I have recently ordered a paper from a site that has requested I send them a copy of the front of my bank card and a copy of photographic ID with a signature on it. I haven't done this, as when I asked them why, they said they had to prove I am who i say I am!
Also on another note, if a company states they are based in the UK, then refuses to give you their postal address or VAT reg number, or even Parent Company name - is that suspicious? I am thinking so! Please advise
WritersBeware
is that suspicious?
FRAUD!
This is not a rule....
its just to confirm your payment..
if you didnt digit your visa internet number or paypal password when paying it , it is normal to the companies (any sector) to ask for prove of identity...
Am I saying ********?
WritersBeware
if a company states they are based in the UK, then refuses to give you their postal address or VAT reg number, or even Parent Company name - is that suspicious?
I was answering THAT question.
[Moved from]:
My payment card didn't pass the fraud screening test of a writing service
Hi there,
I am new to this sort of risky experimenting. After reading the essayscam site I decided to get my last minute essay done with essay town. I am a little bit worried right now. I made my order yesterday morning. I paid with my credit card but then got an email that it didn't pass the fraud screening test. A few hours later I then sent the money via Western Union. I am not sure if I paid twice now. But what me worries more is that my order is still a "pending approval". The paper was supposed to be done by Tuesday but if they need that long to get the order processed how the hell will they be able to produce a good piece of work? My messages to the support aren't answered yet, so I thought I post here to get some feedback/help from the people from this site who work for essay town ;) ...
I don't want any negative answers please, which seem to be common on this site ...
Give me some reassuring support that I don't have to worry! ;)
Judy, be careful of what you say about essay company on this forum. People like phelyks, Freelance Writer, and WritersBeware(especially him), will rip you to shreds.
pheelyks
Slacker, you only get "ripped to shreds" if you make false accusations, and that will happen regardless of the company you make false accusations about.
Judy, unless your paper is 40+ pages, there won't be a problem writing a decent paper even if work only starts Monday night. It might take you two days to write a decent normal-length essay, but takes writers like myself and FW a few hours.
Thanks for your answer pheelyks! It's only a 10 pages paper. But could you maybe accelerate that my order gets approved? I am getting a bit nervous that nobody from the support is answering me.
pheelyks
But could you maybe accelerate that my order gets approved?
I have no influence on this process whatsoever. The only thing I do for an essay company is write.
Just to let you know ... The due date was today at 4pm. I haven't received any paper yet. The writer and the support haven't answered my messages yet :( ... I hope it will be done by tomorrow!
[Moved from]:
Identity Verification? Why do so many essay services require photocopies of credit card and IDs?
I see that many sites require photocopies of CC and IDs. Is this typical for writing services? What is the safest form of payment?
Name the sites.
superior papers.com [DND*] asked for them.
I really regret going through the whole verification process with them.... I had a terrible experience with the company and wrote about it in another thread........
I see that many sites require photocopies of CC and IDs. Is this typical for writing services? What is the safest form of payment?
I think unemployed professors just want a paypal address. I suppose if you give people your ID and complain it is a bit easier for them to find out where you are studying and threaten to expose you.
Not just one (Superior Papers from Ukraine) but there are tons of websites who ask for such verifications, thats NOT to expose students but its made mandatory by the firms on payments >$400 and its required by their billing company!
Question arises as to why do they need it?
Thats to prove to
their and you bank that the payment was verified by the student himself and so the chargeback gets reversed if the payments are verified through the mentioned verification process.
In-short a client can't do anything to get his/her money back even if the work delivered was plagiarized!
Its advisable not to go through such lengthy payment verification processes.
Mostly fraudulent organizations use such payment verification so that they can deliver poor quality and get away with it through
their and
your bank!
Writing services use a third party billing company to process transactions for them and this third party doesn't allow writing services the leverage of chargebacks due to which after a few chargebacks these writing services have to provide customer verification details to their relative third party billing company to stay in business!
This transaction reeks of data mining and fraud. Not even the most scam riddled company asks for proof of identity because the payment system that is set up through online payment channels does not require it. This is a company that you should not deal with. You must never surrender any identifying information with your order. Specially when it comes to the payment. With the increase in blackmailing of students these days, only a fool would willingly surrender such information in exchange for a written model paper. The company doesn't need proof of who you are. You are not a writer for them who might have sold his ID to someone else and now that new account owner is using the profile. There is absolutely no reason to submit any personally identifying information to them.
The fact that they cannot prove who they are says even more about what they are actually trying to do in this business. They are in it to scam students. No quality work may be expected to come out of such a company because they probably don't even have a writers pool to begin with. Run, do not walk, to the nearest exit. Avoid that company like the plague.
They ask for these proofs of identity because they are stealing your information either to blackmail you with in the future, use your identity in financial scams, or simply, to keep it on hand for some future use that they think it would be applicable to. Nothing good can come of you giving them copies of your valid ID's. In fact, it is not required in any instance when hiring a writer or an academic outsourcing company. Under no circumstances should you give these companies or people copies of the ID's. Any company or person that does that is not running a legitimate service. It would be in your best interest to disengage from such services because nothing good can come from dealing with them. You will not be at a loss for legitimate writers and companies that do not ask for personal information so you should not think twice about booting out any person or company who demands these information from you. They are up to no good and you should make your data privacy your primary concern when dealing with these companies at the payment stage.
Never give up a copy of your ID or bank account information to anybody. Most specially an unknown person on the web. That is what Paypal and other identity protective forms of payment are for. They don't need to prove who you are as long as you pay them. There is no reason for them to ask for identification unless they have a negative intention to use the information they hope you will provide. A writing service doesn't need to confirm anything with you except the deadline for your paper and the instructions for the writer. Nothing more, nothing less.
A company that cannot prove its location when asked is questionable. A truly reliable writing company registered in the UK will be able to provide their business papers when asked. Although why a potential client would ask for that is beyond me. After all, they could just make the registration papers up as well.
Generally, the only time I need customers' ID info is when they want to pay by Western Union.
I've heard of needing to verify one's identity by sending a copy of a driver's license, but to send the front and back of your bank card? No way! All a fraudster needs is your ID and bank card to go on a shopping spree and then some. I've definitely refrain from anything that is not a secure verification source. For example, employers in the traditional sense use third-party verification services that are legal and vetted. Even if you are working as a freelancer and are asked to complete a W9 or othe tax form, you still won't be asked to provide a picture ID.
Run, run, run!
I agree with the others here. A photographic ID is not a red flag, but having to provide a bank card is. There's no need for any company to have information regarding your banking details for as long as they have successfully received a payment. Ensure that your transactions are always secured at all times. It's always better to be safe than sorry.
The Western Union option also allows customers to maintain complete anonymity if they have someone willing to issue the payment for them. In that case, the only ID info the writer needs is that of whomever issued the payment.
All of the information that the company was requiring of the student indicates that the company was merely a front. A front for a company that is into data mining and quite possibly, identity theft. I have never come across a company that required the student to prove his identity during the payment process. It is not done. Not by freelancers, not by reputable companies. The OP was right not to submit the requested information. I hope that he did not proceed with the deal either. It is better to be careful with your personal data these days. If the company does not accept conduit payment services, do not hire them. They have a vested interest in getting copies of your valid ID's.
