I was never contacted directly by any support operator as Aleksandar told me. After reopening the same ticket and receiveing the same "we apologise, check the verification instructions in this link,etc" reply for the 5th time, i finally i was able to verify my profile after trying in 5 different devices and browsers, looks like there was some issues in the verification process.
Regarding the verification call:
What i liked:
- She started speaking in english and then changed to my native language(spanish). I liked it because it is a good way to catch fake accounts.
What i didn't like:
- The upwork operator does not have the video active. If they want to validate my profile i want to verify who i'm talking to. The link they pasted in the upwork chat is not enough secure for me.
- She asked for my address. That info is in upwork but i don't feel confortable giving personal information in a 3rd party videoconference call and i'm not sure if that's breaking the GDPR. I gave it but complained.
- She asked me what were the purpose of my active contracts. Again surprised because upwork have the contract details but i'm not supposed to talk about the details due to NDA signed with my clients. In this case i refused to give info about my contracts.
- After my complain she told me that it is a new process which is false because i had the same one 2 years ago but in skype.
- After my profile was validated i received this email:
"blablabla
Please note in the future we may ask you to verify your identity again as part of our ongoing effort to keep Upwork secure and fraud-free."
So there's a verification loop ....
I'm not again the verification process for any user but 2 verifications in 2 years is annoying for a customer that:
- Is working and active in odesk/upwork since 2012.
- All my contracts have 5 starts( except the ones with no reviews, some clients do not understand the feedback process).
- Never received a complain from a client.
- My score is always 95-100, it depends of how active i am.
- Verified with a video call in 2017
- Verified with an id card scan to get the new badge
- Account info verified a few years ago with receips and passport scans.
I know that all i will get is another "we apologise, thanks for the feedback" and i will have another account hold soon with the same process. All i ask is to read your customer feddback and try to improve the process. Upwork does NOT have the resources to verify all accounts, so it is very important to improve the process to detect frauds. I can spot a fraudulent account or at least with a high chance to be one just with a few searchs.
My feedback to improve it:
- Send an email asking for a video verification with a due date BEFORE freezing the account, If the customer ignores the email, proceed with the account hold.
- Use your own videoconference system, do not use 3rd party providers.
- Ask your operators to identify themself, the name in a chat is not enough.
- Only verify the customer name and picture. Personal info like address is pointless.
- Do not ask details about contracts. No, you are not supposed to do it.
- Pay attention to new customers and cloned accounts, old customers are NOT your enemy.
- Block the VPN(ovh, digitalocean,etc) and TOR usage in the upwork site to bypass the country origin. You are not supposed to hide in upwork, and if your country is blocking the site, you are not supposed to be here.
- To prevent frauds, you can add country rules based in scores. All fraud systems have scores rules based in countries. Check your banned account stats and you will realize.
- Pay attention to contract feedbacks. If someone bought an account he will start receiving bad feedbacks.
THANKS
Member Since: Mar 6, 2014
