Incorrect Location of Freelancer and Fake Reviews

[#1]

Hi, 

This has happened to me twice now. I hired freelancers and both claimed to be from Canada. On second or third day of the work I found the work is not getting done, neither am i getting timelines of completion. I googled both of them, looked like they both lied about their geography, they both are from 'another geography' (Famously known here) and second both of them did not know how to complete the work. I paid some money and got rid of both of them. 

Seems like an elaborate scam. Upwork does not take geography into account. One of these freelancers has been padding up reviews and those are fake. 

Is this an old scam and Upwork is not doing anything about this? Feels unsafe to use upwork anymore. 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[#2]

Hi, Shuba. It's really sad to listen to it. There are many scams that I am also facing. The best way to deal with them is to simply report them so that Upwork can suspend their accounts.

[#3]

How to report it?

[#4]

Hi Shubha,

Thank you for your message. I am sorry to hear about your experience. Please feel free to use the "Flag as Inappropriate" option on the freelancer's profile to report any suspicious activity.

Thank you,

Pradeep

[#5]

How do I do that after closing the job? Also, she charged me $100 through hourly work before closing the contract, however, the work is not done. How do i dispute that?

[#6]

Hi Shubha,

Thank you for your message. I shared your report with our team and one of our agents will reach out to you using a support ticket to assist you further. You can access your support tickets here.

Thank you,

Pradeep

[#7]

Shubha:

As a client, I have hired over 180 freelancers on Upwork.

It is a nice thing to do to help others if you report freelancer profiles with fake information. But always put yourself first. Remember that reporting freelancers helps OTHER PEOPLE. It does not help you.

If you report a freelancer after they logged time on your contract, it does not mean you get any money back.

The best way for a client to save money on Upwork is to proactively plan to never ask freelancers for money. Never ask for a refund. Never dispute. Those things are big gambles. They usually won't work. You usually will not get money back.

If you don't like a freelancer's work, then end the contract. Don't pay money to the freelancer and later ask for it back. They don't want to give it back. Upwork doesn't want you to get money back.

When you hire freelances using an hourly contract, then Upwork bills clients based on the time freelancers logged. NOT based on whether the work was done. I use hourly contracts 95% of the time as a client. It is usually the best way for me as a client to accomplish my goals. But it requires some monitoring of the freelancer's work, especially early on.

I never assume that any freelancer will work out for my project. I hire them, but check their work.

[#8]

I really like Prestons work ethic here. I have viewed many of his comments on the community since I started in 2021 and one thing I can say is all that he has said in this case, is a fact. 

I have been on the opposite side of a client requesting money back from me because they felt like the solution I provided was not the standard they required. 

On the same end, I work with a client that contacted me a year ago, for something they only implemented in their business last month. 

The way I see it, is that people think if they turn to upwork, upwork must have the solution, but no, that is wrong. 

Upwork is only a marketplace that connects a willing client, with a willing freelancer. 

YOU as the client, need to monitor the freelancers work. before you even get to working with them, you should have interviewed properly for the skills you require. If you get a bad feeling, you are in control. 

The phenomenon you are describing, happened to me to on the client side but I realized how can this guy be in Canada, where it is 3am in the morning and on the interview, I asked him what is the time and he had to take a long time to think about it. After that, I could hear taxis hooting in the background. 

I ended the call and I told the freelancer he is dishonest and blocked him. 

I realize I should have reported him. 

IT could have helped someone like you

[#9]

Thank you for your input. Our team does conduct some checks before hiring, but there are some misses sometimes. Guess that is the hard way to learn. 

[#10]

re: "Our team does conduct some checks before hiring, but there are some misses sometimes."

You are welcome to check.

As a client, I don't check.

The only thing I care about is their work AFTER I hire them.

But I speak only for myself.

[#11]

You may want to have a video conference.  Then in in middle of the conference ask them to point their laptop out of window.  If the the day and night matches their location they are telling the truth 

[#12]

Only if the "famous" "another geography" is in a substantially different timezone

[#13]

Whenever you hire a person make sure his profile is verified or you can set a zoom call with developers and ensure things and you can ask proves from them after all confirmation you can hire them.

[#14]

* Don't worry about geography, you'll be amazed how people can surprise you in a positive way.

* As a client, be ready to take risks. In my opinion you can't get anything done if you're scared of burning a few hours worth of budget.

* Always have a zoom call before hiring.

* Always check hours and deliverables.

Good luck and happy entrepreneuring!

[#15]

1. If I worried about it, i wouldn't have hired twice. I did a back-check after we found something is off. So, categorizing us as choosing as per 'geography' is not true and correct. Second, if it does not matter why would freelancers do that? It is a piece of information might or might not be significant, but hiding  detail is not correct or lying about it. 

2. Yes, I burned few hours and hence I took a chance. 

Please, community member, do not preach and provide a practical solution. Thank you for your time. 

[#16]

Then why do you ask here?

If you don't ask, nobody will preach.

[#17]

Sure.

[#18]

Upwork is filled with lots of scammers. We all need to be careful, and be sure of who we hire

[#19]

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Nancy O wrote:

Upwork is filled with lots of scammers. We all need to be careful, and be sure of who we hire

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Yes, we also have to be careful who hires us.
There are "lots of scammers" on both sides.