You might commonly see the opportunity to buy an IELTS certificate without taking the IELTS exam. But is this a good idea?
Why do people try to buy them?
Difficulty with the test
The first reason to buy an IELTS certificate without the exam is of course that someone may think it is impossible to achieve the score they need in order enter university or to live abroad.
Perhaps this is because their English skills are not good enough and it would take too long to get the score required.
Cost of the test
Or someone may simply not wish to take it for other reasons such as the cost of the test (if buying an IELTS certificate is cheaper - it may not be and is often more).
Lack of test centres
In some cases there may not be a test centre nearby, making it difficult to take the test.
Laziness
It get more info could come down to laziness - the temptation to buy an IELTS certificate without the exam could be hard to resist if it's placed in front of you and it seems that you can get away with it.
Misunderstanding
There may also be a genuine misunderstanding - a prospective candidate for IELTS might get conned into believing that a fake IELTS certificate is acceptable. Or they may believe they are paying on an official IELTS site when actually it is not.
Is buying an IELTS certificate a scam?
The basic answer to this is yes!
The only officially accepted IELTS certificates are those issued by official IELTS centres after taking the test.
If you are offered one outside of this they will be fraudsters. You may get charged anything from $150 or more for your fake certificate, and you may not even receive one at all.
Once they have your money, you may well not hear from them again and trying to get your money back will be impossible.