Scam and Blackmail - Do they have leverage?

Hello all,

Yesterday I received an email from the department for education telling me that I committed a crime by hiring a writing company. Obviously this is fake. As the picture of the lady writing this email is stolen from an amazon product.

However, I did ask for help with my dissertation. I also paid them. Then three. days in I regretted my decision and contacted the writing company to cancel

everything and told them that I want to do everything myself. Which I finally did. I never received any work from the writing company and also never submitted anything from them. All was 100% my work.

Now the writing company contacted me and telling me that the department for education contacted them and they want my details OR they will be visiting my university. At this point it was clear that they are blackmailing me. Because they also asked me if they should take care of this matter.

I blocked the person sending me the email and blocked the writing company.

The question is now - Do they have any leverage on me because I asked them and to do something for me but then cancelled everything? BTW i never received my money back.

Thanks for your help!

This is obviously made up nonsense. Just ignore it because it's laughably stupid.


If that's true, your have absolutely nothing to worry about. They can't demonstrate that they are in possession of the same work that you submitted and your email history can document that they never actually provided any work.


Perfect. Continue ignoring and blocking any new contact from them. So far, you've
done everything right, except for not checking them out first, before using them.

You and anybody in your position should contact law enforcement through these US/UK links:
ic3.gov/Home/ComplaintChoice
actionfraud.police.uk/how-to-report-fraud

Before you go, please name the company right here to help other students avoid being victimized by them.

@klaqwaq

Just continue to ignore them. They are bluffing and you never submitted the essay anyway. They have no leverage to use against you. There is plenty of sound, impartial, advice from @noted and me about the steps you and others in similar predicaments should take.

Not sure where you are studying, but you could try AI to help you in the future.

thank you for your fast answers! i sent them my assignment brief in the beginning. can that get me in trouble?

Not if you never submitted any of their work or used their research in your own submission.

No, I never received anything from them and all the research and work is 100% my own.

what would be worst case if they contacted my uni and tell them that i asked them for help?

@klaqwaq

No need to panic. You thought about it and changed your mind. The work you submitted was 100% your own.

ok thank you all! :)

@klaqwaq
If you've encountered a dubious writing company and are facing unsettling emails, it's vital to protect yourself. Consider visiting this site for trustworthy writers who can genuinely assist you. Advice others of the same. The questionable company's threats may not have legal grounds, especially if you canceled your request and didn't submit any of their work. Seek support from trusted writers to ensure your academic success and avoid potentially harmful situations.

@klaqwaq

Actually don't seek support from writers, trusted or otherwise, if you are breaking the law by getting them to write your essay.
Look at using AI.

I didnt want to rely on anyone else thats why I canceled everything and did it all by myself. Also there wasn't even the chance to submit anything from them because i never received anything from them.

@klaqwaq
You have done everything properly. There is no need to panic because the work you submitted was your own. Believe me, they will not go to your university to report anything knowing that they have no evidence to present in support of their claims. I agree with @a1writer, do not listen to the other writers at this forum who are only actively participating in threads to help with their self promotion. They can lead you astray and cause you to end up in academic trouble in the future. You should definitely look into using AI for your future work. You can use that as a template for your own work, allowing you to insert the necessary citations where needed. You will still have done the writing yourself, universities and colleges around the world are relaxing their AI usage rules in classrooms so you should ask about your school policy so you can use AI to your full academic advantage.