Client Contact Woes

[d03238fc]

I've been trying to get a few freelance jobs here on Upwork for about a month now. I'm new to the platform and want to make sure that I'm doing everything right and to the best of my ability. I've sent out dozens of proposals at this point, but very few of them have come back to interviews. Every single one of the clients that have reached out for interviews wants me to use either Skype or Telegram to complete their interview before signing a contract. According to my understanding of the Terms of Service section 3.5, no communication is allowed to take place prior to signing a contract except through Upwork. I'm getting a bit annoyed with the flood of useless interview requests, as I don't want to violate the TOS. Does anyone else run into this problem? Am I doing anything wrong? Why do all of the clients want to communicate outside of Upwork? Are they hiding something?

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

Those aren't real clients.

Real clients don't ask you to communicate using Telegram or Skype or WhatsApp before a contract is in place. The people who ask you to do that are just scammers trying to steal your money.

[d03238fc]

Thanks for the insight, Preston. I figured something along those lines was the case. Just super frustrating to get so many empty responses from people, wasting Connects on proposals for their jobs. Is there a good way to spot the scammers? What should I do when I get an interview request from them, aside from ignoring their request?

[e2ad6233]

Hello! I've just joined Upwork today. I hope you get some jobs real quick. Best of luck with it!