freelancers pretending to be from the US mini-rant

[f0ec0ca0]

What can be done about all of the freelancers pretending to be in the US but really are overseas?  The whole point of hiring someone locally is that you understand you'll pay more but you'll get someone who has native english skills, is in a close timezone +/- 1/2 hours.  It seems every time we post a job that is US only and pays $75/hr+ we get a raft of people who will only agree to type and never a video interview?  Or if we do get them into an interview their english is questionable and you can see indian plugs in the background.  Of the 20 bids we got on a recent post, 18 who say they are US based are verifiably not.  Very frustrating.

[6a182ed6]

(I'm dealing with a similar problem where an Agency spam applies to my job without reading -- it's almost as if their goal is to message every job post, start a conversaion, then try to upsell.)

To the best of my knowledge, there is no consequence to a freelancer/agencies spamming job applications. Thus, the few unethical freelancers/agencies is making the situation worse for everyone else:

1. They anger clients.

2. They try to take jobs away from the honest non-spammy freelancers/agencies.

One way to solve this problem is as follows:

1. Every freelancer / agency has a PUBLIC "genuine / spam" ratio.

2. Every time a freelancer / agency applies, the client gets to mark the application as "genuine" or "spam"

3. Clients can discriminate on the "genuine / spam" ratio (i.e. only allow freelancers with > 50% "genuine/spam" ratio to apply).

The end result here is two fold:

1. Spammy freelacners/agencies get terrible "genuine / spam" ratio and gets ignored by everyone.

2. Genuine freelancers/agencies who only get better ratio and promoted to the top.

[15023440]

My Name is David,

Please if and when you have jobs for non US citizens, please do let me know Thanks.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[bobafett999]

You should always do a video interview.  Also, do it at a time when it is middle of the night over there.  Some buyers also ask them to have the computer camera pointed out of a window.

[AveryO]

Hi Allen, 

I'm sorry to learn about your experience on Upwork. We have several verification processes on Upwork to confirm someone's location. If you suspect a user is trying to mask their location, you can report this by following the steps here. It will go to the team's queue, and they will investigate it further. 

Let me also report this to the team so they can assist you with hiring and look into this further.

[martina_plaschka]

Please report all these profiles, there is a reporting function in every profile. We need to get rid of these scammers.

[subodhsri2]

We were looking for a full-time hire recetly for a candidate based in US/CA. We got tons of applicants from India, China, Pakistan & Bangladesh.

I asked them to show their Driver License and that was the moment when they disappeared from the call.

Later on, I started mentioning in job posting to be ready with an ID.

I outrighly deny to interview anyone who doesn't turn on camera.

Worth mentioning in your job post about such simple rules.

[adc5eca0]

The waters are indeed quite murky.

I guess it's a combination of desperation and just dealing with a global audience. I think it's fair to say that if you've set parameters on your proposals, those should be honoured accordingly.

As a locally based South African, I do look at US work, but having been in the ad industry for quite quite a few years, people underestimate the importance (to the client) of time alignment. Briefs come in hot most days, so unless specified upfront, you need to be available during business hours where at best possible.

[the-right-writer]

I can understand your frustration. I have been asked many times to "correct" horribly written articles that don't have the facts straight, and the writing is unreadable. In those cases, fixing is not possible, as the whole document must be rewritten in its entirety.

I'm sorry for any client that has to wade through garbage proposals just to face people who are lying to you. As Martina said, please report the scammers to Upwork.

When you post jobs with lower rates, you are more likely to attract less skilled freelancers. I'm not saying it was in this case, but in general.

[sajal36]

Hi, I believe freelancer location are verified by upwork through proper documentation and address proof. It will be hard for anyone to put their false location, however if you click on the profile name than you will know the candidate location during the profile screening itself.

[the-right-writer]

Unfortunately, there are those who find ways to cheat, at least for a while. Freelancers are people too, and so a percentage will try to game the system. VPN's allow people to superficially pretend to be in other parts of the world. I'm sure there are other scams.

The best way to find a good freelancer is through communication. As a freelancer, I insist on at least a minimum chat through Upwork before I will consider a project. If you speak with someone, the chances of miscommunication or people cheating goes way down.

[sajal36]

VPN is not in use in India. It is being banned here in the country for now.

[yofazza]

They can't ban them all. We also have many things banned, including reddit, vimeo, and of course most VPN sites. But you can basically get a server somewhere and set VPN yourself. You can remote a friend's computer abroad and browse Upwork! There will be enormous false positives if a "network admin" want to ban these, much worse than non-technical false positive such as reddit and vimeo which are blocked for p0rn.

[bilal1983]

Falsifying location should be taken as breach of ToS and should be reprimanded with a suspended account for a month or two, and if repeated, permanent ban.

RE: "The whole point of hiring someone locally is that you understand you'll pay more but you'll get someone who has native english skills, is in a close timezone +/- 1/2 hours."

If the above two are the only reasons for local hiring, I think if you stipulate that you need someone who has native English skills and ability to be available as per US time zone, and remove the need to be in the US that might be more beneficial for you.

This way you can find a freelancer with the same skill level as someone based in the US, who lives in a region where a $35-55/hr rate or lower would be considered a high rate. Win-win situation?