LSAT Suspends Online-Testing In China After Alleged Data-Theft Tied To Chinese Prep Companies

Authored by Eric Mathemeier via CampusReform.org,

Chinese companies preparing students for the American Law School Admission Test (LSAT) have gained unauthorized access to U.S.-based LSAT preparation companies and stolen information, according to the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), the organization that administers the American LSAT.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, LSAC began permitting remote LSAT administration. In China, that shift fueled a lucrative market of firms exploiting loopholes in LSAC’s online security—enabling hired test-takers, armed with fake identification, to impersonate students and complete the exam from abroad.

LSAC announced in August that it had suspended online testing from mainland China. The suspension came amid concerns that Chinese actors compromised and penetrated remote testing systems and services.

New reports, including one by Dave Killoran, the CEO of PowerScore, an American LSAT prep company, reveal just how these Chinese companies are scamming the LSAT. 

Killoran said that a Chinese whistleblower, told him last May that he had access to what appeared to be stolen LSAT questions. The whistleblower was frustrated how easy it was to gain access to cheat materials. 

Killoran told The Washington Free Beacon that screenshots of the test questions are “compiled into PDFs and sold to students who can’t pay the high fees for a proxy test taker.”

Chinese companies have been charging up to $8,000 for the stolen information. These firms advertise “guaranteed results” through encrypted social media channels and claim to have access to upcoming LSAT questions weeks before the exam.

Actors reportedly stole this information through a variety of means, one of the most prominent being hiding high-definition cameras to photograph in-person and remote exam questions.

This is not the first time that Chinese influence has penetrated American higher education. The Hudson Institute conducted a report on Harvard University published in June, that highlighted how Harvard was training Chinese government officials.

The report said that Harvard provided training to Chinese state officials linked to the repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang—potentially breaching U.S. sanctions laws.

The Hudson Institute said of its report that it “barely scratches the surface of the Chinese Communist Party’s infiltration of Harvard and US higher education broadly.”

Americans for Public Trust released a report earlier this year detailing how China and other foreign governments have funneled billions of dollars into U.S. colleges and universities.

According to the findings, New York University has received nearly $350 million in Chinese funding, making it the largest known recipient of such contributions over the past several decades.