Police Seize Assets of TestKiller.com
7/10/2002 -- On June 6 San Antonio police seized assets of TestKiller Ltd., the company that runs the practice exam Web site TestKiller.com.
According to a police report filed with the Bexar County, Texas District Court on June 20, the raid was prompted by Microsoft, who alleged that the site was selling Microsoft certification exam questions.
In his affidavit, seizing police officer Daniel Flaharty, a detective in the Special Crimes Unit of the San Antonio Police Department, wrote that he was contacted by a representative from the anti-piracy office of Microsoft. The unnamed representative alleged to Flaharty that TestKiller Ltd. was selling Microsoft "trade secrets" in the form of questions and answers to Microsoft exams.
According to the report, Flaharty began an investigation based on Microsoft's complaint, which led to the June 6 seizure of $408,566.84 in cash as well as several phones, printers, computer equipment, software and other items from at least one location.
No charges have been filed in this investigation. Calls made to the Bexar County district attorney's office to determine whether the investigation was ongoing were not returned as of press time.
Garry L. Neale, one of Testkiller Ltd.'s owners, politely declined CertCities.com's request for an interview, referring all questions to his attorney, who is out of the country this week.
A spokesperson for Microsoft confirmed that the company was aware of the investigation but said he could not comment on it due to the legal nature of the story.
The Testkiller.com Web site has been offline since early June.
Neale is the former owner of Troy Technologies (TroyTec.com), which in December settled a civil copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit brought by certification vendor CompTIA (see "CompTIA v. TroyTec Settled; Company Pulls CompTIA-Related Products from Site, Denies Wrongdoing").
CertCities.com will continue to follow this story and bring you further updates as they develop.  -B.N.
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There are 254  user Comments for “Police Seize Assets of TestKiller.com”
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| 9/9/03: johnny blaze from home says: |
I suppose that I am what you would call one of the purists. I think that braindumps are wrong, point blank. I work my ass off studying and practicing for these exams, and for some punk to come along and pass by memorizing all of the questions really burns my ass. Who cares that MS changes its tests and outdates certifications, this is technology ladies and gentlemen, be prepared for change. I'm willing to sacrifice sleep, live on coffee and nicotene, and stress out my marrige in order to pass these tests and more importantly to know the material. I have failed several of these exams and I am not ashamed to admit it. I know that I did my best and that I didn't cheat. Quick question, if you cheated on an exam in college or high school by stealing the answer key from the teacher, what would happen? Boot in the ass. same concept here. so I have to go study for one more MS exam, wish me luck, and all of you braindumpers can kiss my ignorant ass. |
| 9/26/03: Study from Behind the screen says: |
I have read all of the comments on this site and there are a few facts I would like to point out. One, stealing is stealing; Two, No one...no one can do a job unless they know what they are doing; Three, passing anything requires studying; Four, knowing how to do a job is different than knowing how to pass an exam. Now with that said, how many of you out there have been working in the IT field for many years and know how to do the job, but do not have any certs. How many of you out there have not gone to college? Now how many of you have applied for a job, but could not get it because you do not have that paper from a college or any certification. It is a fact of life, companies hire individuals who have that paper, because without that paper they do not know if you can really do the work. Companies look at it as, if you have that paper, then you must have at some point been exposed to what is it they are looking for. Remember, passing an exam does not mean you can do the job; It just means you can answer the questions. What a person does with their knowledge and that paper is up to them. Unless you can work in the IT field, all the schooling, books, and testing taking in the world is not going to make you a more competent IT person. The fact is I have been to college, I have taken classes, I have gone to boot camps, and I have used study guides and practice questions. I do not no anyone who has never used some form of help. You know what, I tried once years ago to just use study note to pass the exam and I failed. I had to read, study the materials, and practice in order to pass the exams. But again, that is just to pass the exam, that does not mean everything I learned through studying is what I would do at my job. There is a right way, there is a wrong way, and then there is Microsoft/Cisco/etc..way. There are no classes, boot camps, books, or schools that I have ever taken that gave me everything I needed to pass the exam. Sure they give you a clue, they give you a little hands on, they may even teach you something, but the fact remains they all gave me practice questions; even in college. So the issue is, should there be sites out there that offer practice questions? Should they all be taken down? Does using them mean your cheating? Does passing the exam(s) make you a better or smarter person? Does using practice exams to study take away from those who just read books? Before answering the above questions…I do not know of any site out there that still sell the actual questions and answers from the exams. If they did, they too would be out of business. Think about it, Microsoft, Cisco, Comptia, CIW, Checkpoint, etc…they can buy the questions and see if they are the actual exams. Your kidding yourself if you think they have not done so. Aswers: Yes those site are fine…why because those site just reword the questions that come in the books you read. Should they take them down…NO, because now your saying that they should take the study questions and review question out of the books you read. Is it cheating? How??? If you pass the exam via reading one, two, three, or five books then that is great. If you pass the exam just using study notes then that is great. Your studying to pass the exam, studying or learning so you can do the job is another thing. Passing the exam does not make you a better or smarter person. Using practice exam does not ake away from those who read books. Cheating means being deceitful right? In what way or who did they deceive? The exams don't ask you if you know the actual questions or answers. What they ask you is how did you study before taking the exam. Also, if your taking the exam just to have all the certifications by your name, then what do you care how they get it. If your taking the exam so you can get a job, then one would think he or she plans on learning to do the job. If not, then they are not going to last long anyway. Then there is the person who knows how to do the job and takes the exams, why? Because they need the job, maybe! Or could it be because they don't feel confident enough in their abilities that they need an exam to prove to them they know what they are doing. Bottom line, keep the sites. Let people use whatever means they want to study. If a company is stupid enough to keep someone working for them when the person does not know what they are doing, in my mind it does not reflect badly on the exam or certification; it reflects on the person and the company. Let keep our focus here people…passing the exam tells people you can answer questions, not do the job. Just like someone getting money to buy a car without working. Does that mean that they do not deserve the car? No…what it means is if they don't have a job lets seem them keep it or prove, Here is the KEY PROVE they deserve it. |
| 9/26/03: open door from for all says: |
What is the big deal here? Let Microsoft, Cisco, CIW and everyone else take care of what it is they offer. Someone who posted a comment on this site made a good point! if you pay, say $100.00 to learn something and come to find out the materials you were given (even if you could remember every page) was faulty and was not enough to pass an exam; you took the exam and failed...big deal right it's only $100.00. Go find something else to study and try again, and again until you realize none of the question on the exam match what your reading. Do you want some help? Now say you have taken a class (and as most of us know Microsoft, Cisco, etc. classes cost thousands not hundreds) and it cost you $6,000.00. With that cost you get books, one paid exam, and their version of practice questions. You study and fail. Can you now afford to take another class, or better yet will your company pay again. If the study materials you were given the first time did not help, do you still have money to go out and buy other materials? It's all about money…if you can afford thousands, and you have a job that allows you to spend thousands, then failing means nothing to you. But a person who is sent by his or her company, most likely cannot afford to fail. If they pass, and are serious about what they do they will continue study and learn. The other person is someone who would like to get a job and cannot afford that kind of money to take a class nor can they afford to fail. But they have time to study and learn, they just need the certification to get the job. These type of individuals usually end up being the people most of us go to for help. So like the person said, I'm not going to spend that kind of money just to find out the materials I'm reading or using to study is faulty and is not going to help me pass the exam. I'm going to use whatever I can to study. |
| 9/26/03: mind from from been there says: |
to johnny blaze. If you steal in college and they find out about it, your out there. You don't a boot in the butt!!! Sorry to read you failed some of your exams, and that passing an exam is more important to you than your marriage! But can I ask you to think about one thing? Open door and study made some good points. When you were studying for your exams, did you read only the books offered by Microsoft or whatever it was you were studying? Why? because there are books and materials that have been written by people who have passed exams, but are not part of Microsoft or whatever company, and good Honest people have purchased these materials read them and passed the exams. Is that cheating? or is that OK becasue it was a book? Not every book someone reads is supported by whatever company. Or is it only cheating or stealing if someone puts in down in question and answer format. Like one of them said. Studying is studying no matter where you get the materials or how it is written. If you need it in book form, fine, stick the pages between two binders. But also take a closer look in those books and your reading, becasue in them you will see the questions and answers. Also, like they said, I don't believe those site are not being monitored, and I don't think there are still site out there that are selling the actual Questions and answers. Sure they may have a site that makes you think that or they may tell you they have what you need, but it is just a collections of information. If you can prove to me that there is a site or sites out there that still sells the Actual questions and answers, I'll side with you and everyone esle. Without that, those sites are just selling different forms of study materials just like At boson.com, or Transender, or selfstudy, etc... |
| 9/26/03: I agree from I agree says: |
With this But can I ask you to think about one thing? Open door and study made some good points. When you were studying for your exams, did you read only the books offered by Microsoft or whatever it was you were studying? Why? because there are books and materials that have been written by people who have passed exams, but are not part of Microsoft or whatever company, and good Honest people have purchased these materials read them and passed the exams. Is that cheating? or is that OK becasue it was a book? Not every book someone reads is supported by whatever company. Or is it only cheating or stealing if someone puts in down in question and answer format. Like one of them said. Studying is studying no matter where you get the materials or how it is written. If you need it in book form, fine, stick the pages between two binders. But also take a closer look in those books and your reading, becasue in them you will see the questions and answers. Also, like they said, I don't believe those site are not being monitored, and I don't think there are still site out there that are selling the actual Questions and answers. Sure they may have a site that makes you think that or they may tell you they have what you need, but it is just a collections of information. If you can prove to me that there is a site or sites out there that still sells the Actual questions and answers, I'll side with you and everyone esle. Without that, those sites are just selling different forms of study materials just like At boson.com, or Transender, or selfstudy, etc... |
| 10/7/03: snoopy from us says: |
I paid for the Microsoft Certied Course with New Horizons for Win2K-Pro & Win2K Server and guess what stuct guide they gave us with the Official MS Books? Yep TroyTech! I paid $1600.00 to attend the class which amounted to a week long book review of a 3 inch thick book. Despite the opinions about the Troytech study guides, I found the format most useful. A question and a correct answer! No extra wrong answers being remembered. If the question was "How much are you willing to spend to get a cert?" I would say entirely too much has already been spent! I am sick and tired of knowing my job and having to prove myself by passing a test that costs more than I make in a month. $1600 to take the MS ordained course, the books more than $280, the transcenders, exams $125 each - pass or fail no matter. I knew a young lady that paid nearly $10,000 for a cram course and came out MCSE, she knew nothing three months later when she came to work for me. I had kids fresh out of highschool that ran circles around her. I have been in the IT field since 1988 and have taught myself most of what I know. If I use a Troytech to study with and pass that is one thing. If I use a Troytech to study with and learn from it, remember it, put that knowledge to use every time I need it, what is the down side to that. Some people have money to burn, I do not. I also feel that time is not on our side here. MS released Win2000 Server and is now releasing Win2003 Server. To get an MCSE of one is very difficult when working in the field 40-50 hours a week. I refused to test on NT 4.0 when asked by my company because the OS was on the way out. I starting working on my MCSE for Win2000 and now it could very well be on it's way out as well. By the time actually have the money and time to complete my MCSE it will be multi-flavored. One could almost theorize that the tests and the test study guides, all of it is one big money making engine that we continue to fuel. Now I'm too tired to continue....have to study. |
| 11/24/03: Friendly- from CA says: |
I kind of have mix feeling on this issue like my ex girl friend going over a cliff in my new car. On one hand the MS questions are not practical in some cases in others they are out of this world. MS HAs until recently failed to produce good study material and the classes are a joke. In the past I say they guides were needed however MS has produced some good books lately that do cover the test..... |
| 12/1/03: Anonymous says: |
I think anyone who detests these practice exams is using them more than the people who tout it. Ultimately for field engineers like myself who study only by books and field work and don't require the classes these practice exams can shorten your study time greatly. I have a good grasp on the material but, don't know what is expected on the exam. These practice sites help you understand what the vendors want you to know. Most of the time I don't even have to study. Microsoft exams are so easy that if you have field experience with the material you should be able to pass the exam. I'll keep using them... I don't disagree with them. I think its the vendors problems requiring people to be certified instead of issuing certs based on amount of years in the field and amount of exposure to high-level issues with their products. |
| 12/1/03: Anonymous says: |
Quit Yapping all you complainers. I dont care who gets the job and how the person gets the job done as long its in the USA. I assume most of the complainers here are from USA. Lets support help more people from USA get ITS jobs. Shouldnt matter if that persoon did the MOC or dumps - USA |
| 2/9/04: Anonymous from USA says: |
Good point from the last poster. Anyhow, is there any follow-up on this. Do the PO-lice still have the $474,000 in siezed assets without making a charge? That should be unconstitutional. Heck, at 24% (like the credit card banks charge) he would be up to $600,000 or more by now. |
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