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fb0115dc
Community Member

RE: Freelancer Fraud - Very Upset

Hi Everyone!  I need some advice...

 

I've been a very active client over the years ($80K+ on freelance services to date so I have a very active account). 

 

I hired a freelancer for some data entry week way back in 2018... We did a small amount of work, and then the project was put on hold, but the contract remained active.

 

I was doing an audit recently and went through my active contracts, and saw the contract for this person was still open.  There was no activity for almost a year, and then all of the suddent, with no communication they started maxing out the approved hours every week a few months ago - and it was for a small amount ($80) so it flew under the radar.

 

Well this added up, and now it's $4,800 in fraudulent billings, and I'm not sure what to do?  I requested a refund for each billing as a first step.  I looked at the work diary, and they were just essentially logging in and doing nothing to max out the time...

 

I'm in disbelief and can't believe someone would do this...your advice is very appreciated, thank you!

Kind regards,

Roger

17 REPLIES 17
feed_my_eyes
Community Member

I agree that it's shocking how many dishonest freelancers are on Upwork these days, and I'm sorry you were treated this way. But you should have received weekly notifications that this freelancer's work diary was available for review; did you not get these notifications?

Hi Christine,

 

I work with several freelancers, some of them for years, so I'm used to always seeing a balance in the weekly email without feeling the need to do an audit or review the breakdown and trusted the hours submitted were accurate.

 

I understand what you are saying - but it doesn't mean it was right for me to have someone steal almost $5,000 from me over a 2 year period.  Upon reviewing their "work diary" they would just login, and it appears have a bot click on the keyboard to represent activity and leave it on the same page for hours at a time just to max out the weekly hours.

ladyelexia
Community Member

I am sorry to hear you have been scammed. Anytime an hourly contract is not in use, as a client you should put the contract on pause. There is a specific function exactly for this reason. It allows the contract to stay open, but it prevents any form of billing until you unpause the contract. 

 

The freelancer was wrong in this case, BUT, you could have prevented this, and as mentioned earlier, you get a weekly billing report, at most I can only imagine you were unaware for two weeks. 

The freelancer was wrong in this case, BUT, you could have prevented this, and as mentioned earlier, you get a weekly billing report, at most I can only imagine you were unaware for two weeks. 

 

I understand what you are saying - I just didn't think I could or would be taken advantage of this way.  You said you could only imagine that I was unaware of this for two weeks?  I'm not sure what you mean by this... please elaborate. 

What I mean is that I can understand not reviewing a billing statement the very same week it came in, or even for two weeks if you happen to be very busy, traveling, or not feeling well. As a regular adult, not even taking being a business owner into account, it makes sense to review any billing, be that a credit card statement, personal bill, or a business invoice at least once every two weeks knowing you have all manner of recurring charges that will be coming.in. 

 

I really hope it works out for you, and I really hope the freelancer gets kicked off the platform. 


Heather H wrote:

What I mean is that I can understand not reviewing a billing statement the very same week it came in, or even for two weeks if you happen to be very busy, traveling, or not feeling well. As a regular adult, not even taking being a business owner into account, it makes sense to review any billing, be that a credit card statement, personal bill, or a business invoice at least once every two weeks knowing you have all manner of recurring charges that will be coming.in. 

 

I really hope it works out for you, and I really hope the freelancer gets kicked off the platform. 


In an ideal world he would be kicked off AFTER refunding the money. If this has been going on for months obviously all the money has been withdrawn and when it has been withdrawn, it can not be clawed back, unfortunately 😞

 

The only way to get the money back would be to allow him to continue on the platform (which I would consider to be questionable because he is a proven fraud so allowing him access to other clients may not be wise) so he can pay it off in weekly installments... 

 

I am not surprised the OP is very upset... 

tta192
Community Member

There's always two sides to a story, I wouldn't be so quick to label the freelancer as a scammer and the client as the naive, unsuspecting victim.

 

The account is not just hard to believe, but there are many jobs where the freelancer might perform tasks offline, etc. and be instructed by the client to log time as described in the OP. The amount spent in total by a client is not necessarily a sign of high moral standards. If that was the case, such a client would just eat the loss and learn the lesson, which is far more important.

fb0115dc
Community Member

There's always two sides to a story, I wouldn't be so quick to label the freelancer as a scammer and the client as the naive, unsuspecting victim.

 

The account is not just hard to believe, but there are many jobs where the freelancer might perform tasks offline, etc. and be instructed by the client to log time as described in the OP. The amount spent in total by a client is not necessarily a sign of high moral standards. If that was the case, such a client would just eat the loss and learn the lesson, which is far more important.

 

--

 

Andrei,

Thank you so much for your reply.  Even though it wasn't helpful, it's still good to know that people can freely express their opinions regardless of incorrect they are.

 

As far as factoring in offline tasks for the freelancer, that would be a valid point.  Except our contract and our disucssions were only set for approved online, recorded activity.  Of which, they logged on (as shown in their work diary), and had a bot click a static google search screen every hour to keep the window active so that the time would continue recording.

 

I referenced the total amount I've spent, not to present a high moral standard but to show the amount of account activity.  The intent was to give perspective in how $75-80 fraudulent charges went undedected for a longer period of time, as they were buried within $80,000 worth of account activity.

 

Please explain to me how accepting almost $5,000 in fraudulent billings would show that I have a high moral standard?

tta192
Community Member

The proper perspective is you've been spending $400 per week on average.

Fraudulent or not, $80 is hardly "under the radar" at this level. 

fb0115dc
Community Member

Andrei,

 

Not auditing my weekly billing statements is not illegal, it's just unwise.  Fraudulently billing someone outside of the terms of an agreement is highly illegal.

 

Doing a careful audit weekly would have been great to help catch it sooner, but that's not what happened - so it took longer to catch the fraudulent billing and I am addressing it.

 

So I'll ask, what is your point?  

 

Roger

petra_r
Community Member


Roger Y wrote:

Andrei,

 

Not auditing my weekly billing statements is not illegal, it's just unwise. 


Indeed, and negligent. You know that and never pretended otherwise.

 

That said, Andrei's victim blaming is a bit like saying that the old lady next door, whose house was burglarised because she forgot to lock the back door, deserved it because of not locking the door.

 

It actually happens ore often than one would think (here's another one)

 

It's a good reminder to clients that once the work was done they should either close the contract, or, if they have future work for the freelancer, at least pause it.

 

It needn't even be fraudulent or deliberate, although in this case it clearly was. It is so easy to accidentally log time under the wrong contract... 

 

tta192
Community Member


Petra R wrote:

Roger Y wrote:

Andrei,

 

Not auditing my weekly billing statements is not illegal, it's just unwise. 


Indeed, and negligent. You know that and never pretended otherwise.

 

That said, Andrei's victim blaming is a bit like saying that the old lady next door, whose house was burglarised because she forgot to lock the back door, deserved it because of not locking the door.

 

It actually happens ore often than one would think (here's another one)

 

It's a good reminder to clients that once the work was done they should either close the contract, or, if they have future work for the freelancer, at least pause it.

 

It needn't even be fraudulent or deliberate, although in this case it clearly was. It is so easy to accidentally log time under the wrong contract... 

 


I'm personally not convinced about that. Neither the client nor the freelancer can come up with a bulletproof story at this point, the truth will forever stay between the two of them.

 

Really, 20% of your budget cannot stay 'under the radar' for one whole year.

 

 

PS: If the old lady called the police one year after the fact, would she be taken seriously?

 

JoanneP
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Roger,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I'd like to check this for you. Could you please send me a PM with the contract ID so I can check? Please click on my name to send a PM. Thank you.

~ Joanne
Upwork
a_lipsey
Community Member


Roger Y wrote:

Hi Everyone!  I need some advice...

 

I've been a very active client over the years ($80K+ on freelance services to date so I have a very active account). 

 

I hired a freelancer for some data entry week way back in 2018... We did a small amount of work, and then the project was put on hold, but the contract remained active.

 

I was doing an audit recently and went through my active contracts, and saw the contract for this person was still open.  There was no activity for almost a year, and then all of the suddent, with no communication they started maxing out the approved hours every week a few months ago - and it was for a small amount ($80) so it flew under the radar.

 

Well this added up, and now it's $2,000 in fraudulent billings, and I'm not sure what to do?  I requested a refund for each billing as a first step.  I looked at the work diary, and they were just essentially logging in and doing nothing to max out the time...

 

I'm in disbelief and can't believe someone would do this...your advice is very appreciated, thank you!

Kind regards,

Roger


Yes, it's a little shocking when you realize how many people are willing to scam a client or a freelancer to make a buck. Unfortunately, if you don't take advantage of Upwork's system and protections the way they are intended - reviewing the weekly work log, pausing the contract when there is no work - it opens you up to this kind of abuse. 

I understand what you, and the rest of the responders are saying about the protections in place.  But to have almost $5K stolen from me, and to hear many of you tell me that it's basically my fault for not catching it, just makes me feel worse.

 

Well, Roger, I understand it seems like not very supportive, but there's not much to do. This is the cautionary tale, right? We all sympathize that someone took you for a ride, and none of us know how to get your money back. You'll have to work with customer support for that. But at least by coming here and telling your story, other clients, if they do visit, can be aware to be very careful to always view the work diary and pause contracts that aren't active. 

 

We all do feel for you, we just can't do much as we are just users like you. I'll flag this to see if  a moderator can help address it. Is the contractor in the same country, at least as you? If Upwork can't do anything, perhaps you can take some kind of local small claims court suit with them? 

 

We aren't trying to make you feel bad; we just can't do much except repeat what you know already in hindsight. 😞 If I could wave a wand and fix it, I would. 

VladimirG
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Roger,

 

I completely understand how critical the issue you're experiencing on this contract is. Someone from our team will reach out to you and assist you directly. In the meantime, you can consider pausing the active contract in order to prevent further time from being logged if the time is being logged without your consent. Feel free to reach out to me via a private message if you need help or clarification regarding taking any action on this contract.

~ Vladimir
Upwork
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