Freelancer asking for money regarding medical...

tngred · ‎01-17-2022

I have a freelancer who asked me on whatsapp to send her money by Paypal to cover her family's medical bills, and she would do bill the work outside of upworks. I would like to know how to proceed. I have suspended the contract and now discovered she is maxing out her time on work (which I have not instructed her to do)

prestonhunter · ‎01-17-2022

re: "Freelancer asking for money regarding medical bills for her family"

LOL.

Yes. Some "freelancers" have an unlimited supply of sick family members.

These are just scammers.

Real Upwork freelancers don't ask clients for money like that.

re: "I would like to know how to proceed."

If the freelancer said this within the Upwork Messages tool, you can right-click or left-click on the message or three-dots icon and display a contextual menu that allows you to report this as an inappropriate message.

Alternatively, you can go to the freelancer's profile page and click on the "Flag as inappropriate" option to report this freelancer.

re: "I have a freelancer who asked me on whatsapp to send her money by Paypal... and she would do bill the work outside of Upwork."

This freelancer's request to receive money outside of Upwork is a VERY SERIOUS violation of Upwork ToS.

I hope that you will report this freelancer and I hope that Upwork will permanently remove her from the Upwork platform.

(One final note: I have seen this scam described many times over the years, here in the Forum. But if this freelancer was actually telling the truth about having medical bills, this makes her behavior even more reprehensible. Because she is using a sick family member as an excuse to extort money from people.)

BojanS · ‎01-17-2022

I’m sorry to hear about the experience you had with this freelancer, Thomas.

It looks like you’re communicating with our team regarding this case on your existing ticket. If you have any additional questions please post them on that ticket for further assistance.

Thank you!

~ Bojan

ahmadarif0921 · ‎01-17-2022

I don't recommend proceeding outside of upwork because with Upwork hourly contracts, you get screenshots of your freelancer's system every 10 minutes.

a_lipsey · ‎01-17-2022

Ahmad A wrote:
I don't recommend proceeding outside of upwork because with Upwork hourly contracts, you get screenshots of your freelancer's system every 10 minutes.

Also because it's a violation of TOS and will get your account banned?

a_lipsey · ‎01-17-2022

Thomas N wrote:
I have suspended the contract and now discovered she is maxing out her time on work (which I have not instructed her to do)

Make sure you dispute the hours asap.