1/3 Harrie Kabbes with a mini camera in his hand.
Cheating with a ‘cheat vest’ during your theory exam: it sounds strange, but at Spyplaza in Gemonde it is not an unknown phenomenon. The store sells all kinds of hidden cameras and eavesdropping devices. Owner Harrie Kabbes often receives requests from people to provide something that can be copied during an exam. “Young and old ask for it. It has always played a role,” he explains.
At the Central Bureau for Driving Skills (CBR) in Eindhoven, a man was caught with a ‘cheating vest’ during a theory exam on Wednesday. Such a vest has a small camera at chest height that films the questions on the screen. That camera is connected to a phone. The candidate will hear the answers from someone else via a small wireless earpiece.
“If people ask me to commit fraud, I never agree.”
Kabbes sells all kinds of cameras in his Spyplaza. They can be hidden in a shoe, car key, pen, alarm clock or charger, among other things. “Cameras are so small these days that they can be built into anything,” he explains. Customers come to his shop with all kinds of different wishes. “For example, they want to record a conversation, such as a job interview, so they can listen back. Or they want to monitor their partner to see if they are being unfaithful.”
But there are also people who want to cheat during an exam. Kabbes often receives such requests. “I am regularly asked if I can provide something for this. Not specifically for the CBR exam, it is possible for any type of exam that is taken.” The store owner says he will not cooperate. “I supply cameras, that’s legal. But if people ask for something to commit fraud, I’ll never go along with it. I don’t want to participate in that.”
“These types of cameras are available everywhere.”
What about the rules surrounding his cameras and eavesdropping devices? Kabbes explains: “If you put cameras in your own home, it is legal. In a public place it is only allowed if you clearly indicate that cameras have been placed. It is different with recording conversations. If you participate in the conversation yourself , it is legal. That also applies to a tracker: for example, you can only track your own car, not someone else’s.”
Using the equipment during a theory exam of the CBR is punishable. On Thursday, for example, a 33-year-old man was sentenced by the court to 40 hours of community service because he had committed fraud during a CBR theory exam in Breda. The man confessed that he wore an earpiece and a cheat vest with a camera especially for the exam. He had approached someone on Facebook to help him, because he had failed the theory exam four times before.
“Apparently it’s some kind of trend in driver’s license country.”
The public prosecutor in this case thought that the man was a unique case, but in the handling of the case she said that she had read at Omroep Brabant that it was not an incident. “Apparently it’s kind of a trend in driving license country, especially among people with a migration background who want to pass the exam.”
Although Kabbes does not cooperate in fraudulent cases, people can easily use the items to cheat. The shop owner from Gemonde grabs a mini camera, tiny earplug and pen to demonstrate.
“The pen is a phone, a SIM card goes in and it picks up sound. The camera is then somewhere on the chest. The earpiece goes deep into your ear. You can also only take it out with tweezers. And that’s how you can so communicating with the outside world. These kinds of cameras are for sale everywhere. Someone can just get one without saying what he is using it for. There is nothing you can do about that.”
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