The network of 10 groups collected millions from more than 1,300 students; Suspect confesses to having generated documents using AI
KARACHI:
Karachi Police on Monday arrested four members of an organized network involved in leaking Matric and Intermediate Board exams, collecting millions of rupees from students in return.
The Karachi police chief had assigned the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) the task of tracking down the network, which consisted of 10 groups that leaked exam papers to students through WhatsApp a night before the exams.
SIU Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Samiullah Soomro speaking to The express PAkGazetteHe said that complaints of online fraud have been received for some time. The leaked articles, he noted, were between 70% and 90% accurate.
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He said the detainees had initially created eight WhatsApp groups with more than 1,300 students added. The night before the exam, members were informed that the document had been leaked and was available with the administrator, and interested students were instructed to contact them via direct message to obtain the document.
Soomro said police discovered two additional WhatsApp groups during the investigation. He added that so far the police have arrested the leaders of four of the ten groups.
SSP Soomro said the police suspected that some people from the Matric and Intermediate Boards could also be involved in the racket, through whom the documents were leaked to the suspects.
During interrogation, he said a suspect confessed that he had created the documents himself using artificial intelligence. The suspect claimed that he used previous documents and guesses to generate new ones with AI, which is why the leaked documents were not 100% accurate.
He then sold these works to students through WhatsApp groups.
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SSP Soomro added that the suspects collected payments from students through online means, 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, and efforts are being made 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 from Malir, Surjani Town, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and New Karachi.
The SIU will produce the suspects in court on Tuesday for physical remand.
