In the cutthroat world of Chinese civil service exams, the most dangerous opponent is not necessarily the person in the next seat: it is the “ghost” candidate designed to scare you away before you even show up.
A bizarre case of inflating applicant numbers to deter potential candidates has become a national talking point, as tougher job prospects raise interest in civil service examinations on the mainland.
First reported by state media in December, the case involved the illegal purchase of personal information to mass-register fake exam-takers, thereby inflating enrolment figures to “intimidate” competitors.
Advertisement
According to a court ruling cited by Chinese media, the scam surfaced when a candidate applying for a civil service exam at an unnamed location in February last year discovered that his identity had been used to register for an exam he never took.
After the candidate reported the matter to authorities, police discovered that a person identified only as Li had collaborated with a teacher Zhou from a civil service exam training institution.
Advertisement
