re: "A freelancer wants me to pay them a downpayment of 70 out of 200 before starting the project."
Never do that.
There are probably some legitimate freelancers who would ask for something like that.
What if it is 10% of Upwork freelancers who ask for that are legitimate, and the other 90%?
How DO YOU KNOW that you are dealing with the good 10% and not the bad 90%?
re: "They do not want to use an escrow because the funds would be released until later."
When you say "not using escrow", do yo umean that they want a direct payment?
Because direct payments that go outside the Upwork system are a violation of Upwork ToS.
Both freelancer and client can have their accounts permanently terminated for doing something like that.
re: "They want downpayment to consult with the team first. Is this the right way to go about this?"
No.
re: "If so does Upwork have payment protection for me, the client, if I end up getting scammed?"
Whether or not you do the payment within the Upwork system or not, absolutely no sort of payment protection applies to upfront payments.
YOU ARE ALLOWED to pay a downpayment of $70 to a freelancer through the Upwork system.
You can do this using the client-side "Send bonus" tool, or you can set up a $70 milestone payment and immediately release it.
Just keep in mind that the money is gone forever. If the freelancer then DOES NOTHING, he has not broke any rules, and Upwork will absolutely not help you get that money back.
