Possible blackmail (paid for a coding assignment)! Advice needed!

I paid a website to help me with a coding assignment. However, I decided almost immediately afterwards that I didn't want the services as I believed I could complete the assignment myself. I kindly requested a refund from the website, but I was only met with mean and nasty replies. The website threatened to tell my university that I was academically dishonest and attempt to get me expelled. I took a screenshot of the messages and ceased contact.

The materials I provided the website for the project contain sensitive information so they know my name, professor's name, class name and university name. The website also claimed that they had my chat logs, ip logs and emails. I paid through PayPal. The deadline is in 4 days but I don't plan on using their work at all.

I'm afraid that this website will contact my university should I dispute the charge with PayPal or my credit card company. I recently filed a scam report to the local police as well as requested help from a charitable service that focuses on identity and cybersecurity concerns. I expect to hear back from the charitable service within the next few days. I also talked to PayPal but I can't file a dispute until 7 days have passed since the transaction occurred.

Any advice?

How much did you pay? Do you know their country location (it should be listed in your Paypal receipt email) - I'm pretty sure they are from India or Pakistan? And how soon after the payment (in minutes) did you contact them to cancel it?

I paid $400 dollars as it's a complex assignment and the due date is quite soon. I contacted them about an hour after I made the payment and their refund policy states that their policy only lasts three days. Once three days have past, they won't allow any refunds (I attached their full refund policy). I couldn't find a location but I did find his email which is interestingly linked in another thread on this forum: https://essayscam.org/forum/es/thecasesolutions-onlineexamhelp-examonlinehelp-5028/. His email is abuhamid37@gmail. It seems as if he is from Pakistan. Unsurprisingly, it seems as if he's a scammer.

I'm also thinking that I'll talk to a University counsellor tomorrow and maybe my professor as well. I think that my actions so far and my willingness to work with the university on this issue will keep me safe from the potential of a leak. With this, I think that I'll also be able to get my money back safely.

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The "Returns Policy" has obviously been stolen / plagiarized from unrelated but legitimate websites (it's basically a copy-paste). Still, the policy states you are surely eligible for a refund within 3 days (if the project was not completed and sent to you within that time).

Yes, they / IWORKBOXX LIMITED are from Pakistan (used to be incorporated in the UK but now their status appears to be 'dissolved' - it's likely they still exist but only as a Pakistani company, if it's even a company) - check out: beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10037102

Well, the bottom line is that you did nothing wrong. You've been scammed. You didn't receive the service and you didn't use it. I'm not sure if talking to a university counselor is a good idea at this point; they may record this as an "incident" in their files and it could work against you in the future. Even if they "contact" the university, they cannot show anything other than your payment (they won't show any work sent to you or downloaded by you).

Hey Major,

I appreciate your responses. Do you think that I should just call my bank and report the company for fraudulent services and dispute the charge?

EDIT: Also, my university has an agreement in which the counsellors agree to confidentiality unless there was some sort of physical danger involved.

I wouldn't try to do a chargeback just yet. You have time to do it and it's possible they see this thread and refund you in the meantime. Regarding confidentiality agreement.. it sounds good in theory, but they must record such meetings and note what they were about. It could be misinterpreted by another person in the future and other persons (not only the specific counselor) may have access to the file now or in the future.

My advice is not to worry about something that may or may not happen. Go with the flow and see where it goes. Wait a decent amount of time and then file a chargeback before the Paypal policy on refunds ends. Normally, Paypal sides with the complainant and you will most likely get the money back since you have evidence of the guarantee. Even though you filed some private information with them for the completion of the order, that does not mean that it can be used against you at the university. Rather, I would be more worried about identity theft instead.

Don't go running to the university powers immediately, even with a confidentiality clause in place. You never know when something you did might have voided that clause. The less people who know about what you did, the better off you will be. Don't put your foot into your mouth just yet. The company won't want to blow its cover by telling the university about their work. They've got more to lose than you do. Besides, you cancelled the order like Major said so they definitely don't have anything on you since your documents will immediately negate any claims they make to your university. Intent does not equal the commission of an action. It only means you thought about doing it then changed your mind.

The rest of it might be a tougher decision; but the easy part is definitely NOT to do this:


Nothing good can come from this; only bad. So, if your reasoning is that the consequences of their finding out from the company won't be as bad if you tell them about it first, you're wrong; and they may never find out in the first place. Don't do it.

Hey everyone, I'm here with an update.

I ended up talking to a variety of parties. I talked to a non-charitable legal service which focuses on cyber crime and identity concerns, a confidential student advocacy group, a school psychology counsellor and my university's legal group for students.

All of these groups all essentially agreed on one thing: I'm technically in no violation of any university policy as I didn't submit any work that wasn't mine and thus I didn't plagarise anything. Further, if accused, I could utilise all of my actions along with the help of the student advocacy group (which specialises on academic misconduct) to fight the accusation.

Additionally, I filed a dispute with PayPal. The company sent me emails trying to intimidate me with more threats, however, the company never responded to the PayPal dispute so I ended up getting a refund. Also, I've not to had face any repercussions from the university as well.

This is definitely great to hear. I only came across this case now as I saw your posting in my checker list. The background of the problem is fascinating. Just like everyone else who mistakenly deals with companies that function outside of the legal norm, you were almost taken for a ride by these criminals. The fact that you stood your ground and sought proper legal advice is why this company will eventually stop harassing you.

It is important to understand that these blackmail writing companies really do not have a legal leg to stand on. They sell model papers, so the minute the student revises the content of the paper in any way, shape, or form, they no longer have a legal claim to make on the student. This also why the students must take the warning to heart. You are hiring writers to complete "model" papers for you. In order to prevent future blackmail threats, it is important that the paper be used in the manner that it was developed for. Change the paper. Revise it for your own protection. Do not use the paper as submitted to you for a grade. Protect yourself in any manner that you can to avoid blackmail and any possible academic misconduct accusations.

Count yourself among the lucky few who don't pay the ultimate price

I'm glad to hear it all worked out for you. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that to get your money back. It's sad that we all have to watch our backs when trying to conduct business these days. I'd like to say these creeps will eventually fade away, but that'd be wishful thinking. They're like bad pennies. ;)

This student got lucky. I hope that he learned his lesson and never tried to use an academic writing company again. Then again, there are some independent writers who would try to fleece a student one way or another. It is important to learn lessons from this particular case. The most important being, never submit identifiable data to anybody. Not to a company writer, not to an independent writer. Students must learn to protect their privacy even though they are used to oversharing information. There are times when oversharing poses a problem, as in this case. The only thing that saved this student was the fact that he did not use the paper at all. So all accusations would not have any evidence to back it up.

This is one of the major reasons why students must vet their writers very well. You cannot trust the hiring system of a company because there is never any complete information available about the company on any website. Sure you can look up reviews of the company over here, but if there are no complaints filed here, then you are out of luck. You might hire a con artist because you think that the company is on the level. be careful. Hire someone only after spending a few negotiation sessions with them. Make sure the writer is legitimate.