TESTED AND TRIED

Some 46 people have been held accountable after Shandong provincial authorities launched an investigation over identity theft in college admissions, with several cases dating back to the 1990s.

On May 26, Chen Chunxiu from Guanxian county discovered that an imposter attended and graduated from Shandong University of Technology 16 years ago in her name. Chen never received her letter of admission, and believed she had failed to gain the required score in the college entrance exams (gaokao). More victims have come forward, including Gou Jing, whose identity theft case implicates 15 people including her high school teacher (whose daughter went to college in Gou’s place) and several education and public security officials.

Since 2018, 242 cases of identity theft in college admissions have been detected in Shandong, all taking place before 2006. This year, the province employed facial recognition technology for gaokao registration in order to safeguard examinees’ identity.