RevisionDojo, a YC startup, is running astroturfing campaigns targeting kids
RevisionDojo is a YC-backed test prep company ($3.4M raised) that sells International Baccalaureate (IB) test prep. Over the past year, users on r/IBO sub-reddit have documented a pattern of unethical marketing practices:<p>*Astroturfing:* Coordinated campaigns where accounts pose as students sharing "cheatsheets" and "predicted exam leaks." Other accounts then upvote, leave supportive comments, and ask follow-up questions—creating the illusion of organic student excitement. Multiple threads have exposed this pattern [1][2][3].<p>*Paid fake posts:* High school students report being offered payment to write promotional Reddit posts [4].<p>*Pressuring critics:* Users who post negative reviews report being contacted directly by company representatives, told it's "a shame" they're posting publicly [5]. Critical comments receive coordinated mass downvotes [6].<p>*Soliciting copyrighted materials:* They use TikTok influencers and fake reddit posts to persuade students to sell them official IB exam papers, violating IB policies [7].<p>The r/IBO moderators are actively investigating [8].<p>These practices appear to be working great for them. Recently, they acquired OnePrep (oneprep.xyz), a free SAT prep tool that was already popular on r/sat. Since the acquisition, the same manipulation tactics have been deployed at scale: 150 Trustpilot reviews in a window of a few days [9], and widespread coordinated Reddit manipulation—multiple accounts posting "tips" that recommend Oneprep, coordinated upvoting, and fake enthusiasm in comments. The most prominent example was a 2,000+ upvote post removed by moderators for manipulation, but it's part of a sustained campaign across the subreddit.<p>*Sources:*<p>[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1p55qun/
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1jsb00a/
[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1ohcohi/
[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1p55qun/comment/nqmhal3/
[5] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1my1ajx/comment/na94upv/
[6] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1my1ajx/comment/na8zvs4/
[7] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1mej900/
[8] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1my1ajx/comment/nagdkl5/
[9] https://www.trustpilot.com/review/oneprep.xyz
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RevisionDojo is a YC-backed test prep company ($3.4M raised) that sells International Baccalaureate (IB) test prep. Over the past year, users on r/IBO sub-reddit have documented a pattern of unethical marketing practices:<p>*Astroturfing:* Coordinated campaigns where accounts pose as students sharing "cheatsheets" and "predicted exam leaks." Other accounts then upvote, leave supportive comments, and ask follow-up questions—creating the illusion of organic student excitement. Multiple threads have exposed this pattern [1][2][3].<p>*Paid fake posts:* High school students report being offered payment to write promotional Reddit posts [4].<p>*Pressuring critics:* Users who post negative reviews report being contacted directly by company representatives, told it's "a shame" they're posting publicly [5]. Critical comments receive coordinated mass downvotes [6].<p>*Soliciting copyrighted materials:* They use TikTok influencers and fake reddit posts to persuade students to sell them official IB exam papers, violating IB policies [7].<p>The r/IBO moderators are actively investigating [8].<p>These practices appear to be working great for them. Recently, they acquired OnePrep (oneprep.xyz), a free SAT prep tool that was already popular on r/sat. Since the acquisition, the same manipulation tactics have been deployed at scale: 150 Trustpilot reviews in a window of a few days [9], and widespread coordinated Reddit manipulation—multiple accounts posting "tips" that recommend Oneprep, coordinated upvoting, and fake enthusiasm in comments. The most prominent example was a 2,000+ upvote post removed by moderators for manipulation, but it's part of a sustained campaign across the subreddit.<p>*Sources:*<p>[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1p55qun/
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1jsb00a/
[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1ohcohi/
[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1p55qun/comment/nqmhal3/
[5] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1my1ajx/comment/na94upv/
[6] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1my1ajx/comment/na8zvs4/
[7] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1mej900/
[8] https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1my1ajx/comment/nagdkl5/
[9] https://www.trustpilot.com/review/oneprep.xyz