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93502144
Community Member

Beware of "" scam(document typing )

Beware of jobs listed document typing -  in need of someone to type documents for thier company. Once they contact you, they ask you to contact somone else on an app called telegram that you'll have to download. Once you download and message the person they send you a pdf file with about 8 jobs listed each job shows what it pays, how many images, and a security fee. The person will ask you to tel them which job your interested in. The skeptic I am, I Googled **Edited for community guidelines** which is the company this man said he worked for. Company is legit -  everything seemed to check out except one thing I couldnt shake- the security fee. It says you'll be making the payment for the security fee through skrill. I asked the guy if he would be willing to use **Edited for community guidelines** website for all payments he declined and said they took bitcoin also. I Googled some more and found a comment made by **Edited for community guidelines** saying all payments should be made through thier site. I dodged a bullet and I hope this helps stop him from scamming someone else 

24 REPLIES 24
pgiambalvo
Community Member

Thank you for the warning. There are so many post like these that have been reported over and over again that still keep appearing in our feeds.

roberty1y
Community Member

Be careful. You should have stopped when they asked you to contact them outside of Upwork. This could get you suspended or banned from the site when you do it before an Upwork contract is started.

I wasn't aware of that at the time, or I absolutely wouldn't have. It was
my first go with the app I thought that was just how it was done
unfortunately until my gut told me to start checking what the policy was
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Andrea, 

As a gentle reminder, please note that users cannot communicate off Upwork until a contract has been set up on your account (the client sent an offer, and you accepted it). Users are also not allowed to offer and accept payment off the Upwork website. It would be best to visit these articles for more information on how you can keep in line with Upwork's Terms of Service when engaging on the website:

In the meantime, I recommend checking out the "Safety First!" section of the freelancer resources we have compiled, these tips for avoiding questionable jobs, and this article for more information about working safely through Upwork. 


~ Avery
Upwork

who should I report this listing and user to?  its the same scam as above, snapshot of telegram convo below

 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

msedge_POLMiTSxX4.pngmsedge_8SM6xTHuHy.png

It's never a good idea to mess with scammers. You went outside of upwork using telegram, and you know very well that you should not do that. They suspend people for that kind of thing. 

The right way to report is flagging in the job posting, if it is still there. Maybe somebody else flagged it already. 

4a1498c5
Community Member

Hello, I have been scammed with the same thing the Andrea M was saying about and I do not know what to do, they took a lot of money and they are asking even more and more to get to the payment. Can you help me please or direct me to someone who knows what to do, please?

Hi Vanna,

 

Communicating outside Upwork prior to a contract starting and any financial transactions outside Upwork is against ToS. We won't be able to help you get back the money you paid to the scammers but you should be able to avoid them moving forward by following the tips in this article on how to avoid questionable jobs and by following Upwork ToS.


~ AJ
Upwork

And it also could get the client suspended or banned, but they'd be able to easily set up a new account, which a freelancer who was unaware of the rules can't.

bundie702
Community Member

" I asked the guy if he would be willing to **edited for Community Guidelines** for all payments he declined"

---------

FYI, all freelancer payments are to go through Upwork. You might want to read the terms of service to become more acquainted with how the procedures work. As someone else stated, corresponding with anyone off platform before a contract is in place is a big no-no.

f14d3a20
Community Member

OMG! I just dodged awhile ago, all the things you mentioned she said it too. Still looking for my first freelancing job and was alarmed when mentioned security fee , so SUS. 

Thanks 

tanujakolhapure
Community Member

Hello Andrea,

 

Whenver a similar jobs pops up for security fees, training fees, Software Charges. Its an alarming situation and rethink about the job post. Stay away from thos jobs even if the client is legit and has good reviews.

 

If any client has a legal project for completion, why he/she should asked for training, security or software charges, whereas she/he should look for the completion of project.

 

Hope this info is helpful

 

Thanks!

gavish_matan
Community Member

msedge_POLMiTSxX4.pngmsedge_8SM6xTHuHy.pngmsedge_618n02ulyJ.pngmsedge_LgPXVflT6A.png

danggee
Community Member

Thank you for the heads-up! I applied and they responded. Here's the screen cap of our conversation. Beware! 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

scripttype
Community Member

I think the same guy posted another similer job again.  i have already flaged to upwork, i 'm adding the link below. requesting everyone to report this.

 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

4dc5dd92
Community Member

Well, i contacted one of thoses scammers just to know they're tricks. There are two types of scammers:

1: those who asked you to send a security fee to get the job

2 : those who doesn't say anything about security refundable fee if you didn't know about it until you finish the job, then they tell you well we've got your payment all you have to do is send us a refundable fee for security reasons taking people for fools. 

 

What is extraordinary about the second method, is that they let you dream, work hard, for so many days so that at the end when they will ask you for 20 or 40 dollars it's not a big deal in comparison with the effort and time that you spended.

 

Becarful people 

Communicating outside Upwork before a contract is in place is a violation of Upwork's terms of Service. Freelancers should not even know how the scam works if they did some basic reading first on how the plarform works.

farrukhilyas100
Community Member

Hahah! Waoo! That's here, I was pretty sure, this was total fraud and scam before I googled a topic and I found your post. I was just talking to that guy who had sent me a pdf on up work and aksed me to reach on telegram and then he sent me the pdf of whatbuou have described above , image to text conversion for a company and I asked i will do entire job the mega project juts pay me half the amount 5000 dollars advance, rest your work will be done 😂😂 he then blocked me hahah 

 

Thanks for saving me , the community is great here. 

 

Namaste, Adaab, Shasre i kaal , from India. 

 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Hello,

I'll try to help by posting some ideas that I acquired from my experience working 13 years at Upwork (previously Elance).

  • Don't search jobs only directly at “Find Work”. Go to the “Search for job” space to apply “Filters”.
  • One of them is “Payment verified” (although today there are scammers with payment verified and Upwork is not checking it, it could help).
  • Other Filter is “Client history. Check if he posted other jobs, if he hired other freelancers, feedbacks, etc.   
  • Check the Date since the client is a member. Usually the scammers are members from the same day they post their jobs, and they didn't hire anyone. 
  • DON'T BID for jobs that ask for +20, +40 languages translation, or they publish a list of 15 languages, or invitations too good to be trueeven when they have their payment verified. They verify their payment from different countries every day. 
  • APPLY TO JOBS THAT FIT YOUR SKILLS. Don't apply to 100 jobs, wasting connects and money.
  • Always check the client's Profile before sending a proposal, even when it fits my skills.  
  • DON'T APPLY and don't contact if they publish a link (telegram, mail, skype, etc.) outside Upwork.  
  • DON'T start working or deliver any work if the contract didn't start for Upwork, and until the client has his payment verified and/or the money funded (specially if it's your first work with this client). 
  • DON'T BOOST YOUR BIDS. When you do it, you are paying to Upwork for finding a job instead of earning money from your work. Serious clients will find the best options according to your skills and not according to the amount of bids you use.  
  • I suggest even not paying for a membership. Just use the 10 connects they give you for free and buy 10 more ($1.5) ONLY when you find a good job for you. 

Maybe if Upwork will not earn extra-money from us, will decide to control the platform and the clients that post jobs. Possibly, Upwork should rate the clients. For example, if they posted 10 jobs and didn't hire anyone, or they even didn't read the proposals, and, of course, if they are scammers that post jobs almost every day.  It's time to delete them and avoiding them to post new jobs. 

 

I hope this could help to all of us. 

174aaf96
Community Member

Thank god I dodged this bullet. I knew something was fishy once their posting on upwork got taken down and they asked a refundable linking fees (which makes absolutely no sense). 

If they asked you to communicate outside Upwork, this was fishy as it is a violation of Upwork's Terms of Service.

Please take a look at the Academy courses in the top menu of this page.

0672ec74
Community Member

I fell, but partially.

 

I did the typing, but never got asked to pay any fee.

 

Oh, well...

 

At least the 9 stories I typed were interesting.

 

I'm thinking of adding them to my portfolio, as typing job!

 

😂😂😂😂😂

0672ec74
Community Member

One update to my report. They hadn't tried to charge me yet... They are trying now to get me to transfer US$ 50 before they can send me US$ 4000...

And they are persistent scammers!

😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

By the way, Debora F, thanks for your explanation. It helped me avoid scams and get a real job to start with...

f91ed456
Community Member

Thanks for the warning, im a beginner and that experience just happen to me. 

I decline it. n hope upwork not banned me for that.

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