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anafreimar
Community Member

How to know that a freelancer is lying

Hi,

 

I´m currently starting to talk with two freelancers that applied to my job and both of them send me the same app´s link, claiming they built that app.

 

I tried to find out who´s that app´s owner but this is a tedious thing to do as in the markets they give a lot of names that migh be the ones of the seller, not the owner, and also I don not think they would give me the programmer´s name.

So...any idea about how to unmask wich freelancer is lying (or both?)

 

Thanks

25 REPLIES 25
colettelewis
Community Member

Both of them could be lying. Report them to CS - it's their job to investigate.  I wouldn't consider either of these freelancers.

 

Thanks for your oppinion. I´m reaching to the same conclusion.

Sorry, what do you mean by CS?

Hi Ana,

 

Nichola is referring to customer support. You can reach them here.

~ Valeria
Upwork

Ok then, Is wher I wrote to. Thanks a lot!

versailles
Community Member

If only you could imagine the amount of websites and apps who have hundreds of authors. All freelancing on Upwork.

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

Hi!

 

I´d like to know if your are saying tha ironically, really telling that many freelancers lye and assign themselves apps thar are not, or do you think that both of them might be right and have worked in the same proyect.

 

I asked both freelancers for proves and one of them told me that is very usual that a same project has had several freelancers working on in (in several versions and so on). 

 

Should I believe her?...

 

Thanks for the answer


@Ana F wrote:

Hi!

 

I´d like to know if your are saying tha ironically, really telling that many freelancers lye and assign themselves apps thar are not, or do you think that both of them might be right and have worked in the same proyect.

 

I asked both freelancers for proves and one of them told me that is very usual that a same project has had several freelancers working on in (in several versions and so on). 

 

Should I believe her?...

 

Thanks for the answer


Yes I was ironic, and no, you probably shouldn't believe her. Yes, some apps and websites have more than one developer, but the chances that it was the case with this app AND that both members of the team applied to your job is just ridiculous.

 

A lot of unskilled and cheap providers lie about almost everything in their profiles. One really needs to know how to read between the lines while hiring people.

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

Ok...any tip you can give me about how to get info reading their answers? sorry but I am a fully unexperienced in pages like this one and this is the first job I post 😛

 

Thanks a lot, honestly 😉

 

 

 


@Rene K wrote:

@Ana F wrote:

Hi!

 

I´d like to know if your are saying tha ironically, really telling that many freelancers lye and assign themselves apps thar are not, or do you think that both of them might be right and have worked in the same proyect.

 

I asked both freelancers for proves and one of them told me that is very usual that a same project has had several freelancers working on in (in several versions and so on). 

 

Should I believe her?...

 

Thanks for the answer


Yes I was ironic, and no, you probably shouldn't believe her. Yes, some apps and websites have more than one developer, but the chances that it was the case with this app AND that both members of the team applied to your job is just ridiculous.

 

A lot of unskilled and cheap providers lie about almost everything in their profiles. One really needs to know how to read between the lines while hiring people.


Unless of course by off chance that both of these people may be from the same agency.  

"Fairness is giving all people the treatment they earn and deserve. It doesn't mean treating everyone alike-Coach John Wooden"

I doubt it, as each is from completely different and far away countries...

They can be from the same Upwork agency while being located in different countries, but in this case, their agency membership is visible on their profile.

 

And as for picking the right person, it depends on the industry. I definitely know how to hire writers and translators, but for hiring IT people I'm not the best advice.

 

Maybe Preston will chime in, he is knowledgeable about this...

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

Ana, it is within a nano-millimeter 100% positive that both 'providers' are lying. 

 

Without going into great detail, how involved is the site you need? Is it a WordPress (simple) or a behemouth e-Commerce site that needs tons of 'other stuff'?  This kind of info needs to be in your RFP ... and it is to your benefit to search for contractors using as many descriptive words as possible.

 

Example - fashion / parenting / counseling (etc.) site that will work both for web and phone app (they all should) and that you, as the owner, can update as needed.  This should be listed as a fixed price job.

 

If it is a far more complicated venture, then finding a project manager with IT and web design experience is far more preferable.  This will probably be an hourly job.

 

Tip: if you find someone(s) that look promising, set up a SKPYE call. Intuition and gut common sense are usually right.

In fact is very usual having a team or contributors to build an app. Specially in open source software. Projects fork and travel in parallel, change leaders, have contributors... even simple personal projects are in github nowadays

 

Both could be lying, one could be lying... or, of course both could be saying the truth.

 

> How I know if somebody is lying me?

 

Hum... apply common sense and use your instinct. Talk with them about the other contributors to the app. Lower your risk level with a smaller task. Study their profiles and portfolio. Arrange a horse race. Prepare a few technical questions for your interview... in short: do your job as client.

 

The real problem here could be that, being a new client, you are afraid of the hiring process. Money is made to be spent, and sometimes lost. To gain experience in this sense you can start with a small quantity of money that you can afford to lose in the worst of the cases and try. Allow yourself to fail and you will develop quickly your arachnid sense for spotting liars. Education costs money and this is an usefull skill. In any case, if the freelancer is a disaster, spent money can be reinbursed under some conditions. Read the FAQs.

davidd1008
Community Member

What you need to do is find out if one of them always tells the truth while the other one always lies.... Then Google the answer to that riddle since I can never remember it.

 

In all seriousness, they're both probably lying. Best to not even bother with either of them unless they can show clear evidence that they are the other.

 

The other possibility is its the same person with two profiles (which is a big no no). 

jaliu
Community Member

In my experience, all the cheap freelancers lie about something, or will take credit for others work. With all these tools, themes, and platforms available some of them may have customized one small aspect of a full blown theme and say that they "built that website" or "designed" something when they really just copied another's work. Not a bad thing if this is all you need but it's hard to vet any freelancer really.  

claudiacezy
Community Member

Ask what exactly was their role in developing that app and if possible to be given a contact email of the app owner to get a recommendation from them, verify the autenticity of their claims. No gmail, yahoo address but company email.


A freelancer might not want to give a client's contact for good reasons but some have permission to share for references if needed.

 

You could find the contact email yourself on the app page and shoot an email or give a call. You dont ask who is their developer but say something along the lines ... X said he has been involved in developing your app and want to get a confirmation that is true as I am planning to hire him.


I would skip if no reference contact given and/or doesn't have his own app in the store or provide link to an app that you can easily verify as being developed by him/her.

 

anafreimar
Community Member

Thanks a lot for your suggestions. I,ll try to find the apps owner and do it. Thank you all for your answers 🙂
lysis10
Community Member

Is this android? Go to Google Play (Apple too) and look up the app. It will tell you the name of the developer. If you really want to figure it out, send an email to the developer and ask.

 

Stay away from noobs on here or you'll wind up like the guy with the missing $5k. If they are too cheap, well... they probably are lying. If they have apps listed in their portfolio, look them up in the app store and look at the developer. 

 

One thing that is obvious to me is that when people steal their portfolio items, lots of times they will mix their real stuff in with the fake stuff and the difference in level of graphics are very different. that's one way to tell if they are lying. Not perfect because some people steal their entire portfolio.

 

Stay away from someone who claims 2+ years. It seems people from certain places like to put 2 years experience for 0. 2 years is not enough time to understand the ins and outs of development from the ground up.

 

They are easy to spot when you have experience. Maybe hire someone to help you I dunno.

There is no way to ascertain which developers will be most valuable to your project based on their former work, even if everything they say is true.

 

Maybe they did great work on a past project, but they're very busy now and they can't provide you with new work quickly enough. Another contractor can provide you with quailty new work on a weekly basis.

 

Ultimately it doesn't matter what a developer did in the past. It matters what a developer is providing to you in the present. Your project manager can help you identify the most valuable contractors from among all of those that you hire early on. Your project manager will help you figure out which ones are providing quality source code and source files, in a timely manner, at a rate that makes them valuable to your project.

 

 

As a freelancer and a graphic designer on this site...here's my advice.

 

If you don't trust the designer or feel something may be wrong, don't use them. Find one you are comfortable with.

 

I personally would not waste my time trying to "solve the mystery". Odds are you will never really know for sure and you having that looming over your project is just extra stress you dont need. Any designer on here worth their salt should be able to prove their work in a heartbeat.

 

For example, I have the rough drafts, notes, messages, etc. for every single project in my portfolio... all with dates and even some time stamped. Even ones I did back on the old Elance platform. No good designer is ever going to get rid of that stuff becaause we never know when a client might comeback with changes or updates. So we literally hoard that kind stuff so we dont have to start all over when a client does show up.

 

My advice, dont waste your time with either one. Move on and find someone else.

Thank you all for your answers. I´ve decided to do what you say and find someone else. I asked them to prove their claim and one of them never answered and the other told me "she did the work like one year ago and had no way to find matherial to prove it".  Both clearly lyning.

 

Anyway I reported this to the Upwork team so they can find out and maybe penalize them. 

 

I´ll move on, bearing in mind your advices.

 

Thanks a  lot.

ahammed_farid
Community Member

Both freelancers have sent you same apps link and claiming they made that apps.  

OMG you should report , they are just lying

des2013
Community Member

Both might be telling absolute truth. Perhaps taking a little more credit than what is due, but truth. Many sites are built by more than one developer.  There could be different revisions of the site with different developers. Some build front-end, others back-end.  I don't think customer support is going to verify a freelancer's references for you.  Get contact info, if they can't provide it, then red flag. else try whois and contact site admin.

des2013
Community Member

Lack of proof? What proof would possibly be acceptable? Screenshots? Anyone can do that. Code samples? This is a contract, NDA and/or IP violation. Signed affidavits? Video? What exactly? Remember when you accuse someone of an ethics violation, those receiving the complaint may be as sloppy as the accusers or the applicants. Someone's life and reputation may be severely damaged; their income affected for years to come. The real problem here is the lack of employment regulations that apply to "gig" workers. The kind of arbitrary abuse embodied by many of the posts here could be prevented by making litigation feasible. If employers knew that normal employment rules applied, most of this would disappear.

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