How to identify a fraudulent private writer?

I found some research writers and freelancers on different sites. They all claim to be US-based or from UK. How I can make sure they are legit? All I have is their name and email address. But that could be easily changed by them. I know I can check email location by IP, but most of them use @gmail which hides their country's true location address.

Should I stop doing business with writers who use @gmail account? Or is there any other way to make sure I don't deal with an African fraudster who claims to be a US-based writer? Is there a way to view the real IP of @gmail account user? What are a typical student's best options to be safe?

Thank you.

Yes! Those people are completely anonymous, almost exclusively foreign/ESL, and almost always fraudulent. They have nothing to lose and no reputation to protect. NEVER do business with ANYONE who does not use an email address from an established "essay Web site" that he/she owns or represents.

AVOID:

@gmail
@yahoo
@hotmail
etc.

Thank you; that's what I thought.

That's a ridiculous generalization. Web-based email address do not signal a fraudulent writer and they also do not necessarily signal non-native English speakers.

Customers need fraud-detection skills better than just ruling out gmail, yahoo, etc.

Go back and forth with the writer in emails, feel them out, see how good their response time is, and what kinds of questions they ask.

Not all legitimate writers are going to maintain their own website domain.

And besides, it's cheap and easy to set up a Website and receive a personal domain name.

Anyone can and does do it, and fraudsters can easily appear legit.

Yeah, OK, Mr. Three Posts. I have been here since April of 2007. I've seen, read, and heard it all. I know the patterns of behavior in this industry. Tell me, genius-did I ever type "all"? No, I didn't, so get a grip. Just because YOU use such an address and may or may not be a scammer does NOT mean that my advice is not sound. There is FAR greater risk in employing some anonymous writer with a gmail address than there is in hiring an established company with a reputation to uphold.

I couldn't agree more. Another thing is the stupid topic this person has posted here. Legit writers (far too many) use Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail, addresses. Even people of repute from all countries do so.

The point is this is a silly topic. The one who is out to scam will scam either they use legit-sounding websites/emails or Gmail. Those who are honest will remain as such!

you have no comeback against independent writers. If things go wrong and you want your money back all the writer can do is just ignore your emails

@Manal15 Actually, independent writers who value their clients and also look out for the integrity of their name in the business will have some sort of agreement with their clients regarding various writing concerns. It is extremely insulting of you to claim that there is no recourse for clients who do not use academic outsourcing companies.

Perhaps you only work for a writing company so you do not have to worry about taking care of your name and reputation in this business. After all, when one is attached to the company, the mud gets slung directly onto the company face, not the writer's. Independent writers have a high degree of self-respect and acknowledge that if they mess up their deals, they may never work in this industry again. Which is why they are very careful about the deals that they make and the quality of their work. To judge a writer based on his email address or the idea that there is no comeback if something goes wrong is just not proper.

Deals are made in an independent setting and a comeback is set into place depending upon the agreement between the writer and client.

A decent person running a reputable business will not use a freemail account such as gmail. Not even when first starting the business. In order to have a professional image, one must have a domain name related email account. That may be considered a business email account. Although, there are some businesses that use their internet service provided free email account for business purposes.

I have no problem with writers who use ISP provided email accounts because those still show a semblance of professionalism and offers the possibility of a domain related email address in the future.

Personally, I would be weary of writers who use free email addresses because any Tom, Dick, or Harry can get his hands on one. It does not prove the person is running a legitimate business. It is something that should have a student thinking twice about hiring the writer or company. Google itself has been cracking down on businesses that use their free gmail accounts because of the problems arising from business dealings under those addresses. Now, if the writer or company is using a paid gmail business email address, then that is a different story.

That's just a load of bull, and you know it. Two of the most reputable writers on this forum and I daresay in the industry both use free mail accounts. Most, if not all other writers who are legitimate also use such emails. Companies are a different story. All you need to do is look at the recommended section (which you vehemently refer to in many of your posts by the way) and realize that every single writer there has a free mail account. Hmh, makes you wonder.

There are certainly writers who scam students and also use free email accounts. But then again, there are companies which use paid email accounts and have flashy sites and also scam students. Should we infer from this that all companies are scams and students be vary of any company with a professional website? Give me a break

Freelance writers can still use free email accounts. I can't comprehend what is the issue with it. I, personally, still use my own free email account as my working account. This is simply because I already have clients who can contact me only directly through the account. I don't think that an individual's legitimacy can be simply based off their email address. What you can always do is watch out for the red flags. If a writer provides testimony from others regarding the quality of their service, do your own research as well. If someone is asking too high or low of a price, have second doubts regarding the service being offered. This is all truly about finding out on your own. And, sad to say, you will only truly find out once you avail of the service itself.

For anybody who has already stumbled across this forum, all you have to do is check to see how long any particular writer has been here without any complaints. You can also use the search function here to review any writer's history; but remember to change the default "Titles" to "Messages" so your results aren't limited just to the titles of threads.

It seems to me that it is necessary to work with the checked services. Who have extensive experience, reputation, real reviews. And there is a possibility after payment, or do not need to immediately pay the full amount.

Assuming this is what you meant to suggest, I know of no legitimate writer with extensive experience and a well-established reputation and real reviews who accepts payment for anything after delivery or who agrees to anything less than payment in full at the time you order a project. Most of us don't require you to pay for a long project in advance if you only want to order one section at a time, but whatever section(s) you order must always be paid in advance in full.

It is likely that you are right. Now I see the rating services for writing essays and other kinds of writing and really, all require payment in advance. In this case, it really seems to me that it is not necessary to pay all the work at once. You're right.

The problem is that many customers procrastinate so long before ordering long projects that they don't leave themselves enough time to order them in multiple sections. They often contact us only two or three days before their due date. If they've already used the writer before, the only consequences of procrastination are a higher price than they'd have had to pay for a longer deadline and (if it's the height of our busy seasons) our possibly not being able to squeeze it in by their deadline. If they've never used the particular writer or company before, they're putting themselves in the position of having no choice but to trust that the writer or company is legitimate and capable of providing the work quality they need. That's never the fault of the writer and it's simply not appropriate to expect us to take any risk of not being fully paid because someone we don't know waited too long to test us out before ordering a large prepaid project. The operative phrase is "your procrastination is not my emergency."

This so true! When using a writer or company for the first time, it's vital to have enough time to work on part of a project or a smaller project to see their quality before going all in.

In response to the OP's concern over Gmail addresses, it varies, I suppose. I use Gmail because it's convenient and can be linked to all of Google's other features. I can schedule projects from my inbox using the calendar app, set reminders, take notes when researching, share files with clients, etc. However, that's not to say that a client shouldn't be cautious regardless of whether the writer uses Gmail or a company email.

I can tell you how many times this has happened already even for my case. I've handled so many clients who, on the last minute, suddenly want to drop a multitude of revisions and/or changes that are needed to be done. Clients have to understand that making quality papers cannot be achieved within short time frames, especially if you're working with complex subjects.

I would raise a red flag on any writer who keeps on probing for personal information before accepting an order. If he asks for more than your payment details and insists on your student username and password, pull back and reconsider hiring that writer. If he asks you to provide a copy of your valid ID as part of your proof of payment, cancel your order. If you find that the writer is demanding more than just the required information with which to complete your order, it is more than likely that the writer is a fraud and just out to blackmail you.