I had to try three timesI did my first attempt in 2010 for Academics, its was just showing up, I got overall 6.0 back then, I've repeated the same in this for a mitigation purpose and managed to get 7788 which is sufficient for me and its general.
Im not sure on faking IELTS, I've heard stories from many but didn't get any confirmation for faking it, as a responsible individual I do not recommend cheating, if you are not worth for it just leave it for good.
