Being asked for more money after paying 800 pounds for a thesis. Urgent help needed.

I took an academic thesis writing services, now that the thesis is submitted they contacted me 2 days ago stating that the expert writers have left the company and they are threatening the students to give their name to the university.

They also mentioned that don't worry our legal team is in place you will have to prepare a NDA document and Copy right certificate which will cost you 1699 pounds and everything will be sorted. They pushed me too much stating that your career is at risk, if you don't pay then you would have to pay a greater fine by department of education .

So somehow I convinced them to for 800 pounds (very stupid of me). Later when I constantly asked for he documents they said that the team has left for the day they will be in touch with you from Monday. Today morning i get an message that the lawyer is asking for 2000pounds to sign the NDA and the copyright certificate otherwise the documents will be baseless. They also told me this money will go for removing my data from all the portals and their database.

I asked them to email me everything that they are saying so that I have the proof but they denied stating the gravity of this situation is very sensitive. they aren't even letting me speak with the CEO/ head of the management of the company as i would need a prior appointment since they are very busy.

Now they have given me 2 hours to send them 2000 pounds. Need legal advice and help.

It looks you're dealing with Kenyan fraudsters. What is their website? Stop communicating with them. You can say your account was hacked if you really are out of options (but it's always best to tell the truth if that can save you). Don't pay them any money. Never reply to their emails or phone calls.

Btw - they have no "CEO." Pretty sure it's one scammer using different emails / fake names.

Its a UK based company called - UKTopdissertation. When i asked them to have a call with the lawyers and give me their company registration documents they told it will only be given after payment. They weren't ready to give in even the basic details and kept scaring me that the expert writers are on the verge on informing the university you study in.

It's a foreign scam ring. They operate via ukthesishelp.co.uk, ukresearchexpert.co.uk, uktopdissertation.co.uk among others.

They are not UK based. All names and addresses on their sites are fake.

They have no "lawyer;" as I mentioned, it's the same scammer who uses different emails and fake names to contact you.

Cease communicating with them. Pay them nothing. Even if you pay them 100K, they will still harass you. Writers have nothing to do with the scam; they use the good-bad cop drama to scare you.

Look at their website; just because they wrote "London UK" it doesn't mean they are from London UK. You'd find them closer to Nairobi, Kenya.

Should I delete all the conversations or keep them in SPAM. Also the thesis I submitted was slightly edited by me to reduce the plagiarism percentage. Few paraghraphs in them were changed. Will it help my case incase the university contacts me?

Also should I inform about this to any law enforcement or any legal department from my university?

I'd not delete it; you may need it.

You should know better what to do, I don't give you legal advice here. Personally, I'd wait and do nothing for at least a couple of days. You can expect more scam threats, but I'd do nothing at this point. Perhaps experienced people here will give you their advice too.

Thank you for responding though. I only recently came across this website and realised that this has occurred to many others. I so stressed and on the verge of paying extra before I started to do some research.

If there is anyone else who has an experience or expertise in this please respond on this thread. Thanks!

All of your questions and concerns are fully addressed in several other threads, most of which appear directly below this new thread right on the forum main page; so, you really should just read them first, instead of waiting for new responses to (many of the identical) questions in your new thread. Instead of retyping the same info that I've already provided so many times, here's a partial list of some posts that address your questions and concerns directly:

https://essayscam.org/forum/gt/extortion-help-email-school-6859/#msg87606 (Post #2)
https://essayscam.org/forum/gt/blackmail-leverage-6878/#msg87601 (Post #2)
https://essayscam.org/forum/es/scammers-trying-project-completely-own-6864/#msg87566 (Post #2)
https://essayscam.org/forum/es/scammed-blackmailed-myperfectpaper-6877/#msg87561 (Post #2 & Post #5)
https://essayscam.org/forum/gt/exam-maker-help-6860/#msg87553 (Post #3)
https://essayscam.org/forum/gt/blackmailed-dissertation-company-6865/#msg87549 (Post #2)
https://essayscam.org/forum/gt/getting-blackmails-assignment-writer-6863/#msg87516 (Post #2)


Reducing the plagiarism "percentage" only affects an automated plagiarism scan. In the unlikely case that you're actually accused of cheating by your institution, the "percentage" is all but irrelevant if they have evidence that you submitted work written by anybody else. In fact, even if you wrote the entire project yourself and the plagiarism score is zero, you'd still have the same problem if the only thing they knew you did was pay someone else to do your research for you.


You should use one of the two links I provided (several times) in those other threads to report it to the appropriate authorities corresponding to your location, but that will only help other future potential victims and probably won't do anything as far as helping you recover your money. As I explained several times, absolutely the LAST thing that you (or anybody else in a similar situation) should ever even consider doing is contacting your institution for help. That's like shooting yourself first because a blackmailer is threatening to shoot you. Luckily, their threats are almost always just bluffs and academic institutions will almost always completely ignore any contact from anybody outside the institution purporting to report cheating by a student. There's really only one important exception to that general characterization, but I'm not going to post that publicly, because it would help (only) potential blackmailers.

@Freelancewriter
Thank your for responding, I feel slightly relieved by reading all the information that you've given people.

I blocked all of them and today morning I got this email.

SUBJECT : Warning - Academic Misconduct
Hi XXX,

Hope you find this email in good health.

You have submitted our Dissertation and we do have the Turnitin report to claim the copyrights and you have paid the amount of 800 GBP which is for the legal documentation in which you will be getting an NDA (Non- Disclosure Agreement) and copyrights Certificate and your name will be mention over there under the Legalisation and the Attestation of our Company Lawyer. Now you have made your case worst by blocking our number so we have decided to share an E-mail with the Department of Education and XXX University and if they verify your details then you will be carrying Academic Misconduct along with the red exist on your Passport so you cannot take admission in any University all over the world. So you have only 12 hours to respond us back but if you didn't unblock our company number you will be in a big trouble so we just need your cooperation and we are just trying to help you out instead of getting this to the worst side.

Your immediate attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

@Pep123

Sorry that I missed your post and I would like to offer you advice as a British citizen who understands the British higher education system.

Firstly, @formerstudent has given excellent advice. You can read numerous posts from @noted and me on this forum all offering similar advice without seeking publicity, since we are no longer active writers.

Unfortunately @freelancewriter, an American writer, seems to think it is fine if you use a writing service to undertake research for you. He does not understand English law or grammar (using 'queue' instead of 'cue'). The Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022 makes it illegal for anyone to even advertise essay writing services, much less actually writing anything. Students may try and argue the writing is for personal use only, but in most cases this is untrue.

You can report blackmailing emails to report@phishing.gov.uk.
Do not reply to the latest email you have received. Why don't you block them from your email address too? The National Cyber Security Centre advises not to pay any ranson: 'If you pay the ransom, you might be targeted with more scams, as the criminal will know their previous scam worked'.

I hope this advice has reassured you that you are dealing with scammers. You do need to block them from all methods of communication with you.

Hello,

Again, thank you for responding.

Do you think it's viable to tell them about the 'The Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022 makes it illegal' because it might aggregate them to take action and anonymously inform the university as I'm going against them.

For now I've put the emails I knew in Spam. The email I got this morning was from a new email ID.
I shall block them instead of spam

Also do you think I should inform phishing UK right now and get into the legal stuff or wait for my results and then act out

@Pep123

You can inform them about the blackmailing now, no need to wait for your results.
As the company are unscrupulous scammers, there is nothing to be gained by telling them they are commiting a criminal act.

They are sending me further messages from different numbers

Hello XXX,
Hope you're doing well!
This is to inform you that you've blocked our number and you're trying to be over smart that if you will block our number so we won't reach you again. Our experts just claimed for their copyrights to the XXX University now they're in a conversation now they're asking for your complete details and the evidences against you so we do have your chats, Emails, Payment receipts, & Submitted Dissertation Turnitin report so we can share all the evidences with them you've only 6 hours to respond us back as the university was pressuring us to share your details.

Kind regards,
Compliance Manager
XXXX

@awriter
I also fear that if I complain about the blackmailing now then they will actually release all my data to the university.

@Pep123

Just keep blocking them. They will eventually give up.
Just checked their website where they are offering a 50% reduction on the first order anyone places. This is clearly a scam as no self-respecting legitimate essay writing company would offer such a massive reduction.

Why/how did you disclose the identity of your university to them?
Wait until you get your results if you prefer, but most UK universities can still take action retrospectively, including rescinding qualifications.

They had asked me to give the university guidelines and marking scheme for the thesis, so I was stupid enough to send them that. Back then I didn't realise this would happen. The 50% off recently started on their website, it wasn't there when I had availed the service. But clearly after reading so many threads here I realised this huge scam ring.

Either ways I am really scared on how to deal with the university incase they inform about me using external services. If you know students who have gone through the same, I'd like to know how they handled it with the university.

@Pep123

I doubt a university will act on anonymous tip offs. The company would have to divulge its identity whereupon the university will report it to the British authorities to take action.

Other students in similar situations have always 'owned up' when confronted by their respective universities. Action taken has varied and that is all I'm prepared to say about it on a public forum. Might be best to do nothing unless or until your University confronts you.

Whatever happens do not engage with the company and certainly don't pay them another penny.

@a1writer

Thank you for your support. I will keep updating if there is any further action taken place from the company so that others can be aware as well.

Universities do not, as a rule, act on anonymous tip offs. They only take action once the university professor indicates a suspicion of plagiarism or contract cheating. That is because the build up of evidence is given to the professor. He must prove plagiarism or cheating beyond a doubt for the academic authorities of the university to take action. The student is, of course, given a chance to defend himself in such instances. These are not the sort of investigations that can happen merely on the say so or tip off from an unknown source. Universities do not function in such a silly manner. I have yet to hear of a university that acted on a mere unsolicited smear email that came into their inbox. This student has nothing to worry about like you said.

So, you paid 800 Pounds to cheat your university and society by defrauding them, because you're not capable or willing to write your own thesis/dissertation? You're like a thief complaining that after he robbed a jewelry store, a gang of thieves stole all his jewelry. I say, you got what you deserved. Everyone here who cheats their universities cheats all of us, society included. You don't have the talent to succeed so you are trying to cheat your way through. I have no sympathy for you. You got what you had coming. You should be booted out of whatever college you are attempting to defraud, and never allowed into any college or university again. People who do what you do make me sick.

@Writerdan49 You are the boy who cried wolf. Nobody will listen to you at this forum. You are the fool in this scenario. You do not even understand what we are trying to do at this forum, which is protect the students and help them realize that hiring writers is a risky thing to do and that it should only be done within proper guidelines. There is no reason for you to wish ill things on the students whose only desire is to get help in meeting their academic requirements. What's your problem? Are you a disgruntled writer or you simply wish to troll this board? It is the season for trolling anyway. You will probably be gone in the New Year, to which I say, good riddance.