THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the National Eligibility Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET-PG) examination set to be held on Sunday (August 11), scamsters are targeting candidates on social media by offering ‘leaked’ question papers in return for huge amounts.
Multiple sources are advertising access to these papers hours before the exam, with prices reaching up to Rs 1 lakh. Messages promoting these scams are specifically targeting medicos, with some reporting direct contact with the fraudsters.
This comes at a time when students are already concerned over a new exam pattern, controversies surrounding exam centres, and a pending Supreme Court decision regarding the exam date.
Applicants who have engaged with these scamsters are shocked by the extent of their operation. “I responded to a scam message out of curiosity and was initially quoted Rs 80,000 for the question papers. They then offered a discounted rate of Rs 10,000 upfront and an additional Rs 10,000 after the exam,” said a candidate.
He expressed concern that many gullible candidates might fall victim to these scams. The National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has issued a warning about the Telegram channel ‘NEET-PG Leaked Material’ and urged candidates to remain vigilant.”There is an ongoing scam targeting NEET-PG candidates, exploiting them financially and undermining the integrity of the examination process,” said Dr Ashik Basheer, state president of the General Practitioners Association (GPA).
“Since the exam is conducted in two sessions, applicants have requested transparency regarding the normalisation formula used by NBEMS to ensure fairness,” he added.
The GPA approached Union Health Minister J P Nadda through MPs from Kerala to reverse the decision to allocate most number of exam centres outside the state. Similar demands are now being made by other states too.
Earlier, more than 50% of the candidates from the states were given exam centres in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. A lot of students booked flight tickets to these destinations before NBEMS allocated more exam centres in Kerala.
The applicants are now approaching the airline companies for a refund. Approximately 10,000 MBBS graduates from Kerala are preparing for the exam, which has already been postponed four times.
Telegram: hub of scam
NBEMS has issued a warning about the Telegram channel ‘NEET-PG Leaked Material’
Scam messages specifically target medical students, with some reporting direct contact with fraudsters