Twenty students were arrested this week after officials determined that the students were taking part in an SAT test-taking scam that spanned across five Long Island high schools.

According to officials those arrested were believed to have accepted payments from students in order to take their SAT and ACT tests. The scam was spread over a three year period and was only discovered after officials noticed an unusually high number of SAT and ACT scores that outperformed each students actual grades.

A principal for one of the high schools told the New York Times:

 “I think it’s widespread across the country.”

In one of the first arrests it was determined that a student had taken the SAT for at least six different students, each student paid $3,500 to ace the test. Despite being a male the test taker even managed to take the SAT for a female on one occasion.

While cheating on a test might not seem like a major offense the test takers are facing felony counts for scheming to defraud along with misdemeanors for falsifying business records and criminal impersonation.

An attorney for one of the students says he would like to see the situation handled by school officials and not the courts. According to the lawyer:

“While no one condones cheating, we have a school system that is separate and apart from the criminal justice system, and we have that for good reason.”

Going against that attorney’s wishes Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice noted:

“This is a crime. Make no mistake, as the system stands now, hard-working students are taking a back seat to the cheaters.”

Do you believe that criminal charges are necessary to stop the free flow of cheating SAT and ACT test takers?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]

20 Test Takers Arrested In New York SAT Cheating Scandal is a post from: The Inquisitr

A British marathon runner has been stripped of his bronze medal and could potentially be kicked out of his runners club and banned from future marathons after he caught a bus during the race and crossed the finish line for a third place finish.

Rob Sloan was running in a marathon in Britain when he told reports after “completing” the race that it has been “absolutely, unbelievably tough.”

How tough was the marathon? At the 20-mile mark Sloan decided to wait for a bus and then ride it to near the finish line.

Sloan’s shortcut was discovered after the true third place finisher said nobody passed them during the second leg of the race, while several onlookers say Mr. Sloan was hiding behind a tree only to emerge as the bronze medal winner.

According to one race organizer:

“He was the only runner in the whole of the race who ran the second half quicker than the first half.”

While Sloan initially claimed to finish the entire race in 2:51:00 he later admitted that he was tired and decided to catch a ride to the finish line.

Sloan was stripped of his medal and the true third place marathon runner was awarded the bronze.

If there was a marathon for catching a buss mid-stride this guy would have the gold medal in the bag, now he just looks lazy, which says a lot considering the guy ran 20-miles before giving up.

Marathon Winner Rode The Bus To Victory, Stripped Of Medal is a post from: The Inquisitr

Online social media company CheaterVille has teamed up with MTV and the Jersey Shore for its global anti-cheating campaign.

CheaterVille provides information about alleged cheaters. Jersey Shore, though annoying, is undoubtedly the most watched series in MTV history and should serve as a perfect partner especially now that cheating is prevalent. MTV even gave the site a prime advertising placement on the Jersey Shore landing page and has featured a video of its cast members speaking as to why cheating is wrong. Seriously.

Since joining the CheaterVille a few months ago, the reality show stars Jenni “JWoww” Farley and Angelina Pivarnick have both endorsed the website.

CheaterVille’s founder and former United States Marine, James McGibney stated:

“If we can get cast members of Jersey Shore to realize that cheating is wrong and voice their opinions against it, I know this world will become a better place and their fans are already echoing some Jersey Shores cast members viewpoints on cheating!  We had over 6,500 new subscribers within one week directly because of the power of Jersey Shore, their viewers are extremely loyal. CheaterVille’s ad on MTV has a click-through rate that outperforms MTV site average click-through rate by 233%.”

Gwyneth Paltrow should learn a lesson or two from Jersey Shore on cheating.

CheaterVille Teams Up with Jersey Shore to Fight Cheating is a post from: The Inquisitr

Gwyneth Paltrow Doesn’t Think Cheating Is A Big Deal is a post from: The Inquisitr

A compelling case for why some tasks, like apologizing, should be reserved for face to face interactions.

[via]

[Pic] Facebook and Forgiveness is a post from: The Inquisitr

On Friday we reported that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are getting a divorce and now rumors have begun circulating that the split was initiated after J. Lo began cheating on her soon-to-be ex-husband.

Celebrity site Bossip says that “word on the Latino streets” is that she was having an affair with telenovela star William Levy who also starred in her music video “I’m Into You” which features some steamy embraces between the pair. The column also notes that Levy also recently left his wife, although it’s believed he cheated on his wife with at least three dozen women which may make the Lopez association nothing more than bad timing.

While the couple may be going their separate ways they are still working on the American Idol Latin America spin-off titled Q’Viva: The Chosen which was created by American Idol creator Simon Fuller.

There’s the chance Anthony also knew about the affair Lopez is alleged to have had, sources say he was flirting with female audience members at a Colombia concert on Saturday night which seems like a guy who may be trying to get back at the lady he’s divorcing.

The couple’s reps are not commenting on the divorce and the circumstances surrounding it and at this time it’s all a bunch of rumors but when it comes to Hollywood stars nothing really surprises us anymore.

Jennifer Lopez Cheated On Marc Anthony [Rumor Mill] is a post from: The Inquisitr

A new study conducted by researchers at Indiana University has found that women cheat nearly as much as men, although their reasons for cheating tend to be very different. University researchers polled more than 900 participants and found that 23% of men and 19% of women have cheated on their partners.

A study in the ’90s found that 10% to 15% of women cheated although the reasons seem to have remained the same, women did it because of unhappiness in their relationships while men most often cheated just for the sake of having sex.

One psychologist believes that more women in the workplace may be contributing to the increase towards infidelity, noting:

“[There's] too much time working closely together, in private spaces, taking a break and talking about personal matters.”

That same psychologist says the internet has allowed ”people to act on infidelity” while adding, ”Also, the Internet makes it easier to connect with old flames.”

Women Cheat Nearly As Much As Men [Study] is a post from: The Inquisitr

The online mode in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has never been short of problems with hackers and other ne’er-do-wells. However, things have apparently turned extra sour since some young scamp ejaculated the PlayStation 3 jailbreak code all over the Internet’s face.

But lo! Here comes developer Infinity Ward on a white horse with a security patch tucked in its tunic. This new update for the first-person shooter will launch soon for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, and will address “security issues that have affected online play”, according to Infinity Ward community bloke Robert Bowling.

Only last month, Bowling took to the Infinity Ward message boards to explain how the PS3 hacks had “resulted in games [becoming] exposed to exploits and hacks,” with online statistics and player progress apparently affected.

The patch will also sort out a “small geo exploit on the map Fuel”. Players exploited said bug to climb inside a rock that lay outside one of the game’s map. Honestly, hiding in virtual rocks, kids these days, etc.

[Infinity Ward forums, via Eurogamer]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 getting security patch soon is a post from: The Inquisitr

Online gaming has seen the decline of a once-popular cheating method in videogames: the art of screen-watching. I still remember my brother and I developing a sophisticated cardboard screen divider for GoldenEye 007, back in the hazy summer of ’98. These guys took it one step further. Sirs, I applaud you.

[Reddit, via Gizmodo]

Yep, that’ll do it: Gaming’s oldest anti-cheating trick is a post from: The Inquisitr

This (alleged) guy’s girlfriend (allegedly) cheated on him, so he painstakingly manipulated her Netflix ratings until the above was the result- impressed?

[reddit]

Man uses Netflix recommendations to taunt unfaithful girlfriend is a post from: The Inquisitr

The latest glitch to affect Activision and Infinity Ward’s multi-zagrillion-selling Modern Warfare 2 is an exploit that allows players to gain unlimited XP and ammunition on private games.

Internet reports of the glitch popped up earlier this week, and Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling has since confirmed the exploit exists on his Twitter feed. Players can reportedly use this on any map and any game mode, with one player informing Destructoid that he racked up 400 kills and 20,000 XP in just one game of Domination.

Bowling, for the record, says Infinity Ward are hard at work on a fix to iron things out. Meanwhile, take a look at the exploit for yourself below:

[Via Destructoid]

Modern Warfare 2 hit by new infinite ammo glitch is a post from: The Inquisitr

A bunch of cheating peens with nothing better to do have decided to hack the leaderboards for Modern Warfare 2 on the PlayStation 3.

The hackers have been active over the last few days, and now their names appear at the top of the leaderboards with literally impossible scores and figures – such as play time that totals tens of thousands of days.

Right now, this doesn’t appear to be affecting the Xbox 360 or PC versions, and I’d hope Activision/Infinity Ward moves quickly to fix this nonsense (though neither has made a comment yet). I know it’s the same with every big release – you’ll always get some dickshoe who’ll happily cheat his way to the top – but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be addressed swiftly.

This is just the latest bout of cheating to hit the massively popular first-person shooter. It’s not been out for a month yet, but already hacks for the PC version are available, and thousands of “players” have already been banned by Infinity Ward. Uuuugh, people.

[Via CVG]

Modern Warfare 2 leaderboards hacked on PS3 is a post from: The Inquisitr

The PC version of Modern Warfare 2 was hacked less than 48 hours after its release. Fortunately, Infinity Ward has been almost as swift in banning the cheating C-units who were making life difficult for everybody else – late last week, roughly 2,500 players were cut off from the game.

“Top men are on it,” revealed Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling on his Twitter feed when a user asked him about the cheating. “In fact, the Steam ban hammer is coming down on about 2,500 confirmed #MW2 cheaters on PC today.”

A number of hacks were released shortly after the game’s November 10th launch, and would provide players cheating dickwads with unlimited ammo, massive XP boosts, and the ability to view the positions of all other players at all times. But not for much longer, clearly.

I’ve never understood where the fun is in having a game do all the work for you, but perhaps some people struggle to keep up when asked to play a game fairly.

[Via Eurogamer]

2,500 Modern Warfare 2 cheaters banned is a post from: The Inquisitr

The game hasn’t been out for 48 hours, but already one site is claiming to have the very first hack for Modern Warfare 2. If you’re a jerk, you can even choose to buy the hack from the site.

Watch the footage below, and you’ll see the hack in inglorious action. A player cruises through a Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer map in which all player positions (friendly or enemy) are highlighted, and guns have zero recoil. Needless to say, this is reportedly only for the PC version. And for jerks. In case I didn’t mention that.

1UP points out that this may simply be a ruse, though that video is pretty convincing. If it is real, it looks like Infinity Ward’s decision to forbid player admins (who could kick these chumps out of games) is looking shaky.

[Callofdutyhacks.com, via 1UP]

[VIDEO] Modern Warfare 2 already hacked on PC? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Website JustDontWifeHer.com and iPhone app “Date Check” are in the news this week, two technologies designed to let you know before you fall for a “player” or a “gold digger.”

The former is a site devoted to putting women on blast for liking a man more for his paycheck than his personality, as indicated in the mission statement on justdontwifeher.com:

Helping good guys by exposing Gold Diggers, Cheaters and Users One at a Time! Has a girl done you, or someone you know, wrong? Now you have a chance to tell others how you feel about it. Share your story and warn others about a “Don’t Wife Her”

The site ponders issues such as unreasonable divorce settlements, un-wifely behavior and men warn men of women (specific women) to avoid.

The latter, Date Check, is more focused on stereotypical female concerns, rating dates on with categories Sleaze Detector, Compatibility, Net Worth, Living Situation and Interests. And the app is comprehensive:

Unfortunately for those who live at home, the Living Situation view will pull data from social sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Flickr to determine if you live alone, have roommates, or bunk at your parents’ pad. Basically, if there’s a public record of any bad behavior, whether social or criminal, your potential dates will know within seconds of looking you up.

While both technologies may prove useful if you have a history of falling hard for the wrong person, I can’t help but wonder if a relationship wherein parties utilizing services like this are already doomed. If your date passes the “Date Check” test, will you still wonder if they might be married and just not on Facebook? Or if you’re inclined to see women as “gold diggers” or “wifey material”, will justdontwifeher.com merely confirm your suspicions about the motivations women have in general?

“Date Check” and “Just Don’t Wife Her” digitize mistrust between sexes is a post from: The Inquisitr

There was a time in this bad old world when honesty was merely a given; now, such honorable acts are rewarded. Rewarded with hats.

Team Fortress 2 maker Valve has recently witnessed a spate of cheating on the PC version of its popular online shooter, with many players using “external idling applications” to get sweet items. Said applications make the game think players have been in a server, when they’ve actually been doing SOMETHING ELSE, the cheek. The apps can be left running idly for weeks at a time, thus ensuring the user snags any random item that appears in that time period.

Valve isn’t too chuffed about this, so has announced that it will be stripping any unfairly gained items from the culprits. Valve’s Erik Johnson warns:

“Due to us not having a policy in place prior to today, this time we’re only removing the items earned through cheating the system. Going forward, if we find users using external applications, we’ll remove all of their items.”

That’s not the end of the matter, however. According to Valve, 4.5% of players cheated, so the other 95.5% will be getting a reward: a new hat, a halo that floats above your avatar’s head (see above). A cute idea, in my opinion.

Sadly, because the Valve fanbase contains some of the pickiest wretches you’re ever likely to meet, this inoffensive freebie has caused a big fuss: over at the Steam forums, various protest groups (such as HealersAgainstHalos, who refuse to heal halo wearers) have been formed. Someone call the wah-mbulance already.

[Team Fortress 2, via Rock, Paper, Shotgun; Pic]

Valve rewards honest gamers with free hat is a post from: The Inquisitr

I last played Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on a PS3 some months ago, and always had a riot – COD 4 is one of the most accomplished, polished online shoot-me-dos I’ve encountered.

Sadly, it’s all going to shit now.

Players of the PS3 version are complaining that the online component is now chock-full of hackers who can fly and walk through buildings with unlimited ammunition and no reloads. If you haven’t played it before, that stuff is kind of against the rules. The cheating has rapidly bloomed into something more widespread, thanks to several instructional YouTube videos popping up.

As a result, developer Infinity Ward (who, to its credit, has always listened to the community) has stepped in, Tweeting that “We hear you loud and clear and are investigating the glitchers.”

Modern Warfare 2 might be out this November (and looking like the kipper’s knickers), but I’d still expect Infinity Ward to be pretty sharp about this. You don’t want to piss off a userbase of 13 million-plus gamers.

[Hexus, via Gamestooge]

Hackers running rampant on PS3 Call of Duty 4 is a post from: The Inquisitr

I caught this one via Allen Stern’s post at CenterNetworks, but did you know that 35% of teens admit to cheating using their cell phones and that 23% don’t consider it cheating. This comes to us courtesy of a new report just posted to Common Sense Media (pdf).

Yes folks our kids are using those fancy cell phones they have emotionally blackmailed us into getting them for cheating at school. Whether it be as simple as storing notes to be used during tests to using the Internet as part of their cheating it is all happening under the watchful eye of teachers. Did we really think that our little darlings would do otherwise?

Here’s a few more findings from the study to cheer you up

• Nearly two-thirds of students with cell phones use them during school, regardless of school policies against it.
• Teens with cell phones send 440 text messages a week and 110 a week while in the classroom.
• 76% of parents say that cell phone cheating happens at their teens’ schools, but only 3% believe their own teen has ever used a cell phone to cheat.
• 45% of teens say that texting friends about answers during tests is a serious cheating offense, while 20% say it’s not cheating at all.

So much for actually learning anything eh.

Gee tell us something we didn’t know is a post from: The Inquisitr

In news that would make Taylor Swift smile or at the very least mutter “karma, bitch” under her breath, current Joe Jonas squeeze, Camilla Belle has been spotted having lunch with the teen idol of the minute, Robert Pattison, star of Twilight. Robert recently broke up with his model girlfriend Analyese.

Joe Jonas was alleged to have cheated with Camilla Belle, while dating Taylor Swift, just prior to dumping her with a 28 second phone call.

Perhaps a dose of what goes around, comes around is on order. Or maybe Camilla’s the one that goes around?

Joe Jonas Gets A Taste of His Own Medicine is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mel Gibson has been snapped by FadedYouthBlog, in close proximity to a mystery Russian woman, who they have prevously alleged was his mistress. Okay, they didn’t allege it – they said it was rumoured, and then they called the story an exclusive.

Her name is Oksana, she is Russian, 28 years old and as far as we know despite being beautiful she has never appeared in a James Bond Film.

FYB said that when they broke the story of the rumoured mistress in August Oksana quickly disappeared from the Edge of Darkness movie set Mel was working on in Boston.

FYB says:

While Mel’s spokesperson tried to quash the original rumours of his mistress by saying she was “one of the artists on Mel’s recording label in the US recording,” Oksana’s reappearance by Mel’s side confirms suspicions that she is more to Mel than just a colleague.
Most recently, a weary Mr. Gibson was seen walking across the set of Darkness, casually smoking a cigarette. Minutes later, an angelic but cautious Oksana walked the same path. Sources confirm that Oksana has no role in the film or job on the set, so her presence on set and her consistent proximity to Mel is undeniably puzzling.

Oksana’s mysterious appearance brings further scrutiny to Mel’s character, infidelity, and lascivious nature.

Mel has been married to Robyn for the past 28 years, not a bad effort by Hollywood standards. We are not sure you can call someone out for being a cheater, or say its rumoured they are cheating because you saw them together once, and on a second occasion they walked in the same direction, minutes behind each other. Which is what FYB, followed by a host of “me-too” celeb sites are saying.

Mel has had a tough time recently, the set he was pictured on is the first time he has acted since the whole “get shit faced/pulled over by the cops/anti Semetic comment” incident. Anyway, he might be Mel Gibson, but time has not been kind to the 52 year old, so we can’t see it. What do you think?

You can see the rest of the images here.

Mel Gibson and the case of the suspected Russian Mistress is a post from: The Inquisitr