Hi Codeforces,

In the recent Div 3 round Codeforces Round 954 (Div. 3), there has been an unexpected surge in mass-scale cheating. A YouTube channel (which I won't name here) streamed solutions for problems A to F, garnering over 4K views.

Here are the solutions shared by that YouTube channel: Problem C:267203316 Problem D: 267202216 Problem E: 267202667 Problem F: 267202967 (Note: I've modified the solutions slightly just to remove channel's identifying information.)

Many participants have submitted identical solutions, with minor tweaks like variable names, template and macros. I want to highlight and give a special mention to these users who, with sheer audacity and desperation for ratings, resorted to copying: Harsh7k, ads4k, _ishu, Sajal_singh24, godzilla30, anandh_87, Anichesschamp1008, shibhaditya, Tom_cruise_007, Deepak_100_hi, Shantanu_Bairagi, 2100031953_klu, shriyansh20sinha, delhiiboy_2.0, yashptl630, saanjhmalik, codenovax, ddixit552

It's evident that their submissions were heavily influenced or directly copied from the YouTuber's solutions.

These are just a few names; if you look at the contest leaderboard and just examine the solutions for Problem F, one can find hundreds of such users with strikingly similar submissions.

I also want to commend a few users who have shown exemplary conduct. If cheaters have their idols, then these users deserve recognition: Mr. Harsh7k, Mr. codenovax, Mr. Jerry_chan, Mr. Shantanu_Bairagi. They took cheating to another level by not simply changing variable names or templates but by rewriting solutions in different languages using GPT or similar methods to evade plagiarism detection effectively.

If you delve into their history, you'll find instances where some of these idols have been caught plagiarizing in consecutive contests, likely from the same source (the aforementioned YouTube channel). Similar concerns have been raised about this YouTuber on platforms like CodeChef and LeetCode.

I urge MikeMirzayanov, the author 74TrAkToR, coordinator Vladosiya, and testers (veleboks, iNNNo, Sk0rlupka, sharkycode, Noobish_Monk, meowcneil etc. )to take decisive action against these accounts if found guilty. Additionally, a thorough plagiarism check should be conducted on submissions that appear heavily inspired by the solutions shared by the YouTube channel at the beginning of my message.

It's disappointing for many that copying solutions for problems E and F has gone undetected at such a massive scale, rendering the efforts of honest participants worthless.