UK Essays - Guide to Avoiding Essay Scams

Congratulations, you have already found one of the legitimate sites - www.ukessays.com

As a company with over 21 years experience in the essay writing industry, UKEssays have received extensive coverage in the press. You can view all of our press coverage here:

Press Center

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To help you decide which essay writing sites you can trust, we have prepared the following guide to help you

Scroll down to start reading or select an option from the menu below to jump directly to that section:

About us

All Answers are a genuine UK Company that you can trust.

UK Essays is a part of All Answers Ltd. Founded in 2003, All Answers Ltd. runs a portfolio of websites that deliver answers, research, and other services to students, academics, and professionals.

  • As a UK company we stringently adhere to UK consumer and privacy laws. This means, whatever service you buy from us, you are covered by the UK's consumer laws - just like any other well-known website or high-street retailer.
  • Our UK landline number is shown at the top of this website. Please give us a call, we promise you won't hear any strange ring tones and that your call will not be redirected to an overseas call center.
  • We're a registered UK company. Our company name is All Answers Limited and our company number is 4964706. Feel free to find our details at Companies House.
  • We have a UK business bank account with Revolut. The details are: Sort Code: 04-00-75, Account Number: 45815623, Account Name: All Answers Limited
  • Our prices are realistic. That's because we use professionals and we will never use ESL (English Second Language) writers. You can see our recruitment policy on our writer page.

Whether or not you choose to use our service, we urge you to protect yourself by learning how to tell the difference between a genuine website and a scam website.

What are essay scam websites?

Scam websites are out to con you - don't be their next victim.

There are three types of scam websites you should be wary of, those who:

  1. Will take your money with no intention of providing the work you have ordered
  2. Will send you poor quality writing that has been copied and pasted from the web
  3. Pretend to be UK-based but are actually foreign companies who use unqualified foreign writers

Remember, not all essay writing companies operate this way but, before you place an order, there are some simple checks you should carry out to protect yourself before buying an essay.

Top Ways to Avoid Scams

The tips below will help yu to avoid giving your money to unscrupulous operators

1. Use a genuine UK Company.

  • UK companies are subject to UK law
  • UK companies can be sued in the UK courts
  • You have more 'comeback' against UK companies if anything goes wrong

Be careful. Many companies claim to be UK-based but aren't really, so we advise running a few checks to make sure you're really dealing with a UK company. Don't be fooled by easy tricks such as the use of 'co.uk' domains - anyone can buy these.

Read the top 7 'tricks' used by scam essay companies.

UK Essays is a registered UK company and we are subject to UK Law and the jurisdiction of the UK courts.

2. Make sure they have a genuine UK landline telephone number answered by UK staff.

  • Anybody can get a UK landline number
  • These numbers can be diverted to anywhere in the world
  • Listen to the ring tone - does it sound odd or international?
  • Ask them where they're based and ask them questions about their 'local area'

Our landline number is 0115 966 7955 and we are based in Nottingham, UK. Please give us a call, we promise you won't hear any strange ring tones and your call will not be redirected to an international call center.

3. Ask them to promise (in writing) to deliver 2:1 standard the first time, on time, and with a plagiarism scan.

A genuine UK company won't mind that you insist on:

  • 2.1 standard work the first time or a full refund
  • A comprehensive, accurate plagiarism scan
  • A solid plagiarism guarantee

After all, you're paying for custom work and, under UK consumer protection law, you are entitled to get what you pay for! Don't be surprised if they reject this request of offer an excuse. There are not many companies, either foreign or based in the UK, who are willing to give these guarantees.

All of our websites offer a guaranteed standard of work, a free comprehensive plagiarism scan and a plagiarism guarantee.

4. Check their credentials at Companies House (a UK government website).

  • Deal with a registered company - they have to comply with certain legal requirements
  • Check they are listed at Companies House
  • Make sure their Company Number matches the name registered at Companies House
  • Make sure the Company is not listed as 'Dissolved' and does not have 'pending applications' (e.g. to be struck off/removed from the register)
  • Check their website complies with UK legal requirements (see 'Legal Requirements for UK Websites' below)

Tip: If the website name is listed at Companies House but you run in to difficulties with the company at a later stage, you can download a lot of useful information about them from the Companies House website. This can include the names and addresses of the directors and company secretaries and costs a small fee, approximately £1.00 per document.

Our company name is All Answers Limited and our company number is 4964706. Feel free to check us out at Companies House

5. Make sure they have a UK bank account.

  • It is very difficult for foreign companies to get UK bank accounts
  • Ask for their details: account name, sort code, account number and the name of the bank
  • Don't accept any excuses for them not giving you this information
  • Check the details are authentic - you can make a small deposit into their bank account (this only needs to be a few pence) and ask them to confirm what the amount was

Remember, don't accept any excuses for them not giving you this information as it is extremely difficult for you to misuse it. Companies have little reason to refuse to hand it over.

Our business account details are:

Revolut
Sort Code: 04-00-75
Account Number: 45815623
Account Name: All Answers Limited

6. Consider their prices - are they realistic?

  • Be aware that companies exist to make a profit, so question whether their prices are realistic
  • UK companies must pay many expenses: staff, advertising, premises, utilities, business rates, tax, VAT and much more
  • It is unlikely a company could be profitable if it paid its writers more than 30% of the total price

Ask yourself, would you complete the work for 30% of the price the website is charging? Would a professional writer? If the answer is no, then you should be on your guard, if the prices look too good to be true then they probably are (unfortunately).

Our prices are realistic because we use qualified professionals. You can see our recruitment policy here.

7. Look for genuine UK press coverage.

  • Check for press coverage on the newspaper's or TV channel's website - make sure it's genuine
  • If reporters have visited the company's offices, you'll know (at least) that it exists
  • If reporters have ordered from the website and received good work, this is an indication that you'll also receive good work

Press coverage isn't a guarantee that a website is UK-based or genuine, just as lack of press coverage doesn't mean the website will scam you. Positive press coverage is a sign that the company is likely to be genuine and likely to deliver on their promises.

You can view coverage of All Answers Ltd, dating back to our formation in 2003 in our press section.

8. Read the website carefully. Check for typos and odd expressions!

  • Foreign websites are often full of sloppy mistakes - spelling/grammar errors
  • Read the website carefully or (if English isn't your first language) get someone to check it for you
  • If the website is full of mistakes, it's likely that the work they send out will be, too

Our sites are constantly checked and modified by our qualified Quality Team - although do let us know if you spot any errors.

And that's it! We can't guarantee that if you follow these 8 steps, the website you use will give you what they promise as there are a small number of dishonest companies operating in the UK and these are much harder to spot. What we can guarantee, however, is that if you follow these 8 steps, you'll be able to identify 99.9% of foreign, dishonest, scam companies, which will save you time, money, and upset.

View samples of our academic work

To illustrate the quality and passion in our academic work we have prepared a number of samples, each written to a specific academic grade

Samples of our work

Tricks used by essay scam websites

Below is a list of the most common tricks operated by scam websites to gain access to your money and personal details

1. Foreign companies often use co.uk domain names

Remember that anyone anywhere in the world can buy a co.uk domain name. This doesn't mean you're dealing with a UK company. It takes 5 minutes to register a domain name from anywhere in the world.

Beware, you may stumble across competitors that try to imitate us but don't be fooled.

2. Foreign companies often use 'British' images

Some of the websites that appear in Google's listings for custom essays have UK flags and images of UK universities.

Anyone can put these images on their website, it doesn't mean they're based in the UK! There are hundreds of royalty free image sites where you can download them for free.

Make sure you read their website, and remember to call them to see if they are really in the UK - don't just choose a site because it has pretty pictures.

3. Scam companies often display convincing 'testimonials'

Fake 'testimonial' are more common than you think. Anyone can write them but be aware that the Office of Fair Trading is often involved with companies making wild claims through fake customer testimonials. Under UK law, companies are obliged to provide evidence that testimonials are genuine, if requested.

Ask us for proof of our testimonials, we'll gladly provide it.

4. Scam companies often write shining 'reviews' about themselves on other websites and forums

Like fake testimonials, these are really easy to do. The company just registers for a new account and creates fake messages, usually pretending to be a student, saying how they got a great essay from the company's website. The same companies will often slate other genuine websites to gain an advantage.

Don't trust reviews unless you're certain who wrote them. Tustworthy review sites such as reviews.io and feefo.com carry out checks that customers are genuine and mark these reviews as coming from "verified customers". You can reviews of UKEssays here along with a link to our feedback in reviews.io itself.

Look for reviews or comments on a company's Facebook or Twitter account as these are more likely to be genuine. Do a little research into who wrote the comments and you'll soon have a good idea about whether they're real.

5. Scam companies often claim the press has investigated them, favourably

Anyone can write press quotations on their website, but are they genuine? Check how genuine these quotes are by visiting the newspaper's website. You can do this by going to any of the search engines and entering the newspaper name and the essay website name, for example 'bbc news ukessays.com'.

Check our press page for links to press coverage on various newspaper websites. We've also got videos of TV coverage.

6. Just because they use paid listings on Google Adwords doesn't mean they're genuine

You might think that, because Google allows a company to advertise its website on their paid listings, the website must be genuine.

Unfortunately, this isn't the case. We find a large number of scam companies on Google each week who have posted adverts in the highlighted search results. Don't trust a site just because Google allow them to advertise.

Just because a website is number 1 on Google's paid listings doesn't mean it's genuine!

7. Scam companies often display fake endorsements

You might see attractive badges on the company's website that suggest they are part of 'consumer protection' groups. These are very easy to forge (and if you do a little research, you'll often find that the groups don't exist). You should also be wary of name dropping, saying they work with companies you know to be reputable. Check out their claims - we've found many are lies! Almost all reputation banners will link to the company providing the endorsement and display a page showing that information about the linked site - take a look at the TrustedSite badges on our order form, which are linked to our verification page on TrustedSite.com

There is no governing body for the essay or dissertation industry, so don't be fooled by pretty logos, fake endorsements or made-up quotes.

All UK websites must comply with a number of legal requirements. If the website you're thinking of using doesn't comply with this list, ask yourself whether or not it is likely to be a genuine UK-based company.

Briefly, UK websites must:

  • Display their actual company name (not just the website name) somewhere obvious on the website. For example: 'All Answers Limited'
  • Where the company name is different to the website name, they must explain the relationship. For example, 'UK Essays is a trading name of All Answers Limited'
  • The company's place of registration must be displayed. For example, 'All Answers Limited is a Company registered in England and Wales
  • The company's registration number must be displayed. For example, 'Company Number 4964706'.
  • The email address must be displayed: it is not sufficient to have only a contact form.
  • The registered office address must be displayed. It is fine to give the PO Box address as well for correspondence, but a PO Box cannot be a registered office!
  • The VAT registration number must be quoted (where there is one)
  • Prices on the website must be clear and unambiguous and state clearly whether they are inclusive or exclusive of VAT and delivery costs.

We employ an in-house lawyer (F.Inst.L.Ex) and all of our websites comply with all of these legal requirements.

About Fake Reviews

A growing problem across a wide range of industries is fake reviews. Many scam and false essay writing companies are using underhand tactics and misleading information to lure you into thinking they offer a great service – or attempt to make it look like other websites offer a poor service. We’ll cover some of the things to look out for when looking for help with your next essay.

  1. Fake positive reviews

    Lots of websites are filled with fake positive reviews. Look a little deeper, and you’ll notice they are probably not collected externally. You’ll spot generic names, overly positive comments, and almost always a positive score. You may even see stock images of people ‘pretending’ to be a ‘customer’ – for fun, try searching for one on Google Images to see how many other places a stock image has been used!

  2. Way too many reviews

    Having thousands upon thousands of reviews isn’t typical – we’ve seen some frankly ridiculous amounts of reviews on some websites before. Pay particular attention to the number of reviews you see on Google when searching – this will often show you straight away if they have a reasonable number of rating. Needless to say; having 75 million reviews (yes really!) is probably not genuine.

  3. Review bombing on external review websites

    Some well-known review websites, like Trustpilot, don’t require you to have any proof of being a real customer before leaving a review. Anyone can sign up and leave a review – so look out for brand new accounts that have only left 1 review, or accounts that have left the same review on multiple company profiles. A common tactic is to say a certain website was really bad, but another one was great – attempting to steer readers to their potentially scam service.

  4. Fake essay review websites

    A newer approach is to create specialised review websites designed specifically to review as many essay writing services as possible. Scam services will create these to look like independent blogs, ran by a friendly person looking to ‘help’ other students. Reviews will often be very strange – they may have a 5-star rating, but talk about the website in question very negatively, trying to lure in people looking for positive reviews. Hidden amongst the disinformation will be lots of discreet promotion for the scam service behind the reviews – look for a ‘special promotion’ for example. Don’t trust it – it’s misleading!

  5. Do look for…

    …websites that have real, verified reviews from genuine customers. Several large review websites – for example Reviews.co.uk – will only invite actual customers to leave a rating and their comments. This gives you peace of mind knowing you can trust the reviews are from real customers. Reviews should be left regularly, and no matter how good the service, you should be able to see positive and negative reviews – especially if there is nothing to hide!

  6. Make sure you can – and do! – leave a review!

    Before placing an order with an essay writing service, make sure you can leave a review when your order is complete. A good service should be willing and open to receiving your comments and rating when your order is complete. And, make sure you do leave a review when your order is complete – help other students find real websites, get the help they need, and save them from being scammed!

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