03 Jul Data Breach from MHT-CET Sold to Colleges
A data leak involving the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test 2017 (MHT-CET 2017) has resulted in the sale of the personal information of its roughly 107,000 student-takers to engineering and pharmacy colleges.
An agency named Career Calling Education Consultancy has been sending out emails to engineering and pharmacy colleges saying they have access to the personal information of the students, including their name, gender, mobile number, email, and residential address. An attachment containing a sample data of 300 students is reported to have been included in the email. When recipients contact the number in the email, they find out that they can acquire the information after paying Rs 20,000-25,000.
The MHT-CET results are used as basis for admissions to undergraduate courses. The agency has been telling colleges that they can use the data to reach out to qualified students and advertise their college through WhatsApp by using their mobile numbers.
Source: Pune Minor
