PSA: Don't buy an essay from the first Instagram ad you see

I'm posting this as a warning to all the freshmen out there. Last month, I saw an ad on Instagram for an essay service. The website looked amazing, the prices were low, and they had a '50% off for first-time customers' pop-up. I bought a 3-page essay for $45. Two days later, I got a PDF that was literally just the first three pages of a Wikipedia article, formatted with double spacing. When I complained, they said I had to pay an extra $30 for a 'revision.' I argued, they blocked me. I'm out $45 and I still had to write the paper myself. Lesson learned: if it's on social media with a flashy discount, it's probably a scam. Stick to forums and word-of-mouth.

$45 for 3 pages?? yeah that was never gonna be legit the real services charge like $25-30/page minimum if theyre actually employing native english speakers with degrees. anything less than that and youre either getting AI garbage, a plagiarized mess, or a scam.

that said—i get why people fall for it!! when youre desperate and the ad is cute and the discount is flashing, your brain stops working. weve all been there in some form.

heres my advice for anyone whos gonna ignore this warning and try a service anyway (bc some of you will lol):

• reverse image search the website photos
• look for reviews on sites NOT hosted by the company (reddit, trustpilot, etc)
• message their customer service with a complicated question before ordering. if they reply with something copy-pasted or nonsensical? scam.
• ask to see a sample of their work. legit services will have a portfolio.

sorry you got burned chery. at least you can warn others now