It is not unusual for people to cheat during parts of the driving exams, particularly during the ‘free exams’ for applicants who have not studied in a driving school, and it is hardly surprising that the Guardia Civil monitor these sessions.
The usual method adopted, in the main, by foreigners is through the substitution of someone of similar build and appearance to take the test.
In Guadalajara, Málaga, a group of foreigners found a different, more high-tech way to cheat.
Guardia Civil officers monitoring the exam on Thursday noticed that 11 of the 20 candidates had several things in common. A 11 were Chinese and all 11 were wearing exactly the same ‘Cartier’ (haha) sports watches. Throughout the exam, these candidates began to manipulate their watches. One or two put them in their pockets when they thought they had been spotted.
The ‘spy watches’ enabled the candidates to get the correct answers to the thirty questions contained in the test. Tilting the watch one way showed a normal watch face, tilting it a different way showed the answers and the chronograph set the pattern to be used during the exam.
After the exam, the Guardia Civil relieved the eleven Chinese youths of their sophisticated watches and the Public Prosecutor is investigating the case to see if criminal charges can be brought against these individuals. It was at this time that they noticed another curious fact, each of the eleven cheats was from a different part of Spain.
Spy watches have been used on occasion in other parts of the country but this was their first appearance in Málaga.