Vetting New Clients

[rose-suzanne]

Happy Friday!

I was recently invited to submit a proposal on a project that appeared interesting and in line with my experience. I submitted a proposal, and the client quickly replied, asking that I provide my email address or contact him at his company email address to set up a time to meet the client and "get started." I found his request to be a bit suspicious and went to his website. I found that the site was a platform for connecting clients with freelancers. I sent the prospective client a message explaining that I don't communicate with new clients outside the Upwork network.  I informed him that after reviewing his website, I was a bit confused about his intent, given he worked for a platform similar to Upwork. He didn't reply.

A couple of days later, I received an email telling me that Upwork closed the project and removed the client from the platform due to a violation of Upwork's terms of service.

I have learned that if the client reveals their company's name or website, it pays to check them out before you submit a proposal.

Thanks,

Suzanne

[prestonhunter]

re: "I have learned that if the client reveals their company's name or website, it pays to check them out before you submit a proposal."

I disagree.

I believe in looking only at the information available about a client that is on the Upwork site.

I have never Googled or otherwise searched the names of clients or their companies.

I believe that most of the time when clients provide names they are scammers who want freelancers to Google those names. So searching for those names is part of the scam and gets newbies into trouble. It leads them to incorrectly assuming the "client" they are talking to on Upwork is legitimate and makes it easier for the scammer to manipulate them.

[wescowley]

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Suzanne R wrote:

I have learned that if the client reveals their company's name or website, it pays to check them out before you submit a proposal.

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Yes, and if the information isn't available before the proposal, I do the vetting during the interview phase. It's very rare for me to take a contract without some minimal vetting to see they are who they say they are and that they are someone I want to work with. I don't often turn down a client based on that vetting, but it does happen.

[towermutasa]

Mmm. I wonder if it's the same guy advertising his own freelancer website on Upwork. In the last couple of days, I've seen the same person post a job, claim there are more details in the attached document, only for the attachment to contain info to his own freelancer website.

[martina_plaschka]

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Tawanda M wrote:

Mmm. I wonder if it's the same guy advertising his own freelancer website on Upwork. In the last couple of days, I've seen the same person post a job, claim there are more details in the attached document, only for the attachment to contain info to his own freelancer website.

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That's more likely one of the many confused freelancers who created a client account instead of a freelancer profile. I see lots of the daily in the job posts.

[towermutasa]

I've seen the confused ones.

What I'm talking about is different. He knows exactly what he is doing.

He posts a job, then asks applicants to check out an attached document for more info. In the attached doc, he is clearly inviting freelancers to join his own website that works like Upwork.

[NikolaS]

Hi Tawanda,

Could you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about the job posts you are referring to? I will be sure to look into your report and escalate it accordingly.