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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

I've been accused of cheating on a course

188 replies

flopsyandjim · 08/03/2021 18:32

Apologies if this is long but I don't want to drip feed and I swear what I am saying is the truth.

For background: I am a disabled person. I have multiple disabilities both physical and mental - I have ptsd and have been suicidal in the past.

Despite my disabilities, I have achieved a Cert HE, a BA, a PgD, a MSC and I plan to do a PHD in the future.

I have always been employed and I did these courses distance learning or part time. I am currently employed in a university - this is relevant.

During lockdown, I did several upskilling modules to keep me busy if I wasn't able to go to the gym etc. I also enrolled in a online A level course and got a grant for the cost of this due to my disabilities.

I have had a lot of problems with this course due to its inaccessibility eg I am visually impaired and have highlighted these issues repeatedly to little change. I failed some assignments first time around and I am working on resubmissions. I have regular talks with other students and some of them are not happy. There are no exams, just written assignments.

Well I've now been contacted by one of the A level course tutors to say that my essays have been found on a cheating essay website alongside my picture as my profile picture.

I've never heard of this website before today. I went to have a look and there are some of my essays on there (do not know how they got them) alongside several lesson plans for such as "how to learn English" (which are not my work at all). It also has me registered as studying in India (which I never have).

I told the tutor that this is not my account and I have no idea how the essays got there. I have never shared my essays with any one other than my tutors.

He says I need to get them taken off or there could be serious repercussions. I cannot get them off if it is not my account. I have tried contacting the site to ask for them to be removed but their FAQs say they don't remove content once uploaded?

I am terrified. Whilst I don't care if I get kicked off the A level course (even though I'm innocent), I am worried about what implications this could have for me in other areas. Could my work find out? Could it affect my hopes of doing a PHD?

On that basis, all my assignments for my degree and postgrad courses had to go through turnitin and never did any issues come up. I got Merit and Distinction passes.

Why would I cheat on an A level course I don't even really need? Why?

I am terrified about what this could mean for me and also worry that other students on the course could be impacted. I am honestly innocent and I'm trying to get it resolved. I've changed all my passwords in case of a computer or email hack. I don't know what else I can do. Help and advice very much welcome, especially from those with experience of something like this. Sorry for the length.

OP posts:

RaspberryCoulis · 08/03/2021 19:19

You mentioned you work for a university. Is there someone at your work who could help get to the bottom of this/get your content off the website - someone who deals with academic copyright or legal stuff?

I would bet my bottom dollar this website is based in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh or somewhere similarly out of the reach of UK copyright. They won't take it down

HoneysuckIejasmine · 08/03/2021 19:21

Can you access a history of your document on your computer? Prove when you started writing it, show the edit dates? And therefore show you saved the final copy before the website published it?

ihaveallergies · 08/03/2021 19:22

If you really can’t get them to remove your content, I’d go the other way and name and shame them on social media. Tell the world that they’re risking your degree and career

ihaveallergies · 08/03/2021 19:23

For a genuine mistake, surely your uni could just give you a brand new essay question to test your merits

Original poster

flopsyandjim · 08/03/2021 19:23

I will check where the essay website is based

I have just remembered I have used grammarly, but that's a reputable site, isn't it? Surely that couldn't be the source off the hack?

maybe my email could have been hacked. I am going to change all passwords.

I only have the one tutor.

No, I haven't been told what the repercussions are yet.

OP posts:

FortunesFave · 08/03/2021 19:25

What is a "Cheating Website"? Is it somewhere people share their work for others to copy?

Also, you need to speak to someone higher up than this tutor who is being ridiculously unhelpful.

forinborin · 08/03/2021 19:26

I have just remembered I have used grammarly, but that's a reputable site, isn't it? Surely that couldn't be the source off the hack?
Grammarly itself must be OK, but there are many sites looking very very similar to grammarly.

forinborin · 08/03/2021 19:30

It is very unlikely that your email or the cloud drive was hacked for this information. I mean, it is technically possible, but a student's email is unlikely to be targeted on the off chance that there's anything sellable to be found in that mailbox.
It is either malicious action by someone, or some online service you used.

Diverseopinions · 08/03/2021 19:31

I'd be inclined to go to admin and say you might want your fees refunded as you think your security has been compromised somehow in their system, and that they have allowed your essay and photo to be illegally lifted. They might have put you in a very compromising position, you can say. I think sometimes people working on the admin side tend to have more time and a logical/ practical skills for searching - as this is really an admin issue of how your essay got where it did.

If you really get no joy, this is the sort of issue the Times Educational Supplement might be interested in as a story, as it affects, as you say, more and more students . They might want to run an article and investigate further on your behalf.

MouseholeCat · 08/03/2021 19:32

Enter the emails that you use on this website. It will tell you whether your credentials have been part of any major data breaches, you might turn up one of the sites where your essay is stored:
haveibeenpwned.com/

It might be worth getting a good virus scanner and checking that your laptop is secure. Because they have your profile picture, this could potentially turn something up.

Do you have two-factor authentication set up on all of your email accounts? If not, set that up. It will prevent people who have your credentials (via phishing or other means) from being able to login.

What is your email client? One thing to check is whether your email is or has been logged in on other devices.

Did you ask the website about whether they close fraudulent accounts?

Original poster

flopsyandjim · 08/03/2021 19:32

the essay website is located in america, have just checked

yes the tutor said my stuff has been seen on this website, can I explain urgently why? to which I replied, I had no idea what he is talking about, have never heard of that site, no idea how my work got on there.

He then replied, I am going out now but get them off or there will be serious repercussions.

OP posts:

B3ttyBoop · 08/03/2021 19:32

Ugh that's grim, OP. Do you know where they could've got the photo? is it one on your social media? Or is it one linked to the college? Is there an upload date/time on the plagiarism site and do you have your essay submission time/date?

GivenchyDahhling · 08/03/2021 19:37

Did your essay go through Turnitin or similar when you submitted it and that’s what highlighted this website? Because if not then I would be very suspicious that the tutor just happened to have stumbled across it on some essay cheating website.

Elleherd · 08/03/2021 19:39

As you're working in a university: I'm given to believe all universities have a copywrite bod for their own purposes. They are likely to be expert in the wording of cease and desist notices that actually get noticed. In your situation I'd be seeking them out and picking their brains and seeing if I could get some help from them.

FortunesFave · 08/03/2021 19:40

@flopsyandjim

the essay website is located in america, have just checked

He then replied, I am going out now but get them off or there will be serious repercussions.

Contact someone above the tutor...I don't know how unis work any more, it's been a long time! But there must be someone you can contact and inform them of this. The tutor sounds stupid. How does he expect you to remove content from someone else's site ffs.

GivenchyDahhling · 08/03/2021 19:41

Also, just with regards to your worries about work/future PhD - I think there is a possibility that you could be asked/need to declare “academic misconduct” (although I really am not at all an expert on this, just a vague memory of applying for courses in the past). However, this would have to be a categoric finding of misconduct in some way and you would definitely fight your case here. Like you said, it’s not like you’ve been accused of plagiarism; the accusation is you’re helping other to plagiarise.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 08/03/2021 19:42

Agree with pps. I would go above the tutor because that's not ok. It sounds like they just think you put that essays there.

TellingBone · 08/03/2021 19:47

Can you answer the question about the photo?

FortunesFave · 08/03/2021 19:48

@TellingBone

Can you answer the question about the photo?

Maybe repeat it. OP is probably stressed and hasn't ready every comment.

Elieza · 08/03/2021 19:51

Could your dd have had something to do with this? Perhaps she’s decided to make herself a bit of cash selling your work?

Is the photo one she’d have easy access to? Have a look at the search history on your laptop - prior to when you were searching?

Original poster

flopsyandjim · 08/03/2021 19:54

nothing coming up on that pawned wesbite.

I use gmail

I have also used turnitin in the past but for this A level all you do is upload to dropbox and share with your tutor through there.

Sorry I have a tutor for the course,, for tutorials and guidance and someone else marks the assignments. The first tutor is the one who contacted me about the cheating website and wasn't very nice about it really.

The photo is on all of my social media. My social media is private but the photo was previously my FB profile pic.

OP posts:

FortunesFave · 08/03/2021 19:55

Do you know who you could contact who is above the tutor?

Original poster

flopsyandjim · 08/03/2021 19:55

DD is only 13. She's never used my laptop nor has DH. I only mentioned them as they are the only ones in the house where the laptop is! I've checked history and nothing there other than sites I looked at myself.

OP posts:

forinborin · 08/03/2021 19:55

OP, there seems to be many accounts of similar stories if you google. Is the site mentioned in the story below the one you have issues with too?

www.hercampus.com/school/stony-brook/what-i-learned-having-my-essay-stolen

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 08/03/2021 19:56

You say you have various disabilities which meant you found it hard to access the course - did you get help from someone with this (who may have had access to your work), or did you run your work through any software that might have been dodgy (free online screen reader?)

You mention you use Dropbox and OneDrive - are you certain these are visible only to you and not shared?

How did you upload your work for assessment - is it possible it was accessible by others when uploaded (eg. a shared folder)

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