MARY has written extended essays on commerce but she is no business student. She has completed assignments on Chinese Tang dynasty poetry and Asian history but she is no lover of humanities.

Mary is an academic ghost writer who helps students cheat by doing their work. For the past three years Mary, 21, has written essays for other students in return for cash.

University student 'Mary' is paid cash to write made-to-order essays for other students. Credit:Angela Wylie

She started her underground trade as an international student in year 12 after leaving her home in China's Guangdong province.

A friend asked her to complete an assignment for a girl he liked from the year below. Mary wrote three essays for her customer and charged $150.