Fraud

9cbb6f57 · ‎03-28-2020

I was working with a freelancer until about 6 wks ago - name is **Edited for Community Guidelines**. I was not satisfied with her work. She asked me to pay her in advance and come out of the protection you advice. It was very unethical. I was new to this, she took advantage of me and eventually I got robbed. No website, no evidence for her work. This is a disgrace. Please contact me at **Edited for Community Guidelines**. Thank you.

prestonhunter · ‎03-28-2020

re: "I was working with a freelancer until about 6 wks ago... I was not satisfied with her work. She asked me to pay her in advance and come out of the protection you advice. It was very unethical."

I agree. She should NOT have done this.

re: "I was new to this, she took advantage of me and eventually I got robbed. No website, no evidence for her work. This is a disgrace."

I am sorry that this happened.

You learned an important lesson: Do not pay in advance.

It is not Upwork's intention that you pay in advance. You apparently have already realized this.

You have already reported this freelancer here in the Forum. Normally that is not necessary. Normally you only need to report freelancers usin the "Flag as inappropriate" link button in the top right hand corner of the freelancer's profile page. If you have not done so yet, then I recommend that you do that now. Because that sends a report to the correct, dedicated team who can investigate.

For context, how much money in total did you pay to this freelancer?

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

9cbb6f57 · ‎03-28-2020

Hello,
In total: $1500.
She did create a website, but that was not what I expected. The initial
work was about correcting a few mistakes on a website, but not creating a
new one. Anyway, what do I know what's best to do?
She should not be allowed to do this scam. I am attaching the initial "agreement" she made. This is a person who pretends to know WP, but she definitely does not. She has sent me several e-mails, it was hard for me why coudl not she undersytand what I initially asked for. She should not have taken the job. The job I posted initially should not take more than 10 hours.
How can you allow people without any reviews to stay on UpWork for so long?

The community should remove such scammers.
At this time, I feel avoidant from using UpWork.
Thanks for your answer,

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

AleksandarD · ‎03-28-2020

Hi Sorin,

I'm sorry to hear about the bad experience you had. I checked your account and it seems that you have no contracts with the mentioned freelancer. Could you please send me a private message with more information on this so that I can check and assist you further?

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar

9cbb6f57 · ‎03-28-2020

Hi Aleksandar,

I have just sent you a pic I took of the last pages of the agreement. Trying to send you the entire pdf file.

Thank you again for trying to help.

JoanneP · ‎03-28-2020

Hi Sorin,

Thank you for sharing the PDF file. One of our team members will reach out to you directly via a support ticket to assist you further.

~ Joanne

9cbb6f57 · ‎03-28-2020

I was just contacted by someone.

Thank you Joanne Marie !

colettelewis · ‎03-28-2020

Sorin B wrote:
I was just contacted by someone.
Thank you Joanne Marie !

______________________

I see. Upwork supporting a client who clearly agreed to work off site? Both client and freelancer should be suspended, but I wonder if that will happen.

andreag22 · ‎03-30-2020

Re: I see. Upwork supporting a client who clearly agreed to work off site? Both client and freelancer should be suspended, but I wonder if that will happen.

I agree, but I wouldn't be surprised if only the freelancer gets the boot.

"The customer is always right"

Clients are the customers.

Freelancers are the product.

jr-translation · ‎03-31-2020

Nichola L wrote:
Sorin B wrote:
I was just contacted by someone.
Thank you Joanne Marie !
______________________

I see. Upwork supporting a client who clearly agreed to work off site? Both client and freelancer should be suspended, but I wonder if that will happen.

As far as I understood the freelancer requested to be paid in advance. In this case the client made a mistake the freelancer took advantage of.

Maybe the client should close the contract leave an honest feedback and rating and wait what happens. $1500 is a lot of money so some freelancers might make a run for it but others might be inclined to get rid of a negative feedback.

9cbb6f57 · ‎04-01-2020

I suggest the gurus to find a method to track freelancers' # of current and past clients and make those # visible. This way, we can realize which one has clients and which one invites them to work off site.

Booting people does not solve a general issue.

boshoffirene · ‎04-02-2020

'Gurus' do not work for Upwork. They are just normal freelancers who happen to have posted more than others.

Having said that, and from what I understand, you and the freelancer in question agreed to take the contract off the platform and payment was thus also off the platform? According to my understanding, Upwork can only do something for you had there been a contract in place on Upwork and with payment going through this platform. If you made an off-platform payment, they can't do much about getting you your money back.

Although the freelancer was at fault for suggesting you go off-platform, so are you for agreeing.

Please understand, I am not pointing fingers at you. This is just how it works.

If they have enough information against the freelancer, they may very well suspend their account. But I don't see that they could get your money back if this is the case.