Student Scams - message is for all freelance writers

This message is for all freelance writers.

Beware of the s-bag brothers that call themselves: "Bob Hung" and "Cheuk Yin Hung" from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They used this email: chopal. I was hired to do an academic paper for them and it seems I spent several days working for free.

They will order a paper from you, submit it as their own, and after a couple of months will do a chargeback by claiming "they did not participate or authorize the transaction". I'm working on locating their school address to take appropriate action against them. If you have been scammed by them, let me know.

Thanks,

Bruce

I THINK I know these suckers. Not sure if these are their real or fake names though.

Here is the scam procedure:

1. They request a paper (usually big one - about 20 or more pages) to be completed within a couple of days.

2. The company sends them a payment link to pay (or they try to unsuccessfully pay at the time of ordering).

3. When the payment doesn't go through (most of the times it doesn't since they have incomplete numbers or don't have a correct zip/security code/address), one of them contacts the company via email and claims there was an unexpected problem with his card and asks the company's representative to charge his "brother's" credit card instead. Then he emails the "brother's" card number and expiration date to the company that ASSUMES he is a legit client who just has a problem with his card (he is nice and "helpful" throughout the process). The company that processes the cards is usually able to charge the card manually by providing the card number and expiration date ONLY (in such cases security code or even name on card are not required to successfully charge the card). After a month or so the real owner of the card disputes the charge because the credit card number was stolen.

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Bruce, I am sorry you had to go through this. I own a small freelance writing company (along with my husband) and I had to find out about these tricks the hard way too.

I am glad I discovered this site - maybe when more freelance writers and company owners start posting similar stories here, we'll be able to expose and get rid of those fraudulent people once and forever.

Lora

[Moved from]: Writer getting cheated by students

Instead of complaining abt essay companies, I am complaining about the student who took an excellent paper and paid only half the agreed amount. I waited for months for the other half and now I know, I've lost it. He is a member here, Robert Vo, of thefloppyllama@yahoo and thefloppyllama@hotmail

I'm sorry to hear this too. How do you trust people?

As I've suggested here before, the first time you use any freelance writer or essay company is a lot like the first time you use a new car mechanic. Start out with a smaller/cheaper job just in case, and once you find somene who's work you like, stick with them. Don't wait until you need a major transmission repair or a 20-page thesis to start looking for someone reliable and honest.

sorry to hear that, you must be work with pay in advance like others free writer. hope that bad experience do not affect you in look for a "new friends"

As an active academic writer, I often had first time clients coming to me with large page number orders. The reason I was able to avoid these chargeback claims was simple. I implemented a policy of "First time large orders need to come with a reference from an already existing client of my company". As such, I only worked with students whose identity and payment systems could be vouched for by their friends and classmates. After all, they would not allow their favorite writer to get scammed by their referral, that would blacklist them with me as well and they knew well enough to avoid such situations.

It sucks that we always hear about how students were scammed by writers when in reality, the writers are more often scammed by the students. Yet we do very little to get back at them and often, just chalk it up to experience.

Sad, but true. As writers, we have to implement strong policies on what we will accept and make our terms clear. I know many students will not want to (or will flat out refuse) to give us references, but we have to protect ourselves. I can't afford to provide countless hours of work for a risky client. I've learned to see the warning signs and when I do, I either refuse the order or require they pay via Western Union. I can't afford chargebacks and don't know of any writer (indie or not) who can.

Right. If anything seems sketchy to me about the person or circumstances, it's either Western Union or nothing.

I will admit that there are students who have learned to play the game just as the scamming writers do. The problem, is that the scamming students often pull their scams on unsuspecting honest writers. They are the reason why I require the equivalent of cash payments from the students. I never accept credit cards because they can always file charge back complaints. I also refuse e-checks or any form of bank payment that the student can put a stop payment order on. It is difficult but I have come up with a system that keeps both the students and I happy when it comes to payment collection. My system is basically cash upon delivery of the paper, a variation thereof. So far, the students haven't complained, my writers are happy, and I have managed to avoid refund issues based simply on a student's whim or desire to get a free paper. I have trained my staff and the writers to identify potential refund clients. They inform me of the potential problem student and I cancel the order on my end, just to avoid being scammed by students.

The rise of digital payments has made it quite difficult to implement the equivalent of cash payments or no refund policies on orders since the payment companies have refund policies in place for all their clients. All writers can do at this point is contest the refund once the claim comes to their attention. While it is difficult to prove that we actually delivered the service that was paid for, there are instances when the refund is not provided once the evidence required by the payment channel is satisfied. The evidences required are now more fair than before so the final decision on the refund is often as fair as can be.