COLLEGE AFTERMATH: HOW I FELL FOR A WRITING SCAM
I came across an online writing job posting on LinkedIn in the month of May 2022. I researched the group, but I was unaware at the time that College Aftermath could be so deceitful.
I resisted applying for the online position as a content writer, but since I was looking for remote writing gigs, I did so. I found out by mail within a few days whether my application was accepted.
Ishu sikka, an Indian lady who works in recruitment, contacted me and told me that before College Aftermath would consider hiring me, I would need to take a trial exam. Later, she sent?the article's subject, "Why You Should Attend Rice University," and instructed me to submit my entry within 24 hours.
It just took me a little while to do some research on Rice University and submit my entry. The following day, I received a letter informing me that my article had been accepted and that I would receive $5 in payment for the trial article.
I received an offer letter outlining my pay?and the minimum article I had to write, but I was urged to submit a minimum of two pieces in a 24-hour period. I was instructed to sign my offer letter, scan it, and send it to them in order to verify our understanding and the terms and conditions.
Guess what?happened next?
A Nigerian writer dropped the bombshell that College Aftermath is a sham site where writers are used without recompense. At this time, I was hesitant to continue writing, but Mr. Rakesh, the finance manager, arrived to disprove the scam claim.
To assuage our fears, another Nigerian writer (a lady) who has worked with them for several years posted her prior payment proofs to persuade us to keep working.
When I sought my money at the end of May, I was told that I would have to wait because payments are made in batches. They devised new justifications for limiting bank transfers to international writers. As a result, we were told that individuals having Fivver, Upwork, or Payoneer?accounts would be paid first, and those without those online platforms would be paid last.
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By June, I had already submitted?over 50 articles that they had accepted, and I continued to write without being paid. After receiving thousands of articles, they quickly closed down the Google article database and WhatsApp platform.
As the scam allegations began to surface, I was apparently downcast?and dissatisfied. Attempts to contact my HR about the payment were futile. I sent SMS messages to the Finance Manager after sending a mail with an attached approved?article that I submitted, but I have received no responses from him as of now.
It will be a year next month since this scam writing job happened. In memory of this sad?occurrence, I will be uploading those pieces every week beginning next week for my readers to read?on this page. I'll begin with the trial article. Yes, because those pieces are my intellectual property, and I was not compensated for them.
?Do I?have any regrets?
Apart from paying a large sum of money for data and spending many sleepless hours writing, I was slightly annoyed by the editors (Indians) who displayed unprofessionalism in editing assignments, and my articles were exposed to excessive plagiarism and spin tests.?I must say that I don’t have any regrets.
Despite the fact that the writing assignment was a failure, I was happy that I was able to use the time to polish my writing skills as a ghostwriter.
Bye! See you next week...