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alina_tr
Community Member

Advice needed on how to deal with a fraud

Hi, Upwork community,

 

I am a freelancer managing a website development project for a client. 

 

Our freelance developer has completed the first milestone and then her account got suspended. We gave her time until Sunday to recover it, and if she couldn't, we would hire another freelancer because we are not willing to work outside of the platform. 

 

Today, her account has got permanently deleted and the payment for the 1st milestone was returned to the client's account. 

Now the deleted freelancer keeps sending us messages asking to pay her the refunded amount and offering to continue working on our project outside of Upwork. 

She is offering to send her money via Paypal and this is how I know for sure that she is a fraud. Her Upwork location says Ukraine, and it is impossible to receive money via Paypal in Ukraine, it is simply not working there. 

 

The thing is that we can not even report her profile because her profile page says "the profile is no longer available".

Also, for some reason, she still can send us messages in Upwork and she already took it to the level of "i have a diseased mother" and "didn't I create your site".

 

We don't know what to do and we do not want to pay or work outside of Upwork. But it seems impossible to give a refund back.

 

What should we do in this situation?

Thanks in advance.

 

 

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Hi Alina,

 

Unfortunately, I won't be able to share information about why the freelancer's account was suspended. That said, Upwork team doesn't suspend accounts unless they violate our ToS and you can find more information about that in this help article.

I also see that you have an open support ticket and it's already been escalated to the team that assists clients in situations similar to yours. I'll also follow up with that team and share the concerns you posted on this thread with them so they are aware.

~ Valeria
Upwork

View solution in original post

15 REPLIES 15
sergio-soria
Community Member

Obviously you should not even waste your time with that person or give her money. If the account was permanently deleted there must be a reason, probably a ToS violation. Look for some other freelancer to continue the job. How is this user sending you messages? Through the messages tab inside Upwork? If so, you can block the user clicking on the name and choosing the appropriate option.

Agree. Just block her.

You have nothing to gain from communicating with that person.

 

The money was returned to the client. Just don’t talk to this freelancer or use her work, and there will be no moral / ethical complications. No obligation to even try to pay her.

 

re: “...and she already took it to the level of "i have a diseased mother"

 

LOL. I have read about that ruse being used many, many time by fraudulent freelancers. People like that have an unlimited supply of dying relatives.


Preston H wrote:

Agree. Just block her.

You have nothing to gain from communicating with that person.

 

The money was returned to the client. Just don’t talk to this freelancer or use her work, and there will be no moral / ethical complications. No obligation to even try to pay her.

 

re: “...and she already took it to the level of "i have a diseased mother"”

 

LOL. I have read about that ruse being used many, many time by fraudulent freelancers. People like that have an unlimited supply of dying relatives.


"Dog ate my homework", adult version.
So dark.

Thanks Preston.
Well, this person has completed a first milestone and we have a website running.
So my client has some moral complications.

But as a freelancer myself, I totally think that there is something very very sketchy there.

Thanks for you replies, guys
But she has actually completed the first milestone and we have a fully functioning website created by her.
So my client is not sure about ethical solution in this case.
Yep, the user is sending messages via messages tab.

Oh.

That is a good question... You actually have the work that the freelancer did for you, and it is good work that you like. Upwork reversed the funds, not you.

 

So when the freelancer is asking for payment, for the work that she did... she actually has a valid point.

 

This would have been so much simpler if the freelancer had done little or nothing for you.

 

I am not comfortable with the idea of me hiring a freelancer to do some work, and then actually receiving the work, and then Upwork taking the money from the freelancer and refunding it to me. But I also know that I am dealing with a system which has as its cardinal rule a strict prohibition against off-platform payments.

 

I am offering no advice. I am interested in what others to say about this.

Well, what bothers me the most is that this person is asking to PayPal her money. Her profile says that she is Ukrainian based in Ukraine and there is no way she can receive PayPal money in such situation. PayPal is simply to send money for Ukraine-based users.

And also, paying her outside of the platform means violating Upwork ToS. And no way I would do that.

Yeah, let’s see if any Upwork representatives have anything to say about this.

I understand the ethical thing. However, it looks like this freelancer was not as moral as you and the client are. Upwork suspend and close accounts only when there are valid reasons, mostly ToS violations, such as impersonation, circumvention, account sharing, etc.

 

You are right feeling bad about using the website she made without paying her. So in my opinion the only solution would be refrain from using what she made and say that to the freelancer. Then find some other freelancer and start over. It may sound absurd since you already have what you needed, but at least it will be morally fair and equal.

 

I will flag this post so that a moderator can take a look. Maybe there is another solution or the account was closed by mistake. Who knows... They will probably ask you for more details to research.


Alina T wrote:

And also, paying her outside of the platform means violating Upwork ToS. And no way I would do that.

It might be possible for the client to pay you and then you pay her (minus the Upwork fee); that wouldn't be circumvention, since you're allowed to subcontract on fixed price projects, and Upwork would still get its cut. But hopefully a moderator will be able to provide you with more assistance. 

This is a very unique situation.

 

There is no prior example in the Forum that I can think of, to link to or hold up as precedent.


Preston H wrote:

This is a very unique situation.

 

There is no prior example in the Forum that I can think of, to link to or hold up as precedent.


Yes, I don't recall seeing this particular problem before, but there must have been other situations in which freelancers were banned while they still had money in their accounts? 

 

re: "...but there must have been other situations in which freelancers were banned while they still had money in their accounts?"

 

Yes, certainly.

I can recall posts from freelancers who were removed from the platform, while there was still money in their accounts. Freelancers have lost access to their funds.

 

But this thread presents a situation from the client's perspective.

 

The original poster is not trying to defend anything that the freelancer did which resulted in the freelancer being removed from the platform.

 

The original poster's only question appears to be along these lines:

"My freelancer was fraudulent as far as Upwork is concerned. But she did good work for us. Now we are using her work - work we tried to pay for, but Upwork returned the money to us."

Hi Alina,

 

Unfortunately, I won't be able to share information about why the freelancer's account was suspended. That said, Upwork team doesn't suspend accounts unless they violate our ToS and you can find more information about that in this help article.

I also see that you have an open support ticket and it's already been escalated to the team that assists clients in situations similar to yours. I'll also follow up with that team and share the concerns you posted on this thread with them so they are aware.

~ Valeria
Upwork

Hi Valeria,

 

Thanks for your reply and thanks for clarifications.

Yes, I have submitted a support ticket. Thanks for sharing the additional details. Looking forward to solving this issue with a support team. 

Cheers, Alina

I just want to say that yeah it sounds like a complicated situation and it is good of you as the client or agent to ask. I mean if she did the work, she deserves the money, right?  Who knows what kind of situation or life she is living and if she is in touch despite being banned, she must need the money somehow or it is important to her. The website is functioning so she can't be an entirely fraudulent person.  It is interesting to know what happens to the money in such cases.  I mean worst case for both you and her is probably that you can't use her materials ethically because she hasn't been paid, and she can't get paid for it. But that seems like a waste. She could be from Ukraine and temporarily somewhere else, or she may have accounts in other countries where she can move and receive money without being a fraud necessarily. The world is becoming a very transnational place. 

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