Beware of Job Scams

[reimersarah]

Fellow Designers, beware of job posters asking for interviews on Google Hangouts. Decline and request a phone interview. If the job poster won't take a phone interview, flag the job posting for being inappropriate. It's clearly a scam.

Upwork needs to do a much better job screening for job scams for paying subscribers. Scammers have reached out to me for design work via LinkedIn and Indeed before. I decided to try Upwork to avoid wasting my time on fake gigs. I am very dissapointed and I expected more from Upwork. I plan on cancelling my subscription. 

[cylver1z]

Hello Sarah,

I'm sorry to hear that. I just checked the job post and the client account and I could see that our team has already taken action to the scam. Thank you for flagging the job post. Please read this helpful article to avoid questionable jobs. Thank you!

[papizan-robert]

I recently had an offer with **Edited for community guidelines**.  The hiring coordinator asked me to contact them through Line App and discuss details for the offer through them.  After going through this process it seems to throw up flags.  I am thinking it is a scam and contacting my bank before going any further.  

I wanted to see if you have heard anything about scams with **Edited for community guidelines** as the company they are offering a position from?

Thank you

[prestonhunter]

Robert: That is NOT how this works.

As a freelancer, I NEVER need to check with my bank.

Clients don't need my bank information.

Clients pay money to Upwork. Not to my bank. Not to me directly.

I never need to ask about a company by name.

You are NOT ALLOWED to ask about companies by name, as you have done here.

I want you to succeed here in Upwork. Right now, you do not yet understand some basic things about the system, and you are communicating with scammers.

[reimersarah]

Hello Robert,

I have never heard of this specific company posting false positions, but my suggestion in the future is to check the company's main website to see if the position is posted there. If it is, then it's a legitamate position. I have started this and it has helped cut back on wasting time applying to false positions.

Never, under any circumstances, give out your banking information and always request a phone interview, never via chat.

Best of luck to you!

- Sarah

[prestonhunter]

re: "I have never heard of this specific company posting false positions, but my suggestion in the future is to check the company's main website to see if the position is posted there."

Don't ever do that.

re: "If it is, then it's a legitimate position."

This is not at all true.

A legitimate job might NOT be posted on a company's website.

A scam job might be based on a job posting stolen from a company's website.

I have completed 265 jobs. I have never checked a company's website before accepting a job.

The information I need in order to not be scammed is all available on Upwork.

[reimersarah]

Well, this method has served me well for a lot of positions, Preston. Best of luck to you.

[BojanS]

Hi Robert,

Could you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about your report. I'll check that further and advise you accordingly.

Thank you.

[abnsimko]

I just went through the same thing with that Line app thing for an "accountant needed" position for what truly appeared to be a legit company, legit "new hire" paperwork.  Then suddenly they send me an email with a "check" made out to me and instructions on printing it out and deposit it through my mobile bank app.  I instintantly knew this was not right and immediately contacted my bank.  My accounts were secure and they had the benefit for me of ID Cyber scout where I had to put myself on alert.  This company got my driver's licenses and all.  

[BojanS]

I'm sorry to hear about your experience, Michelle!

Thanks for flagging this for us. I've checked and confirmed that the job has been taken down because it was in violation of Upwork TOS and action has been taken on the client account. 

Please be careful not to share any private or sensitive information with clients on Upwork. All the information needed to hire and pay you via Upwork is available on your profile. 

Please check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs and please use the flag option found on each job post or message anytime you’d like to report a violation.

Thank you!

[abnsimko]

Hi Bojan!  Thank you for the tip. This was my first shot at Upwork and it started to make me feel it's not worth it, but I will give it another try.  

[ff54b766]

Today this hapened to me
i received interview request for translator job from**Edited for community guidelines**and the HR manager did a chat on skype and sent me interview questions on my email to reply back and he wanted to send me check .
this was before upwork send me that they removed this job .
i blocked him but dont know if there is anything they can do with my email, name and phone number?
is it possible they spy/ hack my mobile where i opened the interview questions ?

[prestonhunter]

re: "and he wanted to send me check . this was before upwork send me that they removed this job . i blocked him but dont know if there is anything they can do with my email, name and phone number? is it possible they spy/ hack my mobile where i opened the interview questions ?"

No... don't worry about any of that. In this particular scam they are only trying to steal money from your bank account. Because you ended things and never deposited their check or sent them money, this is over.

They are not going to do anything with your name, email or phone number.

[JoanneP]

Hi Saadeya,

There have been changes to the Upwork TOS, and it has been announced here. All communications must be done on Upwork until a contract is established. This is just another step we are taking to better ensure Upwork is a safe environment and our users are protected by our programs, such as Upwork Payment Protection. We find that when users communicate outside of Upwork there is an increased risk of fraud, scam, and other harmful behaviors. When communications (and work) stay on our platform we can better track, verify, and help address any issues that emerge, and as a result, the potential for these behaviors to cause harm decreases dramatically. For example, the vast majority of scammers that successfully take advantage of talent do so by going off the platform. To learn more about staying safe on Upwork, click here.

[mtngigi]

---

@sarah R wrote:

Fellow Designers, beware of job posters asking for interviews on Google Hangouts. Decline and request a phone interview. If the job poster won't take a phone interview, flag the job posting for being inappropriate. It's clearly a scam.

Upwork needs to do a much better job screening for job scams for paying subscribers. Scammers have reached out to me for design work via LinkedIn and Indeed before. I decided to try Upwork to avoid wasting my time on fake gigs. I am very dissapointed and I expected more from Upwork. I plan on cancelling my subscription. 

---

Upwork does as well as can be expected, considering the thousands of jobs being posted daily. All categories are targeted. Experienced users on this site know how to spot fraud client posts and simply ignore/report them by flagging them so they are removed. There isn't a site online that does not have a problem with scammers and frauds.

[biya_n]

Hi can you please investigate this position of Virtual assistant posted by Brandt

**edited for Community Guidelines**

Please help me to see if it is real or scam?
Waiting

[AveryO]

Hi Biya, 

I can confirm that actions have been taken against the client's account and job post for violating the Upwork Terms of Service. In the future, you may flag a job post, or a client's message as inappropriate and the team will review it against our ToS. 

I would recommend that you read up on these freelancer resources and these tips for avoiding questionable jobs, for help getting started, and for more information about working safely through Upwork.

[cfenstermaker]

I had a job scam as well from **Edited for community guidelines** they said basically the same thing as everyone else it’s pretty disgusting that people will mess with others who are genuinely trying too work

[BojanS]

Hi Chandler,

Thank you for flagging this to us. I was able to gather all the information regarding the job post you're reporting and will be sure to escalate this to the correct team for their review. 

Please check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs and please use the flag option found on each job post or message anytime you’d like to report a violation.

Thank you.

[reinout81]

I had a scammer try to get me via this posting which was deleted:

**Edited for community guidelines**

I was told by a **Edited for community guidelines** via the UpWork message system to:

**Edited for community guidelines**

I did have a brief conversation on Google hangout which was entertaining and I figured pretty quick that it was a scam. I also figured out who the real person was from the avatar.

[BojanS]

Thank you for reporting this, Reinout!

I checked and the job has been taken down because it was in violation of Upwork ToS and action has been taken on the client account. 

Please check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs and please use the flag option found on each job post or message anytime you’d like to report a violation.

Thank you!

[kat303]

---

@sarah R wrote:

Fellow Designers, beware of job posters asking for interviews on Google Hangouts. Decline and request a phone interview. If the job poster won't take a phone interview, flag the job posting for being inappropriate. It's clearly a scam.

Upwork needs to do a much better job screening for job scams for paying subscribers. Scammers have reached out to me for design work via LinkedIn and Indeed before. I decided to try Upwork to avoid wasting my time on fake gigs. I am very dissapointed and I expected more from Upwork. I plan on cancelling my subscription. 

---

Unfortunatly, most freelancer will only come on here After they've been scammed. They are way too eager to make tons of money then take the time to learn what to look out for, and the procedures of this site.

Yes, this site, as well as other freelancer sites are targets for scammers. Upwork does what it can up to a certain point. It's up to us freelancer to report scammers and jobs that violate Upworks TOS. And most importantly, Freelancers need to learn the scams, the same old scams that keep going on and on here because freelancers are responding to those scams, and use more common sense,

You don't have to leave this site, just learn what to look out for so you don't waste your time and energy responding to those scams.

[swilliams2018]

I agree. I am very new to freelancing and Upwork; I had no idea these types of scams existed here. I fell for it. The individual had hijacked a legitimate company, identity and avatar to give the appearance of a reputable job. After some inconsistencies, I reached out to the true owner of the identity. He said I was the FOURTH PERSON IN A WEEK FROM UPWORK to contact him.
It's my responsibility for getting scammed, but Upwork could certainly make the possibility of getting scammed a more prominent feature during the sign-on process. It's great if you are experienced enough to know how to identify a scam, but for those new to the platform, it's a tough lesson to learn. I had no idea what to look for.
Also, I would prefer not to receive a pablum-coated response from an Upwork moderator on this; I would like effective action taken.

[mtngigi]

Shannon,

Effective action will not be taken by Upwork. It is not their responsibility to hold our hands. The onus is on you as a freelancer working online with perfect strangers to be aware. People sign up and don't bother to read any of the information provided to learn how to use the site safely. The scams that exist here exist everywhere, and have done so for a very long time. Were Upwork to get in the business of vetting the thousands of clients who post jobs daily (an insurmountable task), we'd be paying double our fees to cover the cost of doing that, and none of us wants that.

There's this: https://community.upwork.com/t5/New-to-Upwork/Getting-Started-on-Upwork/m-p/264214#M2460

And included in that link is this: https://community.upwork.com/t5/New-to-Upwork/Tips-to-Avoid-Questionable-Jobs/td-p/240833

[nkocendova]

Hi Shannon,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Virginia did share helpful links with information about working on Upwork and things to be on alert for, however I can confirm that action has been taken according to our processes with regard to the client and job post you were referring to in your post.

[madison-russell]

I just recently actually applied for the job you're talking about! I knew it sounded fishy, but thought I'd apply anyway and just see. The guy asked for the hangouts interview, I said I prefered to keep things on Upwork, and my proposal was immediately declined. I've been around for a while, so I know to keep things on the platform, but I feel bad for the newbies that get sucked into these scams. 

[tdmarquis]

I feel like I might be in one now.

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Anthony,

Please send me a PM with the job posting link and our team will investigate it further. You can also use the flagging option directly on the job post itself. Thank you.

[trbrown77]

Me too. I was “hired” by **edited for Community Guidelines** but when they sent a check then asked me to look for amazon gift cards since some items are not at the store but why would they not have me use my acct to order the stuff I need? It makes no sense. Now she is pushing me to check if the funds are available so I can “get started” but I told her I’m waiting for a response back from the company to verify my employment their since I have not spoken to anybody about new hire paperwork etc. they said great. But then still pushing me to use the money. Idk if it’s a scam or not but I feel like it is.

[m_sharman]

All payment is via upwork, not a check.

[AveryO]

Hi Trisha, 

I would like to recommend that you stop communicating with this client, and flag their job post as inappropriate. Please know that accepting to be paid, and paying off the platform is a violation of the Upwork Terms of Service. 

I highly recommend that you read up on the freelancer resources we have compiled, for great tips and insights on how you can work successfully on the platform. Please also pay attention to the Safety First! section of the resources, and these tips for avoiding questionable jobs for more information about working safely through Upwork.

[petra_r]

---

Trisha B wrote:

. Idk if it’s a scam or not

---

Of course it is a scam. No real client sends a real check to a stranger on the Internet. The check is (of course) a fake. The company exists but has nothing to do with the scammer you fell for.

It is one of the oldest, dumbest scams on the net.

---

Me too. I was “hired” by **edited for Community Guidelines** but when they sent a check then asked me to look for amazon gift cards since some items are not at the store but why would they not have me use my acct to order the stuff I need?

---

Even if, in some alternative universe far, FAR away from planet earth, any company wanted to buy an entry-level newbie they picked out on a freelancing site a bunch of equipment (it has never happened...) - obviously (!) they would just buy it and have it shipped to you. They wouldn't send a check.

[andrew_humphries]

I dont' know if this thread is still alive, but I got a job offer at $50 an hour over Google hangouts at Baezer Homes. Once it came time to get my information I pressed him for a contact number and haven't heard back. Anyone ever hear of these guys or **Edited for Community Guidelines**?

[a_kuntsi]

What I have learned here: don't do Google Hangouts.

Haven't figured out what happens exactly, but it is 99% of times a scam.

[andrew_humphries]

Yeah I’ll ignore it. I need to see if I said anything personal. Any advice one what to do if I get scammed?

[petra_r]

---

@Andrew H wrote:
Yeah I’ll ignore it. I need to see if I said anything personal. Any advice one what to do if I get scammed?

---

 If you get scammed it will be 99% because you didn't take the time to understand how things work...

[crart]

---

@Petra R wrote:

---

@Andrew H wrote:
Yeah I’ll ignore it. I need to see if I said anything personal. Any advice one what to do if I get scammed?

---

 If you get scammed it will be 99% because you didn't take the time to understand how things work...

---

 This image should be presented to all new freelancers. ALL. They should learn it and use it. I report each and every scam I find on this side, actually Upwork IS taking action by removing those scammers. If we, freelancers, won't do anything about scammers, no one will do this for us. New freelancers must learn. We all learned it somehow, sometimes with bad things happening but that's the lesson of life. Sometimes I wish I could tell all these members applying to blatant scam jobs "Really? Are you actually using your common sense? Do you REALLY trust this thing here??" Because some are so obvious I cannot believe people are actually applying there... Sure I had some things like that but that was 10 years ago when I was starting. These things must be learnt as quickly as possible, otherwise scammers will only grow in power. We must all protect ourselves, Upwork does what it can but it is our responsibility to take care of our own reputation, time and business. And blaming Upwork thet there are scammers... it's like blaming fish thet they swim into another river. They swim because they can, same with internet where some people simply exist only to abuse others. 

[sergio-soria]

You can't blame Upwork for being scammed as a newbie. You don't need to be scammed to learn, what you have to do is read before using. This is like when you buy a device and it comes with a user's manual. You don't read the manual and then the device doesn't work as you expected. Finally you read the manual because you realize it is there for a reason. Here the community and the Help and Support section is full of information about scammers, so if they caught you off guard it's your responsibility. Upwork cannot take you by the hand, though they provide lots of resources for newbies. Sure, reading may be boring sometimes but it's your call.

[prestonhunter]

re: "Any advice one what to do if I get scammed?"

Simple: Learn from your mistake and move on. Report the scammer client using the "Flag as inappropriate" button on the job posting.

[elenadhernandez]

This is very helpful. Can you please explain how Google Hangout indicates a scam? I have been caught up in a hangout with an employer for days who seems unprofessional, but I did research and it is on behalf of an actual pharma company.