Interesting article

[mwiggenhorn]

https://www.inc.com/jim-schleckser/how-best-businesspeople-quickly-identify-an-unethical-person.html...

Very applicable to freelancing, I think.

[prestonhunter]

This IS a good article.

Avoiding unethical freelancers and clients would be a good practice for any Upwork user.

Of course, it is not the only thing to watch out for.

Clients and freelancers can be exceedingly ethical, and still be absolute disasters to work with.

Sometimes clients are very ethical people, but don't understand how Upwork works. This can lead to bad experiences for freelancers. Such as when clients have completely unrealistic expectations about what a freelancer can do for a given price or in a given amount of time.

And there are highly ethical freelancers who get in over their head on a project... or get asked to do things that they really don't know how to do. Or sometimes they're just bad at managing their time, even though they are well-intentioned.

[booksist]

Totally agree! People project their own way of thinking to other people. "How do I know you won't screw me?" (in all its implicit forms) is the red flag #1, and the best reason to decline an offer.

[wendy_writes]

Valentina,  please do not share that with unknown buyers.   🙂  The RFPs that allude to these tendencies serve as a 'thanks for not wasting my time' alert ....

[bobafett999]

The person who wrote is not a freelancer on Upwork.

:"Contrary to popular opinion, I have found that most (like 99 percent) business people I have known over the course of my career are exceptionally ethical and moral--they always strive to do the right thing."

I normally 'talk' with prospects on the phone.  When I hear the gears spinning in their head I volunteer that let's work on this as an hourly contract.  With Upwork's time tracking APP all my clicks and mouse movement are recorded and they also take random screen shots that can assure them that I am working on their project.

[reinierb]

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@Mary W wrote:

https://www.inc.com/jim-schleckser/how-best-businesspeople-quickly-identify-an-unethical-person.html...

Very applicable to freelancing, I think.

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 This definitely applies to the car repair trade. I learned very early in my career as a professional mechanic that once a client asks if he can trust you to do a proper job, that client will do his level best to either get out of paying the full bill, or try his best to pull the (in)famous "Since you..." scam a few days later.  

[richard_wein]

'How can I trust you?" seems like a futile question anyway. A scammer will probably be just as good or better at giving reassurances than an honest person.

[reinierb]

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@Richard W wrote:

'How can I trust you?" seems like a futile question anyway. A scammer will probably be just as good or better at giving reassurances than an honest person.

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 Scammers sometimes rephrase the question. Instead of asking if you can trusted outright, they supply reassurances which in the end, means the same thing as asking the question.