Bonus maybe a Scam

[8147198f]

Client send me payment in advance in the form of Bonus and didn’t set any milestone. The work was of one hour and after the work, Client paused the contract. Can he get the bonus back? Is this a Scam?

[martina_plaschka]

【ｉ　Ｎｅｅｄ　Ｕｃｓ　ｆｏｒ　ｍｙ　ｂｏｓｓ　ｓｏｎ】

Scammer getting (slightly) more clever. This spacing makes sure it doesn't get flagged immediately. He never paid any bonus. 

Please don't buy virtual currencies! It is against the ToS. 

Why didn't you come earlier to the forum and search for this kind of thing? When you thought the whole thing sounded not right? When somebody pays you 40% commission for absolutely nothing? 

[8147198f]

What should I do now?

He sent the bonus and sent me the screenshot as well.

I spend few dollars on the work from my own pocket and waiting to get the
bonus which I’ll get after 5 days.

Will I get the bonus? Please help

[petra_r]

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Haider A wrote:
Will I get the bonus?

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No, of course not.

The client NEVER paid the bonus, the client made a transaction which never went through, Did you not wonder why in the world someone would try and buy this stuff over Upwork at a hugely inflated price rather than just buying it in the App-store?

[martina_plaschka]

Of course he sends a screenshot to convince you the bonus actually happened. Upwork will not be able to charge the client's credit card, and he will be suspended. 

The money you spent is gone. The bonus never existed. 

[petra_r]

He can't "get the bonus back" because he never paid it in the first place.

Yes, it's (of course) a scam. I hope you haven't bought any UCS yet?

[prestonhunter]

Is the bonus a scam?
Maybe. Maybe not.

The client has no Upwork button to click that can take the bonus money back.

But if the client was using a credit card fraudulently, or if the client does a chargeback, then there is no protection from Upwork for bonus payments.

USUALLY if a client sends you a bonus payment, then that money is yours permanently and it is not a scam. But it IS POSSIBLE that this is a scam.

As a practical matter, if a client wants me to work for an hour, then I should log time using the desktop time-tracker, and get paid the normal way - not through a bonus payment. Because Upwork can provide Payment Protection. If a client used a credit card fraudulently and Upwork can't charge their card, then Upwork will pay me out of their own pocket through Payment Protection. But that only applies to hourly work. Not bonus payments.

[8147198f]

Here is the Client work history. Please guide me what should I do?

[petra_r]

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Haider A wrote:
Here is the Client work history.

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Yes, the client has managed to con a whole bunch of people. Not one of them will see a single Cent of the over $9,000 because not a Cent of that money was actually paid.

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Haider A wrote:
Here is the Client work history. Please guide me what should I do?

---

There is nothing you CAN do unless you can somehow claw back the money you paid...

[petra_r]

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Preston H wrote:

Is the bonus a scam?
Maybe. Maybe not.

---

You have GOT to be joking,

It's the good old UCS game currency scam. It's a scam. There isn't a snowball in hell's chance of it being anything other than a scam.

[nyonomega0]

One more thing scammers do **Edited for Community Guidelines**, is to play on and then trick the freelancers by using a "beguiling", "deluding", "overly-friendly" and somewhat "seducing" language. This can easily trick new or"not-so-smart" freelancers into doing something they wouldn't have done otherwise. **Edited for Community Guidelines** 

If you have bought or sent him UC, then sorry because you have lost your money.

Anyways, I would appreciate an explanation on why Upwork can't cease clients from sending any bonus in case no money has been funded or released in a contract. If they implement this, then I don't think any UC scam would be possible, or any other scams that include "bonus" as the main payment instead of milestones or hourly rates.

[martina_plaschka]

The bonus option is not the problem. 

Freelancers participating in frauds is the problem. 

If they can be beguiled or deluded by over-friendly people to buy them virtual currency with their own money, they should not use the internet. 

[nyonomega0]

I completely understand that freelancers participating in frauds is also a problem but there will probably never be a solution for it. There's every kind of mind working here.

OP, for example, is a top-rated freelancer with more than 1,500 hours billed, but still fell for this scam.

He claimed that he spent a few dollars from his pocket to complete the task but who knows if that's true. Maybe he has spent (wasted) hundreds of dollars but is hesitating to state that here. Given how these scams work out the (fake) spending history of the "client", him spending more than "a few dollars" is more likely to be the case. Therefore, I believe that Upwork ceasing bonuses for unpaid contracts could be a good solution and should be implemented.

[martina_plaschka]

No.