Freelancer stolen ( 2500$ ) from me ( he never worked on the project and runaway with the money ! )

[#1]

Hi there

i have hired a freelancer on upwork for a  facebook marketing  , we have spent more than one week in discussing the project and he seemed very knowledgeable   with all the info that he provided me and how he gone make it happen 

once i have released the payment ( fixed price 2500$ ) , the freelancer claimed that he has bank problem and couldn't start the project 

i have waited one month and the freelancer still has the bank problem ( which is big lie )

i asked him to refund my payment and waited another month for him to refund me but he still calming that he has  bank problem

he has never worked on my project and probably will never refund my payment because he is not responding on the messages now   ( he stole 2500$ and run away )

if you think that this story is not true , i can provide any proof you want about what happen to me 

the freelancer has more than one job in progress and he receive money from those jobs ( which is big proof that his clams about bank problem is big fat lie  )

(( and the biggest shame is that upwork support  cant do nothing about this problem when i have contacted them ))

 they only suspended his account but he is still has many jobs in progress , they must band his account completely and refund my payment ( or at least take the money from the progress jobs that he has and refund my money )

[#2]

---

@huamid a wrote:

Hi there

1) i have hired a freelancer on upwork for a  facebook marketing .........

once i have released the payment ( fixed price 2500$ ) , the freelancer claimed that he has bank problem and couldn't start the project 

2)  they only suspended his account but he is still has many jobs in progress , they must band his account completely and refund my payment ( or at least take the money from the progress jobs that he has and refund my money )

---

 1) Why did you release funds before you had the deliverables? This is how it is supposed to work: You fund the milestone, the freelancer does the work, you review the completed work and then either release the funds or request changes. Once you release the funds you declare you have received the work and it was to your satisfaction.

2) Suspending an account means the freelancer can no longer access their funds, but whatever was already withdrawn is gone... It can not be retrieved.

[#3]

---

@Petra R wrote:

---

 1) Why did you release funds before you had the deliverables?

---

This is a good question.

[#4]

because he told me to release the funds in order for him to spend it on the marketing - he refused to start with part of the payment and other part relaesd later 

1500$ on marketing and 1000$ for his fees 

[#5]

Hi Huamid,

Sorry to hear that you are having some issues with the freelancer you worked with. I see that you have a ticket with our Support team regarding this contract. Please refer to the information shared with you directly in that ticket for additional details. We won't be able to discuss any additional information regarding the freelancer's account status here.

[#6]

Petra's right. This is solely on you. Escrow is there for a reason, and that reason is so that work only begins when funds are verified, and funds are only released when work is complete.

Was the freelancer unethical? Without being a party to your interactions, I can't say for sure, but it does appear that way. But the fact remains that you released the funds of your own volition. Just as a freelancer is under no obligation to begin work without a funded project or milestone, you were under no obligation to release any funds until the work was completed.

The payment protections offered by Upwork only protect if you actually use them as designed. If you shortcut the process, there's not a whole lot anyone can do, and making demands to take money out of other jobs someone has in progress is neither constructive, nor possible.

Going forward, I would suggest you follow the Upwork guidelines, and only release payment when a freelancer has submitted something.

The old phrase "Doveryai, no proveryai." ("Trust, but verify.") comes to mind. Trust them to do the job. But verify that the work is actually done before paying them.

[#7]

You can't play here on trust. Is your fault, and you have to ask first for proof of work and then release milestone. Or sign hourly contract, which is the best, for both sides - freelancer and client.