Have you ever been approached by someone after an in-person lecture offering to provide you with a 'tutoring' service? Or, maybe you've had social media accounts mentioning 'assignment help' or 'exam assistance' try to follow you?
If you've experienced this or anything similar, you've likely been targeted by a contract cheating service.
Know the difference between legitimate and illegitimate academic support.
Contract cheating companies target students claiming to offer help with your studies and assessments for a fee. But these services are not legitimate nor affiliated with the University. They are against the University’s Academic Integrity Policy 2022 (pdf, 376KB) and illegal under Australian law.
The University takes contract cheating very seriously and applies severe penalties to students who use these services, which may include failing your unit of study or being suspended or expelled from the University.
To safeguard yourself from contract cheating services, familiarise yourself with the below warning signs.
You might be approached online or in-person (for example, during Welcome Fest or after a lecture) and given pamphlets, asked to scan a QR code or be contacted on social media. Or, you might see advertisements on notice boards or on toilet doors.
You might be asked to pay for 'tutoring classes', past papers or for someone to complete an assessment for you.
The service might also offer other support, such as assistance in writing academic appeals and special consideration applications, or non-academic support such as migration, accommodation, housing or employment support.
The service might also offer discounts for repeat business, incentives for referring friends, or try to recruit you to work for them.
You might be offered a discount on the academic service if you share your Unikey, University login details, Okta verify code or personal identification documents with them.
Never provide your Unikey, University login or Okta verification details to anyone at all, or personal information to anyone you do not trust.
Companies want access to your Unikey so they can extract the University’s copyrighted materials from it, which is immensely valuable to them.
Be wary of services that offer content around the University's units of study or specific unit codes (e.g. BUSS1000). Just because they mention a University course code, it does not mean the company is at all connected to, or endorsed by, the University.
Advertisements might mention 'taster' sessions for particular units at the start of the semester or last minute 'sprint classes' during assessment periods.
The content might also be offered in a language other than English. Academic support services and resources from the University and its affiliates are always offered in English.
The service may guarantee that you will achieve a particular grade or pass your class.
They may also guarantee that you won't be caught for plagiarism or academic misconduct.
In reality, students are regularly caught for using these services, and the quality of the work is often poor.
You should be wary of services that operate discreetly or ask you not to disclose the service to your teachers or to the University.
The service's public website or materials may also not clearly show what services are offered.
You might be added to a private group chat on WeChat, WhatsApp or Facebook, usually grouped by unit of study or subject.
Do not rely on answers or solutions shared in these groups, and never share your own answers or notes.
You're provided with a template, suggested assignment structure or model answers to use in your work.
The service may also offer someone to complete your assignment on your behalf or sit an exam for you.
The service may threaten to tell the University that you've used their services unless you pay them a sum of money. This is blackmail.
If you've been threatened or blackmailed by a contract cheating service and need support, contact the Office of Educational Integrity via email: educational.integrity@sydney.edu.au.
You can also call 1800 SYD HLP (1800 793 457) to be connected with support services.
You're being provided with the answers without learning or understanding the content, or you wouldn't be comfortable telling your teacher or peers that you're using the service.
If the 'tutoring' service is too good to be true, it probably is.
If you're struggling with your studies or need support with an assessment, seek University support – it's free, available 24/7 and legitimate.