging fraudulent accounts, but they can only report incidents by the same routes as any other social media user.

Margaret Farragher, the JCQ chief executive, said: “Anything we can do together with social platforms is absolutely crucial.”

The JCQ also said it was highly unlikely that real exam papers were being leaked online.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, and TikTok have both said they do not allow exam papers to be sold on their platforms.

Students are being taught in classrooms the dangers of falling for such social media scams.

Teachers at the Commonweal School in Swindon are showing the fraudulent accounts to pupils in exam years so they know what to look out for.

It comes after data from Lloyds Bank, shared with The Telegraph, showed more than 70 per cent of purchase scams – where a customer hands over cash for fake goods – begin on platforms owned by Meta, such as Facebook and Instagram.

The data suggest Meta is the source of around 2 per cent of all crime in England and Wales, or one in 50 offences, with the “vast majority” coming from Facebook.

Lloyds is calling for large tech companies to be forced to invest in fraud prevention and share the burden of reimbursing victims.

A spokesman for Meta said it “recognises our important role in tackling the industry-wide issue of online purchase scams and [is] continually investing in systems to block scams”.