20 Scam Posts

[c_dornelles]

The first 20 jobs posts on my feed are scams, and I'm not even sure about #21 because the scammers have been getting a little bit better at writing their posts.

I recommended Upwork to a friend the other day then realized I probably wouldn't sign up with the way things are now. If I were a client new to the site, I would take one look at it and run.

How can this still be happening?

[pgiambalvo]

I share your frustration. When I first logged in this morning, 9 out of 10 on my feed were scams. And that's after I've tried to filter them out. I flagged them all and already I'm seeing the same ones show up again. I know that it seems impossible, but the number of scam posts seem to be actually going up and not down, even after months of freelancers flagging them and reporting them here, and Upwork saying they were doing this back in December: https://community.upwork.com/t5/Community-Blog/From-the-Trust-and-Safety-Team-How-to-Spot-a-Scam/ba-...

[k_parkerr]

Same issue on my job post scamer using different locations but same job title and descriptions, it's very bad 

[c_dornelles]

Yeah, I stopped flagging out of sheer frustration.

I remember being flagged for sharing personal info with a client back when I first signed up, so Upwork obviously has mechanisms to spot violations of TOS.

I know there's no silver bullet for this problem, but a set of measures might help to at least reduce it. Maybe not allowing URLs at all on job posts? Blacklisting certain words, like Telegram? I'm sure other freelancers must have made helpful suggestions in the many other threads about this issue. 

This platform has changed my life. I love it here, and it breaks my heart to see what it's become.

[k_parkerr]

I seeing  a lot of scam job posts from  few days with unverified payment method and same title repeated many times on multipel job posts please don't waste your connects on these job posts. 

**Edited for community guidelines**

[ff9075cd]

I'm also spending more time filtering through scams. I started taking screenshots of the jobs to recognize them. Most use similar scripts and are not payment verified. 

I've tried filtering my job feed to verified payment only and that has helped. 

It's very frustrating to spend as much time flagging jobs and messages as submitting proposals. I don't think I'll continue to report them, they just pop up again in greater number.

[c_dornelles]

I've resisted filtering by payment so far because I've been hired by first-time clients who didn't have verified payment yet, but it seems to be the only way to avoid seeing scam posts.

It's infuriating to think of how many legit jobs we may be missing out on because of this.

[ff9075cd]

I agree, I did have one client who was not payment verified, I completed the work

which was a flat rate and payment was delayed. Because I used the time tracker with screen shots that proved my work I was finally paid, with a notification to no longer start work until the payment method is verified. Always use the tracker even on flat rate jobs.

[c_dornelles]

That's a great idea. I've never had problems with flat rate projects, but it sounds like a good back-up plan.

[abbas_tauseef]

Same is the case with me.  

My feed is full of scammers and I'm tired and fed-up of flagging jobs which aren't taken down for hours then. 

One of the best and easiest ways to tackle the current problem is to ban using the words telegram, WhatsApp, phone number, and email in job posts. Doing this might help a bit until they don't come up with a solid strategy.  

[c_dornelles]

It certainly would, and why it hasn't been done yet is beyond me.