Unfortunately, it's too late to help Kate avoid doing just about everything that nobody should ever do and from doing the exact opposite. You should name the company right here to help warn other potential victims. For the benefit of other students reading this before making those same mistakes:
Hello, I recently used a website online to complete an assignment for my university, they contacted me on whatsapp,
Ignore and immediateky block anybody who contacts you, totally unsolicited, via social media, offering you services.
they asked for a screenshot of the work submitted, and even though it sounded strange I sent it,
There's no conceivable reason that anybody would ever ask you for proof that you submitted the work other than using that information to blackmail you. If someone asks you for something that seems "strange" to you, listen to your gut. Aside from "strange," ask yourself what possible reason(s) someone might want that information from you and what could be done with it.
they texted me saying I had to pay 999$ (refounable), for the release of the copyrights
First, thee are no "fees" involved in "releasing" copyrights. Copyright automatically attaches to the work and belongs to whomever produced the work. Registering the work with the U.S. Copyright isn't necessary, costs money, and would only be done by someone who intends to retain copyright and make it easier to sue and recover damages from copyright infringers. No essay company or writer who intends to transfer copyright to customers would go through the trouble and expense of registering it, first. A writer who really intends to allow his customers to own the copyright doesn't have to
do anything (let alone spend any money) for that to happen. The only thing a writer needs to "do" to transfer copyright is communicate to you that it belongs to you (and/or include that term in his website) and then, never do anything to try to find out what his customer chooses to do with the work (or make any use of it, himself, now that the customer owns it). Nobody who demands more money for a "refundable deposit" (for anything) after you've already paid for your project is ever going to refund anything. It's obviously a scam. Just think about what someone is saying to you before you do anything: what possible legitimate reason could they have for needing your $999 only temporarily before refunding it back to you?
so I paid the other half but late so they asked me to pay more or they would contact my school
Blackmailers are never going to tell you "I'm now blackmailing you to send me money." They're always going to give you some ridiculous story to "justify" their demand. Just think about how ridiculous their justifications are before you pay them: You paid them the additional money they demanded, but because you paid it late, they're going to try to ruin your life unless you pay even more? As I explained in the last paragraph of Post #79 in the thread linked below, there's always going to be some kind of "reason" they give you about why they need more money from you. Sometimes, it's the "cost" of deleting your information from their servers (which costs nothing); other times, it's for "legal fees" to "protect" you from some external threat. The list of "reasons" they'll give is endless. The one thing thay have in common is that they're all obvious nonsense if you just take 15 seconds to think through what they're saying before you send them more money.
https://essayscam.org/forum/gt/blackmailed-money-assignment-6764/2/#msg87477 (
Post #79).
now they told me once my payment of 300 arrives, it takes a few days since it's international, they will refound me, they also asked me to send my IBAN
Once they know they have someone sufficiently gullible and/or frightened to send them money, they're not going to just stop and go away, content with the first bit of money you sent them. They're always going to try to continue milking you. That's why I've been warning people, over and over, never to send them a penny in response to demands or threats. Immediately block their email and/or # and don't even read anything that comes through from some other email or #. Just continue blocking every new means through which they contact you. That's the quickest way to get them to leave you alone. The moment you send them anything, that will only be the start of more outright threats or excuses about why they need more money from you.
I don't know what to do, they have the name of my school, what should I do? I'm desperate
Unfortunately, there's really nothing else you
can do after you've already done the exact opposite of everything that one should do. I'm sorry, but that's the truth. You can (and should) report it to law enforcement, but that has nothing to do with your school and won't help you if they're successful in reaching someone at your school who takes them seriously.
I can still take back the 300, but the other money is gone?, I'm really scared and I can't risk being expelled please help me
I'd take back the $300 and then block them and ignore any future messages that still get through. Human nature being what it is, now that they have that $300, they might be somewhat more likely to try to retaliate if you succeed in recovering that last $300 and possibly more likely to leave you alone and move on to their next victims if you don't recover that last $300. That doesn't necessarily mean that anybody at your school will take them seriously, but they're probably somewhat more likely to
try to hurt you if you recover that $300. If it were me, I'd still try to get back whatever I could
and name the company here, but those are both decisions for you to make.
Hello, I recently used a website online to complete an assignment for my university, they contacted me on whatsapp, they sent me the assignment and i submitted it, they asked for a screenshot of the work submitted, and even though it sounded strange I sent it, after I made the payment they texted me saying I had to pay 999$ (refounable), for the release of the copyrights.