Blocked by a client after I submitted unwatermarked sample

[#1]

I was blocked by a client after he asked me 2 times to send unwatermarked samples because "wanted to see better the results " of the edits that I`ve made, before he will hire me.

He told me that he is interviewing a few freelancers but right after I sent him the unwatermarked sample, he blocked me. I`m thinking that he only wanted the sample without paying?

I`m not sure.

I made some screenshots of the conversation, maybe everyone should be careful and send only samples with watermarks and only after they were hired.

[#2]

Were you hired?

Is it real?

[#3]

This is a good infographic.
No, I was not hired... He told me to do a test job and unfortunately I agreed.
I sent the sample with a watermark and after that he asked me if I can delete the watermark because he cant see the results very good.
Now I saw that the job has 6 interviews and no one was hired yet.
I hope my fellow mates will not make the same mistakes as I did.
I can show you printscreens of the conversation if that helps.
Yet, it was my mistake because I worked before I was hired. It was a 10 min work, but still, it was not fair 🙂

[#4]

I made a similar mistake when I was still kind of new here. Something told me I should google search the story I had given the client as a sample. Discovered he had posted it on his web page with his own name on it. I'm a ghostwriter, so I agree to someone else getting the credit for my work, BUT they have to pay me for that right. I contacted the "client" and told him he could take the story down or pay me for it, and I named my fee. I threatened legal action if he didn't. Within minutes the story was down. Not entirely wasted effort, though. The story made a nice addition to my portfolio!

Now that the client has your unwatermarked work (and apparently a few others'), I would search for it soon to see if he's using it. My guess is he is. He's a scammer who took advantage of your trust. Grrrrrrrrr!!!!!

[#5]

Although he has a 4.9 star rating and more than 80 Jobs hired.
I will check soon on his website and online to see if he used my sample.
I guess we have to be more careful. Good luck!

[#6]

Adrian, if you haven't already, you could also report this to customer support (with the screenshots). Maybe it'll help save more freelancers from getting scammed by him.

[#7]

I wanted to do this thats why I posted here. I will do that 🙂

[#8 · Accepted solution]

Hi Adrian,

Job posts asking for free work are not allowed on the platform and are a violation of ToS. If you haven't already, please flag the original job posting for us to review by clicking on the "Flag as inappropriate" link located at the upper right of the job posting. Also report any similar jobs like this in the future. You can also send me the link to the job posting in a PM and I will follow up on it. You may also want to check out this thread about avoiding suspicious jobs for more information on what to be on the look out for in terms of jobs or clients to avoid and report for review.