"How Do I Know You're Not a Scam?" The GRE Proxy-Test Client Who Went From Doubt to "Trust Her With Your Life"

Her very first message was not a question, it was a challenge, fired off before she would even consider paying someone to take her GRE: "How do I know you're not a scam? How can I get proof?" Fair. Most people who come to us are nervous. She was further than nervous, and that turned out to be the whole story. Weeks later, after a GRE score that cleared her target and got her into her dream graduate school, she wrote a review telling people to "trust her with your life." This is how she got from one to the other.

One thing to hold onto as you read: almost none of her anxiety was about the exam. It came from two things. First, a large time difference between us and her, which meant she often messaged into silence and waited hours for a reply, usually at the worst possible moment. Second, the fear of being scammed, which is a completely reasonable fear until someone proves otherwise. Nearly every hard moment below is one of those two, not the test.

Her opening message: how do I know you're not a scam?

We don't argue that we're real. We show it.

You cannot talk someone out of suspicion, so we don't try. We pointed her at the things a scammer can't fake: the long list of real cases, the detailed process written out, the reviews that land months later, and the threads on Reddit where strangers with nothing to gain vouch for us. She did her own homework and came back different: "I went on Reddit, all the reviews are very good." Skepticism is not the enemy. It is just trust that has not been earned yet.

She checked Reddit and the published cases, then came back ready to trust.

She worried about the new second-camera rule

She had read that the at-home GRE now requires a second camera, and she was right to ask. We had already solved it well before ETS officially rolled it out, because staying ahead of each new monitoring change is the job. She came to us with a target in mind, a solid, admissions-safe one. That answer about the second camera, backed by recent results under the new system, was one of the things that moved her from "maybe" to "let's do it."

She asked about the new second-camera rule. We had already handled it.

The hard part was never the exam. It was the money.

She had never used cryptocurrency, and that is where the real stress lived. She was honest about it from the start, trying to teach herself the whole system against a deadline: "I am still trying to figure out how the deposit system works… I am very worried now." When the money seemed to vanish between wallets, the confusion peaked, and so did the urgency: "why is everything so unclear 😭… please answer me ASAP." The transfer threw errors again and again. A payment got cancelled. Her daily card limit collided with her exam date. We walked her through every step, slowly, as many times as it took. When she got stuck on the gas fee needed to move the funds, we sent her the small amount of crypto to cover it. Think about that for a second: a scammer takes your money. We sent her some of ours.

First time with crypto: “I am still trying to figure out how the deposit system works… I am very worried now.”

The confusion peaked: “why is everything so unclear… please answer me ASAP.”

The transfer kept failing: “it says again and again, An error occurred.”

“I am doing my best but I don't understand.” Stuck on the gas fee, we sent her the crypto to cover it.

The payment itself took several tries: a transfer that failed outright, errors she had to translate just to read, and finally one that went through to us.

A first transfer to us failed outright (amount and our address blurred).

Error after error, she even ran the message through a translator just to read it.

Then one finally went through to Daisy (amount and our address blurred).

The waiting was its own kind of fear

We work across a large time difference from her, so there were long stretches where she messaged into silence and waited. You can watch the worry build. The night before: "I am sorry to ask many questions, but what do I have to do, how will it go tomorrow ???"

The night before: “how will it go tomorrow ???”

Then, at her midnight, three crying faces and the exhaustion underneath them: "I have to sleep for my exam, it's midnight now." When a setup step would not take, the dread set in: "Why didn't it work? I am starting to be worried." Each time, we answered and stayed with it.

At her midnight: “I have to sleep for my exam, it's midnight now.”

“Why didn't it work? I am starting to be worried.”

By morning it spilled over. A quiet "Ok, good morning to you" as our day was only beginning, then "I can't be calm until I'm assured everything is in place," and, when a connection hiccup ate another hour, "I have been texting you for two hours, what's going on?"

Exam morning: “I can't be calm until ASSURED everything is in place.”

“I have been texting you for two hours, what's going on?”

When the panic peaked, we did something simple: we answered her in her own language to steady her, "Calme toi", and promised to confirm with the tech team. Reassurance sometimes has to come in the words someone thinks in.

We switched to her own language to calm her down: “Calme toi” — then promised to check with the tech team.

At one point the frustration was total: "That's so unprofessional, I am so mad." We understand that feeling completely. The answer to it is not words, it is showing up and getting it done. We did, and her exam ran.

When a hiccup ate another hour: “that's so unprofessional, I am so mad.”

Exam day, then the result

She had come to us with a target in mind. She beat it comfortably, landing well into the range competitive programs look for. The result came through, and she shared it with us right there in the chat:

Her score report the moment it came through, shared right in the chat. The exact numbers are blurred for her privacy.

The same unofficial GRE score report, up close. Both section scores are blurred; the total landed comfortably above her target.

Her reaction said it better than we could:

Her reaction in the chat right after: “DAMN I AM SO HAPPY.” (Deposit address and other details blurred.)

It was more than enough for the graduate program she wanted. When the last payment finally went through, after one more round of crypto trouble, the fear broke all at once: "Sorry I was stressed, I am going through a lot and I've seen so many scammers, but you are definitely not."

After it was done: “I've seen so many scammers, but you are definitely not.”

Her words, not ours

A few days later the official scores posted, and she sent the review herself, unprompted:

"Daisy helped me get into my dream school very easily. I was very scared at first, so if I have one piece of advice, it's trust her. You won't be disappointed."

The review she sent, unprompted.