fraud??

alyssabusch304 · ‎09-29-2021

Hi,

While I did work some on Upwork back in 2019. I stopped and have now just restarted. I placed a bid for an Administrative Assistant position. There were not too many details, but enough for the job for me to bid on. The person (who I won't name because I'm not sure if I'm aloud to or not) asked for my phone number to discuss further about the job. For me thats not a problem. I recently received my new phone number and unfortunatly it still shows up as attached to another person who no longer has it, so my info won't pop up. I figured they just wanted to interview me. However, I see the same job reposted an hour later. I thought that was odd.

The next day I got an email from Upwork they removed the job due to the client not meeting Terms of Service.

That same day I get a text from said client. They tell me they are an architect and work with

**Edited for community guidelines**. They give me a job description and tell me they will pay me personally. There grammer was pretty good except for a couple mistakes that a professional that wants to hire wouldn't make.

I haven't been with Upwork for long, even when I was with them in 2019, but I know a scam when I see it. So I did some research.

They have a website that does look legit but lacks information. They also have Ryan Goslings picture on there as one of their people? I did laugh at that. But I knew there had to be more.

Then I find a post on Upwork from 2020 that was posted about the same client, same company.

Obviously, I turned this person down.

If you see this company post a job, I would recommend not wasting your connects. I am only posting this to hopfully inform others.

a_lipsey · ‎09-29-2021

Alyssa B wrote:

Hi,

While I did work some on Upwork back in 2019. I stopped and have now just restarted. I placed a bid for an Administrative Assistant position. There were not too many details, but enough for the job for me to bid on. The person (who I won't name because I'm not sure if I'm aloud to or not) asked for my phone number to discuss further about the job. For me thats not a problem. I recently received my new phone number and unfortunatly it still shows up as attached to another person who no longer has it, so my info won't pop up. I figured they just wanted to interview me. However, I see the same job reposted an hour later. I thought that was odd.

The next day I got an email from Upwork they removed the job due to the client not meeting Terms of Service.

That same day I get a text from said client. They tell me they are an architect and work with

**Edited for community guidelines**. They give me a job description and tell me they will pay me personally. There grammer was pretty good except for a couple mistakes that a professional that wants to hire wouldn't make.

I haven't been with Upwork for long, even when I was with them in 2019, but I know a scam when I see it. So I did some research.

They have a website that does look legit but lacks information. They also have Ryan Goslings picture on there as one of their people? I did laugh at that. But I knew there had to be more.

Then I find a post on Upwork from 2020 that was posted about the same client, same company.

Obviously, I turned this person down.

If you see this company post a job, I would recommend not wasting your connects. I am only posting this to hopfully inform others.

Sharing your phone number is not fine. The Upwork TOS changed a year ago to disallow communication outside the platform or sharing of contact info before you have a contract with the client to prevent scams and fraud. So you broke the TOS when you agreed to give them your phone number.

The job was taken down and reported because someone reported them for violating the TOS.

Block their number. They are absolutely trying to scam you.

And from now on don't give out your contact info or communicate outside of Upwork until there is a contract in place. This includes your phone and email, Skype, Hangouts, whatsapp, etc.

JoanneP · ‎09-29-2021

Hi Alyssa,

I'd like to confirm that Amanda is correct. If you see a job or a profile that seems suspicious, you can report it to us using the flagging option. You can read more on this help article and also, please check out Tips to avoid questionable jobs. You might also want to check out the information here to learn more about staying safe on Upwork.

~ Joanne

martina_plaschka · ‎09-30-2021

I highly doubt that you found a post from 2019 about the same company, since all specific information is not allowed to be posted and would have been redacted. This is not one person. This is hundreds or thousands. Only the scam is the same, since it seems to work quite well with newbies.

It's an old trick that their grammar is not of a native speaker. Why? Because people who are willing to overlook bad spelling from a person pretending to be native are gullible and therefore good marks. Good thing you spotted their bad grammar.