See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/373258219

An Image Processing Fraud Detecting System Using Optical Sensor

Article · August 2023

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8223443

CITATIONS READS
0 34

3 authors, including:

Emeka Okorie Johnwendy C. John

tansian university umunya anambra state Cloudware Limited
6 PUBLICATIONS 0 CITATIONS 13 PUBLICATIONS 8 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Johnwendy C. John on 21 August 2023.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 International Journal of Research e-ISSN: 2348-6848
p-ISSN: 2348-795X
(IJR) Vol. 10 Issue 08
August 2023

An Image Processing Fraud Detecting System

Using Optical Sensor.
Okorie E.
[email protected]
Department of computer science Tansian University Umunya Anambra State,

Nwaukwa C.J.
[email protected]
Department of computer science Veritas University Abuja,

Dom-anyanwu C.P.
[email protected].
Department of computer science Tansian University Umunya Anambra State.

Ezika N. D.
[email protected]
Department of computer science Tansian University Umunya Anambra State.

Abstract-- This paper presents an image processing fraud detection system utilizing optical sensor technology.
With the increasing rate of half-baked graduates and the subsequent decline in the country's economic growth,
the need for robust fraud detection mechanisms becomes paramount. Additionally, the rise in non-students
infiltrating examination halls to write exams on behalf of others and the prevalence of examination question
paper hunting further exacerbate the situation. To address these challenges, we propose an image processing-
based system that leverages optical sensors to detect and prevent fraudulent activities during examinations.
The system employs advanced image processing techniques to identify suspicious behavior, such as the presence
of unauthorized individuals in examination halls or the unauthorized acquisition of question papers. By
integrating optical sensor technology into the fraud detection process, educational institutions can enhance the
integrity and security of their examination procedures, safeguarding the educational system against fraudulent
practices. The results of our study demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system in detecting and
mitigating fraud, thereby contributing to the overall improvement of educational assessment processes and
maintaining the credibility of academic achievements.

Keywords---Image processing, optical sensor, fraud detection, exam malpractice

Received: 22 July 2023 54

Revised: 2 August 2023
Final Accepted 8 August 2023
Copyright Ó authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8223443
 International Journal of Research e-ISSN: 2348-6848
p-ISSN: 2348-795X
(IJR) Vol. 10 Issue 08
August 2023

I. BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION
Fraud detection poses a significant challenge across various industries, including banking, finance, retail,
and electronics. The impact of fraud on organizations is detrimental, affecting their overall performance,
reputation, and hindering potential and existing customer engagements. Organizations typically bear the
financial burden of detected fraud, leading to loss compensation and the loss of valuable customers, while also
attracting more fraudulent activities. Considering the widespread vulnerability of these institutions, it has
become imperative for them to proactively combat fraud, aiming to prevent and identify suspicious activities
effectively.

The incidence of fraud in Nigeria's examination system is concerning, and although CCTV is considered an
effective solution, it falls short as it requires human intervention to relay the detected image information to the
monitoring device. The limitations of the CCTV system have prompted researchers to explore alternative
approaches that can accurately identify, measure, or analyze user characteristics without direct contact in
examination rooms. By utilizing an optical sensor for image processing, the implementation of a fraud detection
device holds great potential in curbing fraud threats within our educational institutions and society as a whole.
This paper focuses on the application of this device in the context of computer-based exams as a case study.

II. A REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURES

(Fatai, 2005) provides a definition of examination fraud as any improper act committed by candidates or
individuals involved in the administration of an examination, which clearly violates the established rules
governing its conduct and integrity. It encompasses actions conducted before, during, and after an examination
that go against the prescribed guidelines for fair and orderly examination conduct, with the aim of gaining an
unfair advantage over other candidates for personal gain. Ojerinde (2000) identifies the motivation for cheating
in examinations, including the desire to obtain a certificate, secure a spot in a program, or be selected for a
position, as well as the negligence of teachers or examiners in safeguarding examination papers. According to
the National Policy on Education (FGN 2004), the promotion of a progressive and united Nigeria necessitates
functional education that is relevant, practical, and comprehensive, with individual educational directions
determined by interest and ability.

A. Causes of Examination Irregularities

According to a study conducted by (Makoju et al., 2004), parents of secondary school students were asked about
the factors they believe contribute to examination malpractices in Nigeria. Many parents expressed that the
questions asked in exams are not aligned with the syllabus, which encourages malpractice. The syllabus,
developed by the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) as the teaching syllabus,

Received: 22 July 2023 55

Revised: 2 August 2023
Final Accepted 8 August 2023
Copyright Ó authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8223443
 International Journal of Research e-ISSN: 2348-6848
p-ISSN: 2348-795X
(IJR) Vol. 10 Issue 08
August 2023

should ideally have a common scope. However, it has been frequently reported that the syllabus provided by the
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is overloaded and difficult for candidates to handle, leading
to increased instances of malpractice.

Additionally, some parents believed that objective questions facilitate examination malpractice. This is because
students have developed techniques to covertly share correct answers with their peers during objective tests using
their fingers. Similarly, in the same study by (Makoju et al., 2004), secondary school teachers were asked to
share their views on the factors contributing to examination malpractice. Out of 1685 teachers surveyed, 879
(52.17%) stated that students lack a willingness to learn.

In many public schools, students can be observed loitering on the streets, engaging in activities such as playing
video games or football, instead of focusing on their studies. With their lack of readiness to learn, they resort to
malpractice when examinations approach. Other factors contributing to examination malpractice include an
emphasis on paper qualifications, parents' strong desire for their children to pass at any cost, and the supervisors
and custodians of examination papers reflecting the wider societal issues.

Apart from these significant factors, another prominent reason for examination malpractice is the excessive
emphasis on paper qualifications. Unless we shift the focus away from mere paper qualifications and place
importance on practical skills that enable individuals to function effectively in society, the problem of
examination malpractice will persist. The obsession with paper qualifications is a consequence of the poor
implementation of our National Policy on Education. Gradually, the emphasis is shifting from paper acquisition
to the demonstration of skills and academic excellence. Possessing a paper qualification without practical
experience to support it will eventually lose its meaning.

B. Occurrence and Types of Examination Irregularities

Instances of examination malpractice have existed in various forms even before 1977, but it was during the early
70s when mass cheating was first witnessed in WAEC examinations that it became a national problem spanning
from primary schools to tertiary institutions. However, a significant turning point occurred in 1977 when a
judicial commission of inquiry was established to address the efficient conduct of examinations and timely
release of results by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), the sole body responsible for conducting
public examinations at that level in Nigeria.

The commission recognized the overwhelming workload of WAEC and made several recommendations,
including the establishment of additional examination bodies to share the burden of numerous examinations. In
some instances, school principals resorted to registering more candidates than their facilities could
accommodate, thereby perpetuating examination malpractice. With limited resources and an excessive number
Received: 22 July 2023 56
Revised: 2 August 2023
Final Accepted 8 August 2023
Copyright Ó authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8223443
 International Journal of Research e-ISSN: 2348-6848
p-ISSN: 2348-795X
(IJR) Vol. 10 Issue 08
August 2023

of candidates, effective supervision became extremely challenging, often resulting in cramming a large number
of candidates into a single examination hall. There have been reported cases where 200 candidates were
registered in a school with halls that were incapable of accommodating them all. As a consequence, while the
supervisor was present in one class, dictation or sharing of answers would be taking place in other classrooms,
which were far apart.

During examinations, candidates would sneak in materials they believed would aid them in answering the
questions. This form of examination malpractice involves copying, often on a small sheet of paper similar in size
to a business card, which could be concealed in shoes or mathematical sets. Alternatively, candidates might write
information on unexposed parts of their bodies.

C. Efforts so Far in Curbing Examination Malpractice

Various approaches have been implemented by different examination bodies, including government entities,
NGOs, and individuals, to address the issue of examination malpractice. Examples include head counts in
schools conducted by the Oyo State commissioner for education, public campaigns by WAEC on the
consequences of malpractice, workshops and seminars by NECO, and the efforts of NGOs like the exam ethics
project. Additionally, concerned individuals such as Jegede have contributed to combating these vices. The
federal government has also enacted laws to prohibit examination malpractice, with the recent introduction of
computer-based examinations conducted by JAMB.

D. Quality Assurance: a Practical Way out to Examination Malpractice in Nigerian

Secondary Schools

Quality assurance becomes significant when its strategies are consistently implemented throughout educational
programs. An examination, serving as a test, assessment, and evaluation, is used to gauge individuals' skills,
knowledge, and academic achievements. Examination malpractice refers to misconduct or improper practices
before, during, or after exams with the intent of fraudulently obtaining good results. Input refers to the human
and non-human resources provided to an organization from program initiation to implementation and program
completion. The process encompasses activities like teaching, learning, and counseling that engage individuals
and educational institutions. Examinations, which can take various forms such as essays, objective tests, oral or
written assessments, theory, or practical evaluations, play an integral role in the education process. They
determine the level of knowledge and skills acquired, influencing decisions regarding admission to educational
institutions and employment opportunities. However, examinations often evoke fear and anxiety as many
candidates strive to pass by any means necessary, and school authorities and parents seek ways to ensure high
Received: 22 July 2023 57
Revised: 2 August 2023
Final Accepted 8 August 2023
Copyright Ó authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8223443
 International Journal of Research e-ISSN: 2348-6848
p-ISSN: 2348-795X
(IJR) Vol. 10 Issue 08
August 2023

grades for their students and children. The government has enacted laws prescribing severe penalties, including
a 21-year jail term, for individuals found guilty of examination malpractice. Despite these measures, malpractice
continues to persist in both public and institutionally organized examinations. In 2006, the Federal Ministry of
Education blacklisted and derecognized 324 secondary schools nationwide as examination centers from 2007 to
2010 due to their involvement in examination malpractices.

E. Consequences of Examination Malpractices

The repercussions of examination malpractices are significant. As stated by Ija'iya (2001), such malpractices
reflect a decline in the quality of education, indicating a widespread issue throughout Nigeria. This has adverse
implications for national development, as it hampers the overall educational standard. Furthermore, individuals
who engage in cheating at lower educational levels are likely to continue this behavior as they progress to higher
levels. Consequently, upon entering society, their previous attitudes can easily lead them towards corrupt
practices.

Another consequence is that individuals who obtain certificates through cheating may secure jobs for which they
lack the necessary competence. This can result in poor performance and low productivity, jeopardizing the
development and effective utilization of human and material resources. In response to various forms of
malpractice, disciplinary actions such as student suspensions, blacklisting of examiners, and derecognition of
schools as examination centers have been implemented. These measures aim to serve as deterrents to others and
maintain the integrity of the examination system.

III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This source of data collection for writing this research is primary and secondary sources. The primary
sources employed are questionnaire administered. Secondary data collected includes materials from libraries and
other related magazines. All were used in an attempt to collect reasonable amount of information for the research
in order to sharpen argument prepared and to arrive at a more reasonable recommendations.

The data collected from the research study has been analyzed. A sample of 200 students was randomly selected
from five secondary schools in Enugu metropolis. The study focused on senior secondary students between the
ages of 14-17. Two questionnaires were used for this study. The first questionnaire, examination malpractice
questionnaire, consisted of 24 items and gathered information on students' personal perceptions and opinions
about examination malpractices. The second questionnaire, examination ethics questionnaire (EEQ), had 14
items and aimed to understand students' perceptions and opinions regarding examination ethics.

Received: 22 July 2023 58

Revised: 2 August 2023
Final Accepted 8 August 2023
Copyright Ó authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8223443
 International Journal of Research e-ISSN: 2348-6848
p-ISSN: 2348-795X
(IJR) Vol. 10 Issue 08
August 2023

Hall tickets are commonly used in both online and offline examinations. Detecting fraud in hall tickets is
important for identifying document ownership. In the context of document image retrieval, hall tickets serve as
an important indexing tool for data exploration. This paper focuses on detecting fraud in exam hall tickets, which
include textual elements like name and register number, as well as graphical elements like the candidate's photo.
The goal is to identify unauthorized individuals who may replace the original candidate's photo with their own.
Previous research has been conducted on examination malpractice and fraud detection in selection exams. Other
studies have focused on online tests and credit card fraud detection.

Segmentation is a technique used to divide an image into its separate regions or objects. It is commonly employed
to locate objects and boundaries within images, such as lines and curves. In this proposed approach,
morphological operations are utilized for image segmentation. Document images, after being converted to binary
form, typically undergo filtering to reduce noise. For documents, specialized filters can be designed to exploit
the known characteristics of text and graphical components. Noise, arising from dust, spots, or scanning
processes, can contaminate scanned hall ticket images. Hence, it is necessary to eliminate any existing noise in
order to prepare the scanned document image for further processing.

To remove noise and obtain a noise-free hall ticket image, preprocessing techniques are applied, including the
removal of noise from the name, seat number, and photo or face components. This is achieved through
segmentation using fundamental morphological operations. Specifically, a dilation operation is performed twice
using a line structuring element. By dilating the image horizontally and vertically, the content within the
document image, such as the hall ticket information, thickens. The resulting image is then segmented into its
individual components, namely the name, seat number, and photo. These segmented components are collected
and stored in a database.

Dilation, which expands or thickens objects in a binary image, is employed in this process. The degree of
thickening is controlled by a flat line structuring element. Dilation involves adding white-color pixels to
boundaries, thereby increasing their size and reducing the size of black-color regions. Figure 4 illustrates the
dilation process

Received: 22 July 2023 59

Revised: 2 August 2023
Final Accepted 8 August 2023
Copyright Ó authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8223443
 International Journal of Research e-ISSN: 2348-6848
p-ISSN: 2348-795X
(IJR) Vol. 10 Issue 08
August 2023

IV. DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

In this section, the results of the implementation and analysis of the system designed is presented.

Fig 1.0: Designed rule base that will monitor the behavior of the fraudsters

Fig 2.0: Simulated rule base that will monitor the attitudes of these fraudsters

Fig 2.0 shows simulated rule base that will monitor the attitudes of these fraudsters. This rule base helps in fast
detection of examination malpractices in the higher institution through an optical sensor.

Received: 22 July 2023 60

Revised: 2 August 2023
Final Accepted 8 August 2023
Copyright Ó authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8223443
 International Journal of Research e-ISSN: 2348-6848
p-ISSN: 2348-795X
(IJR) Vol. 10 Issue 08
August 2023

Fig 3.0: designed optical sensor to detect the Images and activities of students in real time and transmit signals to the data base

Fig 4.0: Designed Simulink for Modeling and simulation of an image processing fraud detecting system without using optical
sensor

Received: 22 July 2023 61

Revised: 2 August 2023
Final Accepted 8 August 2023
Copyright Ó authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8223443
 International Journal of Research e-ISSN: 2348-6848
p-ISSN: 2348-795X
(IJR) Vol. 10 Issue 08
August 2023

Fig 4.1 comparing the rate of examination fraud without and with optical sensor.

Fig 4.1 shows the comparison of the rate of examination fraud with and without an optical sensor. It shows that
conventional rate of examination fraud detection stability were at the coordinates of rate of detection to time of
(13,4) and (13,10) respectively. On the other hand, the identification of examination malpractice to time stability
when an optical sensor is incorporated in the system are (4.687,4) and (4.687,10). With these results, it shows
that the rate of examination fraud detection is faster when optical sensor is incorporated in the system than its
conventional approach.

Fig 4.2 comparing the number of students caught in exam malpractice without and with optical sensor.

Fig 4.2 shows comparing the number of students caught in exam malpractice without and with optical sensor.
In figure 4.2 the conventional highest number of students detected in an examination fraud is 82 at a time of
Received: 22 July 2023 62
Revised: 2 August 2023
Final Accepted 8 August 2023
Copyright Ó authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8223443
 International Journal of Research e-ISSN: 2348-6848
p-ISSN: 2348-795X
(IJR) Vol. 10 Issue 08
August 2023

1second. On the other hand, the highest number of students detected when optical sensor is incorporated in the
system at the same time is 130. With these results, it shows that when optical sensor is incorporated in the system
at same time with conventional method it detects more examination fraudsters than the latter.

V. CONCLUSION:
The alarming production of underqualified graduates in our country is a result of the absence of an effective
detection mechanism to identify and discipline unserious students in higher institutions before they negatively
impact the institutions and the nation as a whole. To address the issue of detecting examination fraud in higher
institutions, This paper proposed a model for developing and simulating an image processing fraud detection
system using an optical sensor. The proposed approach involves characterizing student behavior during exams,
creating a database of all students, establishing a rule-based system to monitor fraudulent activities, designing
an optical sensor to detect fraudulent images and actions in real-time and relay the information to the database.
Additionally, a Simulink model will be developed to simulate and compare the effectiveness of the image
processing fraud detection system with and without the optical sensor in identifying fraudsters.

REFERENCES

[1]. Aaron, R. M (1992), Student academic dishonesty: Are colleges, Institutions addressing the issue? NAPSA Journal 29:103 -
113
[2]. Adamu, M. (2001): Examination malpractice” A paper presented at the 4th Annual special and prize given day ceremony of
Federal Government College, Daura, Katsina State.
[3]. Bernard, M.O, (1998): Examination malpractice in tertiary institution, in Nigeria. Types, Causes, Effect and solution
unpublished.
[4]. Didu Ojerinde S.O. (2000). Different dimensions of cheating in University examination. Ife Journal of Educational Studies 7
(1), 17 - 29.
[5]. Fatai, K. (2005). Causes, implications and solutions to examination malpractices

[6]. Durowoju.K,Nigeria’s education system is largely certificate oriented,(2013),

[7]. Dickson . M, face and head detection simultaneously for real time surveillance system which employs four directional features
(FDF (2018),

[8]. Jimoh . G,some of theteachers in our various levels of education are beneficiaries or products of malpractice, a compulsory
nationwide ( 2009)

[9]. Odofin . M The use of effective continuous assessment techniques (2015)

[10]. Uzoigwe T, Teachers should be equipped for the technological-driven world (2018)

[11]. Peters. J. (2014), effective counseling services in schools to assist studentsacquire techniques of effective study habits

[12]. John. F. (2017), framework for fast embedded face detection system based on three modules,

Received: 22 July 2023 63

Revised: 2 August 2023
Final Accepted 8 August 2023
Copyright Ó authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8223443

View publication stats