Work Was Copied, Verbatim, by Freelancer **Edited for community guidelines**

[5024145c]

A copy of weeks ago, I had requested an ebook be written by a writer here, **Edited for community guidelines**.  She sent the file to me (it needed some revisions) and when I read it, I learned that much of the content was copied from a book already published on Amazon.  This is plagiarism, correct?

I immediately contacted Upwork and submitted proof.  One week later, Upwork decided to give her a courtesy credit.  She was NOT penalized at all for this inappropriate action from this platform.  WHY???!!!  It seems that the only thing of interest here is for this platform to make money, and Clients are not protected because these writers who copy other author's work, do NOT get penalized or removed from working here.

I was disgusted and appalled to find this out.  It is unfair to other writers here and certainly unfair to me (as a client)!

I emailed her questioning this but she never replied.  The "team" closed the contract and now I am not able to leave public feedback.  I know they can reverse this and allow me to leave feedback but I was told they cannot.  So disappointed with upwork.  I will stick with the other, reputable platform who takes an interest in buyers and sellers alike.  

[petra_r]

You got your money back, I hope, right?

When you looked at that freelancer's profile, did you not notice at first glance that "she" is not what / where / who "she" claims to be?

You fell for some fake in Kenya

[katrinabeaver]

Just to note the name of the freelancer will be redacted as it's against community guidelines.

Copied verbatim, easy to prove. Not sure why Upwork would condone this, but as we all know there are two sides to every story. I'm sorry to hear this happened to you, and if everything is as you say (not saying it's not), now we are losing a client. 

[BojanS]

Hi Cathy,  

I`m sorry to hear about the bad experience you had with your freelancer. I see that your concern has already been escalated via the ticket and I'll be following up with the team! Thank you!

[bobafett999]

Well well well

How much did you pay?

[petra_r]

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@Prashant P wrote:

Well well well

How much did you pay?

---

 Is cheap plagiarism less illegal than expensive plagiarism?

[martina_plaschka]

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@Petra R wrote:

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@Prashant P wrote:

Well well well

How much did you pay?

---

 Is cheap plagiarism less illegal than expensive plagiarism?

---

 no, it's not.

I think Prashant was inquiring if the job was one of our favorites - the write me a 10000 word ebook for 10$ deals.... therefore implying that 1. you get what you pay for and 2. karma is a b.... eautiful lady. 

[petra_r]

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@Martina P wrote:

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@Petra R wrote:

---

@Prashant P wrote:

Well well well

How much did you pay?

---

 Is cheap plagiarism less illegal than expensive plagiarism?

---

 no, it's not.

I think Prashant was inquiring if the job was one of our favorites - the write me a 10000 word ebook for 10$ deals.... therefore implying that 1. you get what you pay for and 2. karma is a b.... eautiful lady. 

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 almost certainly was, but that does not make the plagiarism any better.

That said, even poor old foreign non native English speaking me could tell at first glance that the profile in question does not belong to a US based experienced writer, the English is completely off - even if the Kenyan timezone didn't give it away.

It sounds like the OP got their money back and learned that you get what you pay for, and I have little doubt the fake freelancer's profile will soon be gone.

[prestonhunter]

From a project management perspective, the adage "you get what you pay for" is a very sensible thing to keep in mind. I regard this as a valid consideration for any client.

(Example: Today I hired a painter off of CraigsList to do some work at my house. I hired the painter with the most expensive quote.)

But this in no way diminishes the wrongdoing of the scammer freelancer who passed off writing that was copied from someone else.

Plagiarizing work like that is unacceptable, regardless of the price a client was asked to pay for the work.

I don't think anybody participating in this thread was saying otherwise...

I just think it is good to explicitly separate these considerations.

Whether or not any client applies certain "Best Practices" in their hiring on Upwork never justifies inexcusable behavior on the part of a freelancer.