Absence of live human help tells me this is not a legitimate job site.

[priscillaking]

Life's too short to click through a thousand pages of garbage. Upwork opens a page that's not functional. If a human wants to fix this, I'll offer the gift of five precious minutes to help them solve their problem. If not, that tells me that Upwork is not a legitimate job site but may be a phishing site, especially since it attempts to store information about individuals (rather than businesses).

I hope everyone in the "Community" is remembering to share ONLY business information online. Never post the name of a living US citizen, the address of anyone's residence, a currently working phone number, etc., on a computer that connects to the Internet.

[feed_my_eyes]

There are live humans in the forum all the time. I myself am not a bot (as far as I'm aware). Do you have a question?

I can also assure you that this isn't a "phishing" website. Click on some of the freelancer profiles - we have live human clients who pay us actual money. But Upwork, online banking, PayPal etc. (along with all other freelancing websites) require a valid address and a phone number in order to do business. So if you're not comfortable working online, then you shouldn't work online.

[priscillaking]

That's why we register businesses (although fewer than half of the brick-and-mortar stores in my town have phones any more--there used to be numbers people could call if they wanted to hear a live voice, but there aren't now). Business names, mail drops and/or public store locations, EIN numbers, and images that don't look like human faces are basic security measures.

You don't buy junkfood from Ray Kroc; you buy it from McDonalds. You don't buy paper from Sam Walton; you buy it from Walmart. And Peter Thiel is on the way out because, while using his own correct name online (Paypal), he's been careless with other people's real-world names online..

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Priscilla,

Sorry to hear you experienced issues when accessing the site. I'd like to confirm that Upwork is not a phishing site and would like to help troubleshoot the issue you're experiencing. I saw that you reported the issue in a support ticket as well but so that I could look into this faster, could you please let me know which browser you're using to access Upwork?

[priscillaking]

Firefox.

Not subject to change.

[prestonhunter]

Everyone who participates in the Forum is a live human being.

[colettelewis]

I think the OP has wandered into the wrong forum and the wrong site. 

Priscilla - we are all robots, but we are a secret - so do not tell a soul - although Google will have to know because Upwork's forurms are all findable on Google - so you see, we are transparent robots.But we are here to help if you would tell us what has just sunk your boat. 

[priscillaking]

Well, I laughed, so although I don't believe your "question" is an honest request for information, as my good deed for the day I'll explain <i>why</i> my opinion of Upwork is so much lower than it was in 2016. For a start, weeks ago when I clicked over as recommended by one specific customer, the site failed to set up my profile correctly, with a BUSINESS image--there was some drivel about uploading a human face photo, which, of course, as an ethical online writer I <i>never</i> use. So I closed the tab. I received no (0) job listings in the e-mail from Upwork and, since I did receive them from other sites, wrote off the time I'd wasted on Upwork so far...until I received three e-mails from this site, all automatic, two containing links that redirect to a blank screen. Then before generating a normal complaint form the site routed the complaint through this forum.

So, let Google discover this: I'm not seeing evidence of a viable writing site. I'm seeing face pictures, which may or may not belong to site users, and claims that people with names showing in the form associated with fraudulent advertising are making money here, although a lot of them seem to have time to hang out and chitchat...but I'm not seeing job listings. Also, I'm not seeing a serious attempt on the part of the site owners to solve problems; I am seeing language that suggests that the site owners like to blame users of the site for problems. That I've heard good things about this site is beginning to sound more discrediting for the e-friend who <i>claims</i> to be a buyer here than supportive of Upwork.

Face photos and names in the "Ramona Q" format just SCREAM "scam."

[priscillaking]

Even bots have to be built by live human beings. However, so far you all seem to be here just to chat (presumably while waiting for job orders to come in) rather than fix the page on which I've reported the glitch.

Fwiw, the use of photos of human faces makes a site look phishy to me.

And a high percentage of "volunteer help" chatter, relative to corrections in whatever's wrong with the page(s) (a lot of links to this site seem to redirect to one blank screen), makes it look as if the site has a lot more unemployed freelancers than it has workers and clients.

[versailles]

---

Priscilla K wrote:

Fwiw, the use of photos of human faces makes a site look phishy to me.

---

Our robot heads weren't popular, people are prejudiced against robots, so we put human faces instead.

[a_lipsey]

Nope, I'm not "waiting for orders to come in." My business doesn't work that way. I have a line probably a year long right now for my services. I come here when I'm taking a break to take part in the "community."  Not sure why you would presume that because we took the time to answer you that you think we aren't working. 

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Priscilla,

I've shared more information about the issue you're experiencing accessing the pages with the team and we're further investigating it. Meanwhile, you can try accessing the site using Chrome as we can't replicate the issue using that browser. 

I'd also like to point out that freelancers are asked to use pictures of themselves as their profile pictures and make sure all information on their profile is accurate and truthful as it helps establish trust in the marketplace and generally results in more hires. 

Here in the Community, you'll see people who represent Upwork, like myself, and have an Upwork badge next to our posts. We also have a lot of helpful Community members who have years of experience freelancing and using Upwork. They contribute their time and knowledge to this Community during their free time and share information that many new users found helpful and valuable. 

[colettelewis]

Don' t listen to Valeria, Priscilla, she is a robot too, but a very, very superior kind, not like us other robots who just hang around getting in the way. 

You still haven't told us what your problem is. 

[a_lipsey]

I'll just tell the thousands of dollars I've earned on Upwork that are just hanging out in my bank account that they are a hoax. 

[bizwriterjohn]

You are inside an Enterprise IT-class system that represents more than a five-million dollars of code investment.  I estimate their current IT staff numbering, in minimum, 20 developers.  Given a salary of $60k a year, that is a yearly expenditure of $1.2 million. The probably operate out of at least three data centers, located globally.  Their VP of IT runs an overall budget of at least $10 million a year. 

The system has legacy components from oDesk and Elance.  This forum, for example, has been copied over from what was formerly the Elance forum. Their IT department runs fast and hard to keep the system clean, functioning correctly and moves IT mountains to provide a stable platform that basically works correctly every time.

I need two systems to work correctly all the time.  Time input.  And stocking my Upwork account with my weekly pay at exactly 7pm CST.  Want to have some fun and watch this magic.  Log into your account, check pending earnings at 6:59pm CST.  Then check it again at 7pm CST. That, is the precision in which this system operates.

Just some probable facts about the Enteprise IT team you are volunteering to assist.  Hang with them. You are in the company of the brilliant ones.  Not so much that I am a big proponent of Upwork. It is simply that one of us has operated in Massive IT projects. This. Is that.

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi All,

A few posts have been edited or removed from this thread as off topic or because they were in violation of the Community Guidelines and this thread has been closed from further replies.

Priscilla, I have escalated your support ticket and we'll continue assisting you with your issue directly.

Thank you.