Title of the Essay, Author, and Date

F raud in the Online Age by John D. Thomas (May 8, 2015)

Title of the Reflection

F alsification of Identity

First Impression

A n Essay about how fraud works in the Online Age

Quote

W e take your online college classes for you and you get an A.

Reflection

Fraud according to the dictionary is a deception practiced in order to induce another to give up possession of property or surrender a right. If I am hiring someone, I want to see how well they can organize information. I want to know if they have problems with spelling and grammar. And in their cover letter I definitely want a sense of how compelling and descriptive they can be in advocating for themselves for the position. And if the applicant hasn’t written and edited their own resume and cover letter, I would have no idea if they possess any of those abilities.  And if someone else’s work is the first example a prospective employer sees of your ability to communicate, then they are being misled.  Granted, there are many legitimate online tutoring services where students can get the help they need when they are struggling in certain areas. Tutoring someone is certainly but those digital homework services are not the worst ethical offenders. The most suspect and disturbing sites are the ones that will take your entire online classes for you. And with more and more people getting educated over the Internet, the fact that you could get an A in a course you never attended is frightening.  So when you combine all three of these services – resume/cover letter writing, homework completion and online class taking – the end result could be someone with great grades and a flawless resume whose actual knowledge and skills are anything but what they appear to be on paper. I agree that someone who uses an online resume/cover letter writing service is not as deceptive as someone who has their homework completed for them or has their online classes taken for them. But they are all part of a trend in which people are using the Internet to buy work that is not theirs and then pass it off as their own.

5 things I've learned

1.  Having a third party do your homework for you.
2. Tutoring someone is certainly ethical – even commendable – and a number of big-city public libraries offer free online tutoring.
3.  The first thing a potential employer sees from you was written and edited by someone else, then they have no insight into many crucial skills you should possess.
4.  If hiring someone, it’s better to see how well he can organize information.
5. All jobs these days require people to be able to communicate professionally and properly.

5 integrative questions

1. Why isn’t anyone doing anything to stamp out these services?

2. Why someone who uses an online resume/cover letter writing service is not as deceptive as someone who has their homework completed for them or has their online classes taken for them?

3. What trend in which people are using the Internet to buy work that is not theirs and then pass it off as their    own?

4. Why what could be the reason some people are doing this business?

5. What a student can get for doing the homework for him?