My rule of thumb when doing my History degree was to ask whether a given statement represented an opinion or conclusion. If so, who was responsible for the evidence that the conclusion was derived from? If you're an undergrad, chances are it's not yours so you better cite your source. Given that is the point in doing an essay, I never understood the point in plagiarizing.
And using Wikipedia as a source, either cited or not, is just a massive red flag that you didn't do any work. The only time I managed to get away with it was when I did a paper ON Wikipedia!
But when I did my programming courses, plagiarism was rampant and was a major problem for the teachers. But it usually evened out. The assignments were worth 1-2% and the accompanying quiz was worth up to 10%. Those that just handed in their friends work were burned big time on the quiz.
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