I am being blackmailed by a Reddit freelancer over a bad review

Hi guys,
I hired a writer I found on Reddit. I guess I wound up giving him my personal email address and he found me on facebook and found where I go to school. Anyway, I left a negative review on Reddit because it was just plain bad writing. I spent most of the day rewriting a 9 page paper that I spent a lot of money on. These people GradeMiners.com/Doctor-my-essay have threatened to email my professor and tell them that I bought a paper from them if I don't remove my bad review within 24 hours after offering to write me a new paper for free. I don't know how they managed to find my professor. I am very concerned and scared right now. I am scared that they will extort me for money next. What should I do?

If you didn't actually use the paper they provided, there are probably no immediate academic consequences to you even if they do contact your professor.

Unlike criminal law, where the mere attempt to commit some crimes is an offense in and of itself, there's no such thing as "attempted" academic dishonesty if you didn't actually submit someone else's work for credit, even if you purchased an essay with that intention, originally.

If they're not actually extorting you for more money and/or you did use any part of their work, your smartest move to avoid having to deal with the accusation would probably be to just cut your losses and remove the bad review.

This might be your smartest move either way, because whether or not their reporting you has any immediate academic consequences, they could still simply publish all of your emails and the essay together with your name and email.

If they do that, any future prospective employer who Googles your name will find that, and unlike your school, they probably would consider that and avoid hiring you because of it, especially since they don't have to disclose to you why they didn't hire you.

If they do extort you for more money, you should contact law enforcement wherever the company is located, which, unfortunately, could be a waste of time depending on where they are, if they're outside of the U.S.

@ThrowawayPleaseNow

I agree with the prior comment that it really matters here where the writer you hired is from. If they're from the US, then it could vaguely be enforceable. However, you need to ask yourself the question of whether or not these people would actually spend so much time trying to file a case against you in your university. That would be utterly unreachable in a lot of cases, especially since the writer would also be putting their own career in essay writing (if there is one) at stake. Merely mentioning that they have written for you would automatically make them a target.

I highly recommend not being too centered in on this concern. Let this be a lesson learned at the very least. Don't hire anyone who does not show any level of competency for the field. Always double check and ask for samples. If you can, try your best to not hire someone for a lengthy 9-page paper almost immediately. Always do test runs with newer writers you intend to work with as this will ensure that they are legitimately going to provide the results that you ask for.

If they're from the US, it's not "vaguely" enforceable because blackmail and extortion are both very serious crimes. All you would have to do is call your local police and/or the local FBI field office and provide the name of the company and the emails. You may still prefer not to do that to avoid publicity linked to your name, but it has nothing to do with whether or not blackmail is an enforceable charge against a US entity.


Don't take that gamble. The creeps who run those companies can be very vindictive, and it would hardly take them much more time than sending an email. They could probably figure out who your professor is from the assignment materials, or they could go the much simpler route by looking up the Dean of Students and provide your name along with the emails, assignment details, and the project they provided.


A target for whom? The school? They're not students attending the school, so there are no consequences to them, even if they're located in the US. If they're in the US, they've already blackmailed you, which is a serious crime. However, if your main interest is simply avoiding being accused of cheating by your school, your best bet would probably be not to use the product at all and just do a better job of identifying a legitimate provider next time.

Here's one thing no student has ever tried yet. I am not sure how it might turn out for you, but if this were a Hollywood movie, you'd be admired for your honesty and given a second chance. What I mean is, come clean with your professor if you are that deathly afraid of the consequences of your actions. With any luck, your professor may take pity on you and allow you to write the paper again, this time, do it on your own. I know, its a scenario that only works on film. Who knows though, it just might work in real life. If you remove the threat through honesty, then you have nothing to fear. An admission of guilt usually tugs at the heart right? So let's hope your professor's heart isn't set in stone. The other option isn't really logical because it involves your willingness to pay an increasing amount of blackmail money to the bully you absentmindedly turned over all of your personal data to. These scammers aren't researchers, they are criminals posing as academic writers.

Guys,
Just thought I would update you all on the situation. I wound up taking down the negative review and then read up on the policies of my University regarding plagiarism. My University has a strange policy where all suspicions of plagiarism must be reported within 30 days of the submission due date, but after that time elapses the University will not take any action with regards to any kind of academic dishonesty. It's been more than 30 days since the due date so I was thinking I might just post the negative review anyway. I am really shocked at how bad the paper essay market has gotten on Reddit. It's kind of scary. Back in the day you could get a paper from someone on Reddit and there wouldn't be any problems and it was usually written by a graduate student who was strapped for cash which means it was usually well-written. The market on Reddit seems to be saturated with all kinds of scammers now. It makes me sick every time I see someone hire the same writer I hired because I know they are just going to go through the same experience I went through. Lesson learned I guess.

What do you guys think though? Should I put the review back up since the 30 days have elapsed?

That 30-day rule only applies to your university. Google results live forever. You might want to just chalk it up to experience and do a better job of vetting your next writer, because if the guy who scammed you has your name and all of your contact info, the university might not take action after 30 days, but prospective future employers who Google your name really won't care that 30+ days have passed since you hired a ghostwriter to do your college essay for you. They won't have the time or interest to investigate further to determine whether or not it's true and will simply move on to consider the next applicant on the list who doesn't have questionable Google results possibly implicating that applicant in connection with accusations of academic dishonesty. Don't jeopardize your future just for the sake of vengeance. Consider yourself lucky to have dodged that bullet and move on.