Thiruvananthapuram: A fake education racket based in Uttar Pradesh has been fraudulently running courses and issuing certificates in the name of the Kerala Board of Public Examinations, the authority responsible for conducting the SSLC examination in the state, for the past eight years.

Despite multiple complaints, including one from the then state Minister for Education four years ago, the police are yet to initiate action against the racket. The operation uses a fake website - www.kbpe.info - designed to mimic the official Kerala Board platform. With yet another fake communication emerging from this website recently, the police have now approached GoDaddy, the domain registration service, seeking to take down the site.

The racket offers SSLC and Plus Two courses, conducts examinations and distributes certificates through the fake portal. The documents are forged with such accuracy that they closely resemble the originals.

One fake Plus Two certificate, issued from a centre in UP and submitted for a government job application there, was forwarded to the Kerala Education Department for verification. During the process, the candidate admitted to applying through a notification on the website, enrolling in a coaching institute, attending classes and appearing for exams.

In just the past three years, over ten such certificates have been flagged for verification by the Kerala Education Department. Officials believe the real number could be significantly higher, as most private firms do not submit documents for verification. Many unsuspecting individuals may have fallen prey to this scam.

A simple online search for the Kerala Board of Public Examinations often directs users to the counterfeit websites created by the racket. Clicking on the “Contact Us” link in these sites redirects users to a WhatsApp number. Those who initiate contact through this number are misled into believing that the courses are officially run by the Kerala Government. They are then asked to pay fees, attend classes and appear for exams -- only to receive fake certificates in the end.

The official website of the Kerala Board of Public Examinations is: www.pareekshabhavan.kerala.gov.in. In light of the  ongoing scam, the Secretary of the Pareeksha Bhavan has announced plans to launch a new website domain using the board’s name and ensure that it appears at the top of search engine results to prevent further malpractice.

Fake website features former minister’s photo

The fake website, which emerged in 2017, carries the photograph and name of then Education Minister Prof C Raveendranath, naming him as the Board Chairman. Aimed at adding a layer of authenticity, it also lists the names of former Principal Secretary of Education B Sreenivas as Vice Chairman and Education Secretary Dr Usha Titus as Chief Executive.