Someone Running a scam using our company name and branding

[e63daf42]

We have someone contacting freelancers and offering (Non-existant) positions using our company name and likeness.  This is clearly a scam, but there is absolutely no way to report to a customer service reporesentitive.  How do we flag the user and the job listings without an account, or any contat with the upwork company?  This is fairly urgent as our consumer affairs group has received 10 or so calls and emails asking if this is a legit job offer after an "interview" with our female VP, they relized the voice and professionalism was CLEARLY not a female VP they were talking to! 

Thanks in advance! 

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

Russell:

Thank you for your note.

First of all: Don't take this personally.

What you are referring to is an extremely common type of scam used to try to extract money from newbie freelancers. Virtually every company that has a presence on the Internet might be the source of names and photos used to try to trick freelancers.

This is something that is done to hundreds or thousands of companies, and it has nothing to do with Upwork specifically. It is a practiced, scripted, canned scam technique practiced on all platforms where people seek work.

I am really very sorry that ANYBODY has contacted you. When discussing this type of thing with freelancers here in the Forum, I always advise freelancers to NOT contact the companies who are named in these fraudulent job postings. It is simply a waste of the actual company's time. Such calls offer NO benefit to you or your company.

There is no way for you to issue a general request that nobody "steal" your company's name for use in fraudulent job postings. Because it is not Upwork that is doing that. The only people who are doing that are scammers. Upwork removes them from the platform as soon as it discovers them.

If you ever are made aware of a specific job posting that is being used fraudulently in reference to your company, then you may use the "Flag as inappropriate" button link associated with that job posting.

Of course if you have specific client user account information, you could also provide that information here in the Forum. You can click on the name of any Forum Moderator and send information to her using PM (Private Message).

My best advice to you and your company would be to think of how you can handle any calls or emails in the fastest way possible. Keep in mind that you have NO obligation whatsoever to the freelancers who contact you. Put the interests of your company first. Do not try to "help" them, other than in whatever way most efficiently reduces or eliminates the drain on your company's time and resources. The freelancers who contact you are violating Upwork's protocols.

[e63daf42]

Thank so much for the response Preston,  appreciate the time!  I'll let the team know, and we're tracking down the fraudulent gmail address as well.  It's our first instance of this type of activity and as someone not active on Upwork, seemed strange there was no way to search for, and report the profile in question. 

Thanks again!

[prestonhunter]

Because you used this Forum, you already have an "account" that you CAN use to either post a message in this thread, or to directly contact a Forum Moderator.

[For example: Bojan in the in the post below. Note the word "Moderator" above his name.]

If you have a link to a job posting, that will be the only thing you need to report a job.

If you have an Upwork account, you can directly view job pages and use the "Flag as inappropriate" link button.

If you have a gmail address or other email address... That address may or may not be useful in tracking down a fraudulent user. Don't hesitate to provide it. But it is possible for a scammer "client" to post a job and not provide that fraudulent email address until they contact a freelancer. Email addresses like these are often simply "throwaway" email addresses and they might not be directly linkable to a client account or job posting.

[BojanS]

Hi Russell,

I'll go ahead and escalate this report to our team. One of our team members will reach out to you directly via email as soon as possible for more information and the name of the company, so we could investigate and take action as per our internal processes.

Thank you!