Buying the IELTS certificate. A reality or a fraud?
Buying an IELTS certificate and getting rid of difficulties to achieve a high score tempts many candidates to pay a great deal of money and avoid the hassle of taking part in the exam! But, unsurprisingly, wherever there is a demand, there are fraudsters who are ready to take advantage of the situation in any possible way.
Why do IELTS certificates have an attractive market?
A simple search in google shows the high number of websites, which claim to sell IELTS certificates. Websites that advertise openly and without any fear, with the promise of giving the candidates their desired IELTS band score without taking any exams. They even claim to sell certificates that the IELTS organizers can officially verify.
But why do IELTS certificates have an exciting market?
1. Candidates’ demand
If there is no demand for fraud, no fraudster can take advantage of the situation. But, unfortunately, despite many warnings by IELTS organizers, some candidates are still deceived by frauds’ new and deceptive methods and are willing to purchase an IELTS certificate, knowing the risks of losing money or being blacklisted (We will get there later).
2. Hefty profit gained by fraudsters through selling fake IELTS certificates
The profit earned by selling IELTS certificates is much more than a few hundred euros. If you visit some of these IELTS selling websites, you will learn that to purchase an IELTS certificate, you need to pay an amount between 500 to 5000 euros, depending on the time you have or the band score you need! Hilariously, some frauds are kind enough to accept this sum in two instalments! The first instalment should be paid right away at the beginning of the process. The second one after the certificate has been issued and the candidate has verified its authenticity!
3. The reluctance of the victims in taking legal actions
The main reason that makes it super easy for fraudsters to scam the candidates of their money without being prosecuted is that the victims usually don’t dare to report the scam or take legal actions to denounce the frauds! Because it is like filing a legal complaint about the bad quality of an illegal drug! Isn’t that funny?
It is important to know that even attempting to purchase an IELTS certificate is an illegal action on its own. So if victims want to track their lost money through judicial authorities, they will also face a penalty for committing the crime of buying an illegal certificate, even though it is much less severe than the crime committed by the fraudsters.
However, this is not the end of the story. When candidates realize that they had been victims of a scam, and will not receive any certificates, they try to threaten the fraudsters to take legal action as a measure of last resort to get their money back. This is when fraudsters play their ace.
Frauds threaten the candidates that they will submit the documents related to purchasing the IELTS certificate to the immigration organizations or the applicant’s university in case of any legal charges. In this way, the candidates may be permanently placed on the blacklist of the immigration organizations or the university. And who in their right mind is willing to accept the risk of being blacklisted?
How fraudsters persuade candidates to buy the IELTS certificates?
First of all, frauds ask victims to deposit the agreed price, or at least half of it, into their credit card or bank account. The trick to present a credit card or a bank account is used to convince the candidates that everything is legitimate. Some candidates would think that the sellers would not provide a bank account number that the judicial authorities could easily follow if they were frauds.
But why frauds are willing to give away their bank account details so easily? It’s quite simple, the fraudsters do not usually own these accounts, and in most cases, they are bought by scammers at a low price from third parties so that they won’t lead anyone back to them.
In some cases, to show that everything is done in accordance with the principles, fraudsters ask candidates to provide the following documents to begin the purchase process:
- A copy of the passport
- A photograph with a white background
- A fingerprint scan
Sometimes, fraudsters take advantage of Google’s advertising policies and justify that Google would not have allowed them to advertise if they were illegal! However, in reality, anyone, even you, can advertise on Google freely and without taking any permissions, using only a virtual credit card. Also, if they get reported on google, the review process is time-consuming and gives the scammers plenty of time before google suspends their account.
What about the official inquiry of the IELTS certificates?
Fraudsters claim that the authenticity of the purchased IELTS certificates can be inquired and verified online from the official IELTS website. Therefore, tell the candidates that they can pay half of the agreed price after this verification.
First of all, you should know that in most cases, the process of purchasing an IELTS certificate will never get to the inquiry stage because fraudsters have already received at least half of the agreed price. Scammers are usually satisfied with this amount, so they do not need the other half. The only thing that they need to do after that is to look for their next victim.
However, in some cases, more greedy fraudsters use phishing methods to deceive their victims and get the rest of the agreed amount. In this method, through a fake website using a very similar address to the URL of the IELTS main website, they show a fake verification to the candidates and secure the rest of the agreed money!
Is it possible to buy an IELTS certificate?
The short answer is NO!
One of the reasons the IELTS exam is recognized as the world’s most trustworthy international language test lies in its high-security measures. That’s why most immigration organizations and universities around the world have full confidence in the results of this exam.
Moreover, in recent years, IELTS organizers (IDP and the British Council) have taken more drastic measures to maintain the safety and credibility of this test. Actions such as taking fingerprints and photos on the day of the exam.
Therefore, it can be said with absolute certainty that it is impossible to buy the IELTS certificate and whoever claims to sell them is definitely a con artist ready to take advantage of the naivety, and sometimes greediness of candidates.
In the end, if you have any experience regarding buying or selling the IELTS certificate, please share it with others in the comments section below.
I read through the article and I was really overwhelmed that someone would even think of buying certificate.
But come to think of it,what if British council and Idp that conduct IELTS make the passing of the exam not so difficult for people,would fraudsters take advantage of people?
People register for trainings,even mock test leave their homes to go for the exams and at the end,many don’t pass😢.
Like me, I travelled all the way from Bayelsa state to go write the exam(UKVI) at Lagos after rigorous preparation, at the end when I was to get my results,was told my listening and reading answer sheetcouldn’t be located and I should choose another test schedule to come from the exam again at Lagos😰😰😰.
After all the preparation,stress of traveling 🧳 from Bayelsa to Lagos for 8-10 hours on ‘ Nigeria bad road’.
British council should be a little bit lenient with the scoring system, you are beginning to frustrate people especially in Nigeria and that’s why they fraudsters are taking the opportunity to defraud innocents,eager people.
I totally agree with you! I hope they would be considerate!
Hi my name is basil iam from india kerala, i would like to inform one thing that i see a sponcered advertising on Instagram that they claims they sell genuine ielts certificate at a rate of 1-8 lack indian rupees. I tried to check the followers of that page. Atlast i found a follower who likes all the posts in that page. I personally message her and asked why you liked that page she said she with his 13 friends and cousins applied for the ielts from that seller. I asked how much do you paid for it she tell me its about lacks of money spended they are migrating with whole famile friends to abroad. But reality is she dont know who is going to give real certificates and she and her cousins is jumped into a well of fraudsters. I will post second part after few days because iam investing this case seriously contacted the real ripper. If i can i will bring that guy out
But online teachers and the recognised organisations are absolutely faithful.
A friend sent me her Test report form and I could easily detect that it was a fake result. She had and over score of 8.5, yet her CEFR was C1. I laughed when I saw it.
nice informative article
An example of one such fake website is below
https://******************
you will be surprised to how well they build this website.
I had a chat with this guy, he is from US, but he is givign an Indian bank account details to deposit the money. So as said in the artice, they are taking help of some 3rd parties so that it wont lead to them
Is that guy name Gerg william.!
Please mention name and number please
I’m a victim of 4 cheaters. But some of them are interrelated. First they asked me to pay half amount and then they said that the BC officer is asking more. And repeatedly asked me to pay 100 usd for every week. I realized it’s fraud and stopped. Luckily I paid with PayPal but they always ask the payment method which cannot be recovered the money back. Luckily I informed to PayPal and my bank as fraudulent transactions and got refund. Never ever believe it.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I got cheated with these fraudesters ..after payinh complete amount agreed.. I wasn’t aware of buying IELTS certificate .. I thought it’s legal.. I should have enquired more.. I made fool of myself . Later to dispatch the certificate they have EMS courier to deliver which we need to pay customs charges and once u pay theh ask for second time as customs are asking for more payment.. and then theh say for stamping . I end up payinh more and more.. I stopped paying and reported .. Guys don’t belive these fraudesters..
Can you tell me full process happen as it same with me
It can actually be true in some cases and I have come across where the folks had gone through it and living in abroad. As mentioned above it’s a similar case for me and it gets interesting when they asking me to pay customs duty fee to have the stamp on it..
By now you must have realised I’m one of the victim and yes I have talked to people who confirming that they have got genuine certificates and verified via official online sites and used them as a pass to enter foreign countries.
Since I have the proofs where people claiming, please tell how can we report this to IDP or British council.
really? i want to avail that genuine one. any idea?
Sure, You need to take the actual IELTS exam.
Yes I totally agree with this post, this is the exact way they are operating this scam with the help of 3rd parties. They also have many FACEBOOK pages which shows the IELTS score cards openly. I can’t believe still there are such idiots in society.
Actually it’s not student don’t want to give exam. .. it’s mine third attempt but I’m not able to get clb 9 as we are working for our bread and better and appearing for this exams studying late night after tiring corporate office hourse still . If can’t get desired marks .. I just want to know if they claim that they have tie up with British council for getting certificate .. no one taking strict action on that..
Also I wish British council keep to ways for pr with ielts and without ielts so anyone who are stucked with band 6 also can achieve their dreams.
It is very sad to hear people that try so many times to get the score they need also spend a lot of money on preparation and to pay for the exam that is expensive.
In the last few years, to get a visa for a foreign country is very hard, so many people exhausted to take the IELTS test try to have it without all the hassle.
Muchos dicen que la gente es abusadora al buscar pagar por el examen, pero lo que no entienden es que el examen IELTS para algunos es un psicoterror, ya que esta prueba está hecha para llevarte al límite mental y hay muchas personas que no logran soportar tanta presión, por más que si manejen el idioma inglés! En mi casa ya voy para la 3era vez en presentar! Y claramente que si me dicen para poder comprar el certificado y poder salir adelante, solo digo “dónde pago”. Es un reto muy grande aprobar con el nivel que embajadas y universidades exigen! Y aún así llevo 2 años estudiando en inglés … Cómo digo no es cuestión de hablar o no el idioma, sino de la presión del examen.
I sometimes feel, they’re making it difficult only to make students appear more than once and this is become a business.
To gauge ones capabilities I think only speaking section is more than enough!
I personally feel that IDP and British Council is doing an overwhelming profitable business with regards to IELTS.
I personally believe IDP and BC themselves are scammers since test taker has to appear again and again for all 4 parts whereas candidate has already scored well i.e. Speaking or Listening.
So why this exam has been designed in such a way that every time candidate has to score again in all 4 parts rather than improving in a particular section i.e. Reading.
Is it because these text organisers earn a lot of $$$.
The education and health system are the two biggest profitable business. No matter if one has to sell his/her belongings to get those!
Shame on IELTS passing and test pattern!!
Is
Are you one of the scammer, who present himself as a victim and advertise that some people had been through and settled abroad? Stope giving hopes to people and share the name who received the certificates. Or insted of being an victim take help from the people who were able to get through and share the details where this can be done. It ll be win win for every one and not to scammer.😊😀😊👍
I am in touch with one of FB groups and she/he told that he is an employee of one of the test centers in Toronto and can easily update my desired score online and can send the TRF with in 3 days .
she said 500 cad as total and half of amount after we check the once online score & physical copy of TRF .
should i go thru it or avoid this path ?
and also another guy , who said he is processing Officer working in backend database in Vancouver , who can update directly my desired score and asked $1000 for TRF .