Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Original poster
flopsyandjim · 08/03/2021 19:57

yes there is someone above the tutor but I'm not sure I trust anyone tbh and not sure I'd get a better response. I'm really upset about this. I'm not a cheat, I've never been a cheat, I don't even need this qualification, its a stupid wee time filler, so why would I cheat on it??

OP posts:
FortunesFave · 08/03/2021 19:59

@flopsyandjim

yes there is someone above the tutor but I'm not sure I trust anyone tbh and not sure I'd get a better response. I'm really upset about this. I'm not a cheat, I've never been a cheat, I don't even need this qualification, its a stupid wee time filler, so why would I cheat on it??
You have to report what's happened to someone above the tutor in order to protect yourself.

The tutor obviously hasn't a clue...he's ridiculous to suggest you could remove it.

There's no reason not to trust someone in the university! Just tell them what's happened so you're backed up if the tutor decides to take this further.

StellaDendrite · 08/03/2021 20:00

I haven't used any free grammar sites or anything like that, I didn't know they existed!

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?

Did you already tell the university that you hadn’t used a grammar check website? If so it might look a bit odd if you suddenly remember you had.

Have you any friends who are IT specialists? Can you find the link that you used?

ihaveallergies · 08/03/2021 20:02

Yeah, comb through your browser history

Original poster
flopsyandjim · 08/03/2021 20:02

dropbox is visible to me, my tutor and the course provider.

I submit my work to [email protected] (example obviously) who then pass it on to whoever the assessor is, so yes, I guess several people could have viewed the essays.

No one else has access to my one drive unless I share a one drive document by email but that's just the document concerned and the person I want to see it, isn't it?

I sound so un-techy don't I?

None of the websites in that article are ones I've used (apart from turnitin but not in this case)

OP posts:
ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 08/03/2021 20:03

You have to report what's happened to someone above the tutor in order to protect yourself.

This^

Speak to your course/convenor leader and the Student Representative Council or similar.

Original poster
flopsyandjim · 08/03/2021 20:04

sorry there seems to be some confusion

I work at a university

the course is not through the university, or any university

OP posts:
nitsandwormsdodger · 08/03/2021 20:05

Maybe the university had been hacked which is a serious breach of their GDPR

Just speak to them you sound convincing here and the most convincing argument is why cheat on a qualification you did just for fun

FortunesFave · 08/03/2021 20:07

@flopsyandjim

sorry there seems to be some confusion

I work at a university

the course is not through the university, or any university

Ah! So it's all remote, the course? Can you share the name of the institution here? Is it a big one?
HotPenguin · 08/03/2021 20:10

Does the website where your essay has been uploaded give a date at all? That could help you figure out when the essay was taken. It's surely not impossible it happened through Grammarly, as any site can be backed, and Grammarly would be an ideal place to go of you were looking for essays. Much more likely than hacking your email or OneDrive IMO.

B3ttyBoop · 08/03/2021 20:13

Just to clarify: is your tutor accusing you of buying an essay or selling one?

If hackers are making money passing over college work to plagiarism sites, it makes more sense for them to target the college.

Does your tutor have a college based email address? Is your gmail linked to all your social media? If so, they've probably hacked the college emails or servers, obtained the college work, got students email addresses and cross referenced for social media info.

I'd be surprised if you're the only person affected. If it turns out it is a singular case and only your essay has been used then i'd be getting very suspicious....

iwantavuvezela · 08/03/2021 20:15

OP can you not ask the IT dept where you work to look at this for you - I know it’s not through your university but hopefully someone who is tech savvy can find out what has happened - it’s important to get to the bottom of it and you need someone more expert to assist you.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 08/03/2021 20:19

@flopsyandjim

sorry there seems to be some confusion

I work at a university

the course is not through the university, or any university

Yeah, but they could help you. It would be for their beenfit too tbh.
Original poster
flopsyandjim · 08/03/2021 20:20

its a very well known industry body. You can't work in that field without doing one of their qualifications. I am doing the lowest level, the A level equivalent. As I said above, I'm doing it for fun. Not really fussed about working in that field and it was discounted for disabled people like me.

Good point about checking upload dates. I will do that.

I use the same email address for all my social media accounts (my gmail email address)

I am being accused of putting my essays on a cheating website. Tutor didn't mention selling them. The site in question does not appear to pay for essays, you can just upload them, so again, why would I bother doing that? whats in it for me?

OP posts:
MRex · 08/03/2021 20:25

What a horrid situation, I'm so sorry you're going through this. I agree you need help from the University as well as the course provider company. This SHOULD matter to both, a lot. Stealing an essay is common with hacking, but using your real name and photo strikes me as very unusual. It's like they wanted it to be traced, right? There's no reason for hackers to need your real name and real photo to sell the essay. That suggests it's more likely to have been sold by someone at the course provider, so hunting for hackers may be pointless if that avenue hasn't been explored by the course provider. You need the University involved because they will be on your side and it protects you against whoever did this trying to cause further problems for you. It may also suit the University to issue cease and desist letters to the site in the USA because you are their employee. If needed, it might also be interesting to get involved with a class action for copyright infringement (you need to search the company name). Good luck.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 08/03/2021 20:31

@MRex has a very good point about how odd it is to use your pic from social media and real name on stolen essays.

QueenOfCatan · 08/03/2021 20:35

I agree with MRex, the fact that your image is on there too suggests that somebody is trying to get you in trouble and they're being bloody stupid about it, they would have more success uploading the essays with a false name and picture so that it looks like you're trying to hide it, not putting your own personal info on there. I'd suspect it's somebody trying to discredit you.

forinborin · 08/03/2021 20:36

[quote SchrodingersImmigrant]@MRex has a very good point about how odd it is to use your pic from social media and real name on stolen essays.[/quote]
This could happen if one of the standard authentication methods used somewhere (e.g. login with facebook).

Original poster
flopsyandjim · 08/03/2021 20:37

that does worry me. the fact it looks like me doing it, but it isn't!

How can I convince the tutor and course provider under these circumstances??

My name is on all my assignments though so that's why, but my photo??

OP posts:
Original poster
flopsyandjim · 08/03/2021 20:37

that's it! I log in with facebook pretty much everywhere e.g. mumsnet

OP posts:
Whatflavourjellybabyisnice · 08/03/2021 20:40

This must be really hard for you, OP. I hope it all gets sorted out for you

MRex · 08/03/2021 20:40

Both the course provider and the University will have IT teams, who can be tasked with helping you. If it were me, I wouldn't try to do this on my own, I would be loudly ensuring that experts help.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 08/03/2021 20:42

Ah. @forinborin got it probably.

You should write everything you know in an email and ask for assistance from your employer (it doesn't look good for them too, doesn't it) and the course provider. I wouldn't mention you may have been hacked. You have no absolute proof and it would just make them wave you off saying it's your problem

Cherrysoup · 08/03/2021 20:44

A friend’s very niche essay for her degree scored hits for plagiarism because she had to use quotes someone else used, very narrow field. She explained, they withdrew the accusations. Speak to your tutor, ask them to check security on their Dropbox/email. They need to do some work on their end to ensure work hasn’t been lifted from them, which seems more likely than your end.

Batinhernightdress · 08/03/2021 20:44

Apologies for needing clarification, but you are in trouble for sharing your essays (is it only your new a level course essays that are on there)
It seems strange having a photo if not selling the essays. I was in a desperate spot a few years ago and wrote (and got paid) for such essay and the more information you gave about yourself the more work you were given.

Swipe left for the next trending thread