TEFL Online Pro

How TEFL online pro scams people

TEFL online pro scams new teachers into believing it’s more legit than by using fake reviews, fake awards, fake IDs, fake comments, and fake accreditation.

TEFL online pro was created in 2019 within two weeks of the site Trusted TEFL reviews. These sites are hosted by the same company as well. Trusted TEFL reviews host many fake reviews and promote TEFL online pro here.

Guess who won the so-called teacher’s choice award on Trusted TEFL reviews? TEFL online pro won it three years in a row. There is no other info on other sites about this award besides Trusted TEFL reviews and TEFL online pro. If it were a legit award, you’d think other people would be talking about it.

Who runs Trusted TEFL reviews? A supposed woman named Mia Williams, but there is no info on this person until 2019 and what info is out there is limited. Who runs TEFL online pro? A supposed man called Paul Murphy, but again there is no info out there about him until 2019, and of course, no honest info, and he won’t bear his face anywhere.

Who are Mia Willams and Paul Murphy?

Many signs say they are Neville David Thomas, where there are photos of him on Facebook recommending both sites. Who is he? If you search his name, you will find someone who has a reputation of scamming teachers in the past with a place called ITTP TEFL. It was a similar scam in the Czech Republic where people complained about his fake reviews and harassment.

What about TEFL online pro’s accreditation? According to who, the site ACTEFLC.com was added at the beginning of 2021. Again the only people talking about this accreditation like that award are TEFL online pro and Trusted TEFL reviews.

What about those video reviews on TEFL online pro? Are those fake? All of those reviews are published on platforms that he controls. None of those reviews were posted on the reviewer’s channel. Those people were most likely paid to do it or possibly given a free TEFL certificate. Those are advertisements, not reviews.

A man runs the TEFL online pro with many years of practice deceiving people online. His actual reputation can be found online, and that might explain why he has gone to such an extent to create fake personas to mask his real identity to market his courses.

Is TEFL Online Pro a legit?

TEFL Online Pro is not running a legit business. They are not aggressive towards customer satisfaction and complaint grievance redressal, Hence 10 consumer[s] submitted negative ratings, and only a few left positive feedback.

Where is TEFL Online Pro located?

TEFL Online Pro is headquarted at Czech Republic. You can contact TEFL Online Pro by dialing (917) 310-1431 or visit their website N/A.

How much monetary loss is incurred by TEFL Online Pro ’s customers?

According to TEFL Online Pro ’s customers, a monetary loss of US N/A has been reported. The severity of entire incident reports is high.

Write a review or complaint on TEFL Online Pro

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10 Reviews on TEFL Online Pro

  1. Two real reviews, but the rest of them are fake

    Having taken a read through these reviews, we see that only two were written by graduates of the TEFL Online Pro program.

    We added our response to every review, but our responses have not been published.

    In response to Deyaa’s review:

    Thank you for adding your comment, Deyaa Aly.

    Upon completion of your TEFL Online Pro Hybrid course, you purchased the digital copy of your course certificate. This was delivered to you within a few hours after your payment was made.

    We then received emails from you, demonstrating a strong interest in teaching English in Vietnam, and we provided this info for you.

    The one caveat that we made certain to convey to you is that to apply for a work visa for Vietnam, you MUST have a hard-copy certificate with original signatures.

    We offered this option to you, but you simply continued with your visa-related questions and never once showed any interest in purchasing the hard-copy certificate.

    This was the moment that we advised you to get back to us when you were ready to purchase the hard-copy certificate.

    It had now become obvious to us that you would either submit a digital copy of your course certificate or a self-printed digital certificate for your visa application.

    We are never willing to advise or become complicit concerning illegal forms of work visa procurement.

    This is the point when you stopped communicating with us.

    For your information, and anyone else who is wanting to authenticate their TEFL/TESOL certificate:

    You MUST have the hard-copy version of your TEFL/TESOL certificate. The digital version is accepted by the vast majority of countries around the world, but not in Vietnam.

    You will need to take your TEFL Online Pro hard-copy certificate to a Notary Public in your country to be notarized. When your certificate has been notarized, it must be taken to the embassy of Vietnam in your country to be authenticated/legalized.

    Your TEFL/TESOL certificate does NOT need to be notarized or authenticated/legalized in the country’s embassy where your TEFL/TESOL certificate program was established or where it is based.

    A few Online TEFL/TESOL companies are claiming this falsehood, but it is just a way for them to earn extra money from you by using one of their work visa agencies.

    Deyaa, we are not a scam.

    In the future, instead of trying to save money and circumvent the correct process of obtaining a work visa, we strongly recommend that you legally do this.

    We are wishing you and your family a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

    Best regards,

    Paul Murphy – Operations Manager – TEFL Online Pro

    In response to Bonnie’s review:

    Thank you so much, Bonnie, for taking the time to leave a positive review of your TEFL Online Pro experience.

    Wishing you continued teaching English success in Vietnam, and a Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to yourself and your family!

    Best regards,

    Paul Murphy – Operations Manager – TEFL Online Pro

    And in response to the reviews written by “Anonymous” and “Sarah”:

    Thank you for your comment Anonymous.

    If you had taken one of our courses, you would have known first-hand that each of our courses consists of modules full of content and that there are also mandatory lesson plan assignments to be completed as part of the course.

    By writing that “The course was basically a few pages of poorly explained material. No real assignments. Module quizzes had unclear and badly phrased written questions that don’t actually test on knowledge gained or understanding of concepts.” demonstrates to us that you have never taken one of our courses.

    The exact opposite is true of all our three Fully Accredited and internationally recognized Online TEFL/TESOL certification courses.

    Regardless, we wish you and your family a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

    Best regards,

    Paul Murphy – Operations Manager – TEFL Online Pro

    Thank you for adding your comment, Sarah.

    TEFL Online Pro has been a business partner with PayPal since 2019, and we also accept most major debit and credit cards.

    This just wouldn’t be possible to maintain if we were an unregistered company not paying its taxes.

    Despite your false assertions, we wish (whoever you are) a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

    Best regards,

    Paul Murphy – Operations Manager – TEFL Online Pro

  2. It's true it's a scam

    I tried to find out how to authenticate the certificate, but I did not find a way. I requested documentation from the British or American Foreign Ministry of the place where the certificate was issued, and the person claiming to be named Paul Murphy evaded and said that it was not important, and I had no right to ask as long as I did not buy the original copy. This is a fraud. Knowing that I went to the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry and they confirmed this matter, the certificate must be authenticated from the source country. I advise everyone after purchasing the course that it is a fraud and a fraud. If the matter is true, why is it not authenticated by the source country and me? I have the emails and the electronic certificate, and whoever defends this site I want him to authenticate my certificate in the British or American Foreign Ministry, as they say.

    1. I apologize for the misunderstanding on my par

      I apologize for the misunderstanding on my part… I know that I did not ask for the original copy of the certificate. The problem is not about the paper or electronic copy. It is about the seals of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I enjoyed this course very much and you had support throughout.. Now I want to clarify the problem.. All that matters is that the certificate requires the stamps of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the source country… That’s all… I would like to thank you again.. I hope Answer the question

  3. Waste of Time and Money

    I didn’t research much about the 120-hour professional course prior to purchasing. Boy, am I feeling the sorry sucker.

    Regardless of the claims that it all is a fraud, the actual course itself is not well put together. Quite disappointing, as an individual expects materials that should promote education and improve the skills of educators.

    The course was basically a few pages of poorly explained material. No real assignments. Module quizzes had unclear and badly phrased written questions that don’t actually test on knowledge gained or understanding of concepts.

    I wish I would have gone with a better quality course. I doubt I’ll even finish this one.

    1. A mix up with names

      Our previous response to “Waste Of Time And Money” should have been addressed to Anonymous and not to Sarah.

  4. Recently completed the tefl online pro 120 hour TEFL/TESOL course

    Took me two weeks to complete the 120 hour course. I chose this program because of the many positive reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews, Facebook, and on the Google Business page for tefl online pro. there are also video reviews which I found immensely helpful because past graduates of the program describe their courses experience and where they have taught since. I had a personal tutor assigned to me and she was awesome. Had many questions. She answered them all. It was difficult getting my head around all the grammar rules (still haven’t completely mastered them) but there were many games in the modules that made the learning experience that much more fun and interesting. Plus, I get to use them now in my classes. I’m teaching in Vietnam where you need a college degree and a fully accredited TEFL/TESOL certificate. Had no issues when I submitted my tefl online pro certificate for the work visa. I recommend the program.

    1. Thank you for your review, Bonnie!

      Thank you so much, Bonnie, for taking the time to leave a positive review of your TEFL Online Pro experience.

      Wishing you continued teaching English success in Vietnam, and a Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to yourself and your family!

      Best regards,

      Paul Murphy – Operations Manager – TEFL Online Pro

  5. TEFL Online pro sell courses illegally

    The company is not a registered corporation which means they are not paying taxes. They are not registered in any country. This means that if you have a certificate from TEFL online pro, you won’t be able to authenticate the certificate. To have a TEFL certification authenticated, it needs to be done in the country of origin. TEFL online pro has no country of origin since it’s not a registered corporation anywhere.

    After reading this, I highly recommend that if you have purchased a course from TEFL online pro, you should immediately make a dispute with your PayPal account and claim your money back, or you should at least ask TEFL Online Pro for a company registration number from a government website (company number from the UK or IRS number from the USA.) You should also ask to see ID from the owner of trusted TEFL reviews who claims to be Mia Williams and ID from the owner of TEFL Online Pro who claims to be Paul Murphy. Any legitimate companies should be able to provide you with these details.

    1. Thank you for your comment, Sarah

      Thank you for adding your comment, Sarah.

      TEFL Online Pro has been a business partner with PayPal since 2019, and we also accept most major debit and credit cards.

      This just wouldn’t be possible to maintain if we were an unregistered company not paying its taxes.

      Despite your false assertions, we wish (whoever you are) a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

      Best regards,

      Paul Murphy – Operations Manager – TEFL Online Pro

  6. Don't believe the TEFL business competitor smear campaigns

    I am writing to respond to the false accusations made toward me and my TEFL Reviews website.

    The accusations made against me and trustedteflreviews.com are incorrect.

    Trusted TEFL Reviews is an independent TEFL Reviews website.

    It was established by myself and a few other teachers that live and work in Vienna, Austria (Europe).

    We are all English teachers.

    The motivation behind establishing Trusted TEFL Reviews was to provide people with a non-biased reviews website where they would be able to read verified customer reviews and then make up their own minds about which TEFL/TESOL certification course they felt suited them best.

    I understand first-hand the frustrating and stressful process of choosing a TEFL company to take the certification with.

    Trusted TEFL Reviews was birthed from this frustration and stress.

    I would like to make note that the majority of TEFL companies do (mostly) follow and stick to better business practices.

    This, for Trusted TEFL Reviews, means that they take negative customer reviews for the constructive criticism that they almost always are intended to be.

    There are, though, a few notable TEFL companies that have tried to gain an unfair advantage by trying to have fake (positive) reviews of their company published on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

    Three companies in particular spring to mind:

    ESLinsider

    MyTEFL

    TTA The TEFL Academy

    Some other TEFL companies are no angels either, but the poor business practices of ESLinsider, MyTEFL, and TTA The TEFL Academy really does stand out from the crowd. You could say that they are award-winning in this category.

    All three of these companies have had multiple reviews of their TEFL program denied publication because of alarming red flags.

    All three of these companies appeared to take this backlash as a personal affront to their company.

    My understanding is that they were so used to having their reviews published automatically on other TEFL Reviews websites that our verification steps were a complete shock to them.

    The fake reviews kept filling up my email Inbox and we had little choice other than to issue a public warning notice on the Trusted TEFL Reviews website- exposing these three companies for their continued pattern of fake-review behavior.

    I only planned to have the warnings showing on the website for a few weeks because I thought that would have prevented any further abuse of the review submission process.

    How wrong I was!

    What followed was months, turning into years, of online abuse directed at Trusted TEFL Reviews and me.

    ESLinsider was the first.

    It is a one-man-show business that has been run to the ground by its owner, Ian Patrick Leahy.

    MyTEFL was next, and TTA The TEFL Academy joined the defamation party from March 2021 onwards.

    MyTEFL and TTA The TEFL Academy just regurgitate what ESLinsider wrote.

    I wasn’t really up on the TEFL gossip at the time that Ian began writing false accusations about me and my reviews website, so at first, I did actually wonder if ESLinsider was an industry expert. The name sort of implies it.

    Of course, I did my due diligence into ESLinsider and I discovered that he had/has a long history of attacking TEFL review websites, attacking TEFL accreditation websites, and attacking his TEFL company business competitors.

    It appears that he does this to attract free advertising for his TEFL program.

    I immediately understood that I wasn’t dealing with a TEFL expert at all.

    Instead, I was dealing with a conman.

    In fact, having read some of his articles and having watched some of his YouTube videos, I discovered that Ian is in no way qualified or experienced enough to even run a TEFL certification program. He didn’t finish college, he took a dirt-cheap TEFL course, he has very limited knowledge of TEFL, and (if the rumors are true) he is not exactly Bill Gates when it comes to managing his and his customers’ finances.

    MyTEFL is also run by one individual- Ben Glickman.

    TTA The TEFL Academy is (sigh) also run by one individual- Thomas Gibbons.

    So out of all the TEFL companies listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews, I only have had major issues with three TEFL companies, and these three TEFL companies are each run by a head honcho that can’t take criticism.

    It is, therefore, no wonder that ESLinsider, MyTEFL, and TTA The TEFL Academy have reacted in the way that they have- taking the rejection of the publication of a review of their company personal and then reacting in a very unprofessional and completely uncalled for way.

    Instead of just ignoring the warnings that I had written about them, and instead of encouraging their TEFL graduates to submit real reviews for inclusion on Trusted TEFL Reviews, all three TEFL companies responded with a smear campaign- just as they have done in this thread on this public complaints website.

    TTA The TEFL Academy has really gone the extra mile by having one of its employees (Caitriona Maria McTiernan) establish a website aimed specifically at promoting its TEFL courses and spreading false information about Trusted TEFL Reviews.

    Now that is dedication!

    Some of the false accusations written about me:

    I am not Mia Williams.

    Trusted TEFL Reviews is operated by a TEFL company.

    I write all of the reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

    1. Just like any other individual, I am entitled to my personal privacy and I don’t expect to be harassed.
    I do use my real first name, but I am not going to allow people like Ian, Ben, and Thomas to know my real full name.

    I don’t know how they managed it, but Caitriona Maria found out where I live in Vienna and she wrote me a threatening email.

    You can read all about this in the latest TTA The TEFL Academy post on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

    2. I co-own and co-run Trusted TEFL Reviews.

    None of us have any connections whatsoever with any of the TEFL programs that we have listed on the Trusted TEFL Reviews website.

    The two TEFL companies that have been falsely accused of owning and running Trusted TEFL Reviews are TEFL Online Pro and OISE University of Toronto TEFL.

    These are the 1st and 2nd top-rated TEFL programs on Trusted TEFL Reviews, so I assume that the false claims are just sour grapes on the part of TEFL programs positioned lower down in the TEFL course food chain.

    3. To claim that I, or one of my colleagues, writes the reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews is just so absurd and I highly doubt anyone believes such nonsense anyway.

    If ESLinsider, MyTEFL, and The TEFL Academy would only have their graduates write a real review of their TEFL Course experience then all of this mess could be avoided.

    The fact that they haven’t done this, that they have, instead, chosen to try and convince readers that Trusted TEFL Reviews is biased and not trustworthy, is a poor sign that they, instead, choose to try and cover up their bad customer reviews and is a possible indicator that the reviews they have on other TEFL Reviews websites are questionable in terms of their authenticity.

    I see there is also a lot of hate directed at TEFL Online Pro, and that TEFL Online Pro is experiencing similar smear campaigns and fake accusation attacks.

    TEFL Online Pro (teflonlinepro.com) has won the Teachers’ Choice Award three years in a row- 2019, 2020, and 2021.

    It is the top-rated TEFL program on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

    Is this because I have a preference for them over other TEFL companies? No, of course not.

    TEFL Online Pro is a three-time winner and currently the top-rated TEFL program because its TEFL customers think so and vote for TEFL Online Pro and write positive feedback about their experience with this company.

    TEFL Online Pro is not a scam, just as Trusted TEFL Reviews is not a scam.

    Oh, and I have FaceTimed with the TEFL Online Pro team three times now (after each time an award was won) and I have seen their team and their school offices.

    I also had the opportunity to have a few minutes of FaceTime with Paul Murphy, the Operations Manager at TEFL Online Pro.

    I think that public complaints websites definitely have a purpose on the internet.

    They are a valuable medium with which to expose dishonest people and dishonest companies.

    But, they can also be abused and I see that this complaints thread has been completely abused.

    The thread was begun by ESlinsider (it is his MO) and MyTEFL and TTA The TEFL Academy have chimed in also anonymously.

    All three are unaccredited; meaning they are not obliged to adhere to strict accreditation codes of conduct.

    TEFL Online Pro, btw, is fully accredited and has to adhere to strict accreditation codes of conduct.

    I would wager that the person only wrote their complaint because they had read the other false complaints, written by ESLinsider, MyTEFL, and TTA The TEFL Academy, and believed their false narrative.

    IMO the person should have left a review on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

  7. Video reviews

    I just noticed that the one thing that we hadn’t covered in our rebuttal regards your point regarding our verified customer video reviews.

    Ian, you wrote:

    “What about those video reviews on TEFL online pro? Are those fake? All of those reviews are published on platforms that he controls. None of those reviews were posted on the reviewer’s channel. Those people were most likely paid to do it or possibly given a free TEFL certificate. Those are advertisements, not reviews.”

    No, they are not fake.

    Yes, they are reviews.

    We decided that we needed to have video reviews after you had begun your smear campaign against our company, Ian.

    We asked graduates of the program to record a video, describing their course experience.

    We then invited back two graduates, that had already recorded a video, to record a further video – describing how their course had helped them find teaching work online and overseas.

    No-one was paid for recording the videos and no-one received a free course.

    All the videos have been recorded by our customers – customers that considered their course experience to be so positive that they were willing to volunteer to spend a bit of time recording their experiences for us.

    I feel that you are projecting here, Ian.

    Do you fake the video reviews that you have on your YouTube site?

    Or, perhaps the real truth of the matter is that you are simply trying to throw mud at the wall and seeing what sticks.

    So far, the wall is clean – clear of mud.

    Wishing you all the best, Ian Patrick Leahy from ESLinsider TEFL, with your seasonal non-TEFL-related work.

    This concludes our time spent on this open forum website.

    Again, our rebuttal that addresses the smear campaigns levied against us by three of our business competitors:

    https://teflonlinepro.com/refutation-of-allegations-made-by-our-business-competitors/

  8. An additional note

    An additional note is that no-one by the name of Neville Thomas works at TEFL Online Pro.

    I did take a look at the Google search for that name.

    When I dug deeper, I saw that he ran a successful onsite TEFL program in Prague for 10 years. ITTP.

    Also, as we do point out in our rebuttal, TEFL Online Pro does not own or run Trusted TEFL Reviews.

    As far as I know, it is run by Mia Williams – an English teacher based in Austria.

    Peter’s claim that OISE TEFL is also the owner of Trusted TEFL Reviews is also not true.

    Anyone can go online, anonymously, and write that a company or person is a “scam”.

    There is nothing noble in doing so, and anyone with a computer, too much free time, and working thumbs and fingers can accomplish it.

    Again, our rebuttal to all of the ridiculous claims made against our company – by three of our business competitors:

    https://teflonlinepro.com/refutation-of-allegations-made-by-our-business-competitors/

  9. This misleading complaint was written by Ian Patrick Leahy from ESLinsider - one of our business competitors

    Ian Patrick Leahy – owner of ESLinsider TEFL, and the person that wrote this “complaint” – has been spending the last two winter and summer seasons working temporary jobs.

    We managed to track down his many Reddit profiles, and discovered that he intended to work at Mt. Hood, Oregon, this summer.

    We wrote to all of the lodges at Mt. Hood to warn them against employing this individual.

    One of the main lodges read our school’s rebuttal about the smear campaign that we have been subjected to by ESLinsider TEFL, MyTEFL, and the TEFL Academy, and they let us know that they could never employ an individual that conducted his business with such a low ethical bar.

    Perhaps Ian will now travel to Chile, or New Zealand, where he wrote on Reddit that he would like to visit to find under-the-table work.

    Here is our rebuttal to the ridiculous allegations:

    https://teflonlinepro.com/refutation-of-allegations-made-by-our-business-competitors/

    Life is short. Try not to waste it by spreading false information about another company. Build something that will help people and improve their lives instead.

  10. OISE TEFL Scam?

    I wonder if Trusted TEFL reviews is connected with the people at OISE TEFL Online. It looks like they are together on this scam and the other fake TEFL review sites by Neville Thomas. For some reason it’s always Neville’s businesses and OISE UofT TEFL on these fake reviews sites.

    1. I see that the TEFL industry has not changed that much since the time when I created and ran ITTP.
      It is still dominated by a few bad-actor TEFL companies that feel it is morally acceptable to character-assassinate someone because they have calculated 2+2=5.

      I am Neville David Thomas, and I created and ran the ITTP TEFL program in Prague.
      The program ran for ten years and in that time ITTP trained and certified hundreds of TEFL students.

      Toward the end of the ten years, we had one awful group.
      Every on-site TEFL program has a group like them.
      They complained about everything and expected everything in Prague to be like it was back home home for them.

      Yes, ITTP made money from the accommodation that they were renting.
      ITTP was a business.
      Accommodation was an additional revenue stream.

      The accommodation was located bang centre in Prague’s Old Town quarter, around the corner from Paziska street- where shops such as Burberry and Prada are located.
      It was short-term accommodation, so it was charged at a higher rate than long-term accommodation.
      Despite the relatively high cost of the accommodation, it still represented a good value-for-money option when considering the location.

      One group didn’t agree with this and they did things like leaving the oven on 24 hours a day and other activities that were a middle finger to the ITTP staff.

      After moving out of the apartment and receiving back their deposits in full, and after receiving their TEFL certificates and job guidance, a few members of the group attacked me online via complaint websites.

      It was the first time in ITTP’s 10-year history that this had happened.

      ITTP was not a scam.
      Over a 10-year period, it helped hundreds of people start a new life overseas teaching English.

      I have never run a TEFL reviews website.

      Now, I want to address the OP of this post.

      I am 99.9% certain that it was written by The TEFL Academy (TTA).
      The TEFL Academy is a joint UK/Irish TEFL enterprise.

      It was either written by Rhyan O’Sullivan or Thomas Gibbons.

      Rhyan is one of the TEFL Academy’s business partners, and Thomas Gibbons handles the day-to-day running of the school.

      Subsequent comments were published by:

      1. Paul Murphy, who is the Operations Manager at TEFL Online Pro.
      2. Mia Williams, who runs the Trusted TEFL Reviews website.
      3. The TEFL Academy.
      4. Ian Patrick Leahy, who runs the ESLinsider TEFL program.
      5. Peter Shankar, who has a bizarre obsession with TEFL Online Pro; despite never having taken one of their courses. With my 20+ year experience in the TEFL business, I would wager that Peter is a TEFL course provider stooge.
      6. More comments written by The TEFL Academy, using ridiculous usernames.

      One of the main problems with the TEFL industry is that it is largely unregulated and highly competitive.

      This combination leads to complaints like this that have been written by business competitors, and where my name has been dragged through the mud for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

      I would recommend that the TEFL Academy consults with its lawyer because I will be bringing defamation charges against the school and Thomas and Rhyan.

      Thank you for your time.

      Neville David Thomas

Reviews: 10
Reported Loss : 0 $
Severity : High
Reported by : Anonymous
Views :