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Chisom's avatar
Chisom A Community Member

Client Fraud

A verified client employed me sent my offer letter through upwork message and i started work. When it was time for payment he didn't pay and insisted he will pay later. He disengaged me now he is recruiting another person to use and scam to work Name Va appointment setter Philippines he posted agin about an hour ago.

9 REPLIES 9
Lahlooh's avatar
Lahlooh M Community Member

So when the payment method is verified (blue checkmark), that doesn't mean that the client has transferred the allocated money as per the agreement to UPWORK to hold on them.

 

I mean suppose a projects is tendered with $100 and a freelancer is hired for $80 under fixed price contract, I was assuming that the customer will pay to upwork and upwork hold $80 till approval comes from the client, or a due date is reached without customer approval.

 

I know that the general process is also based on trust as well, but reading this scenario is annoying. 

 

 

 

Christine's avatar
Christine A Community Member

Why not spend some time reading about how things work, instead of making assumptions?

Arjay's avatar
Arjay M Retired Team Member

Hi Chisom,

 

We truly appreciate sharing this and I'm sorry to hear about this unpleasant experience you had with a client. Please note that any request for free work is not allowed on Upwork, and sharing contact information before a contract has started is against Upwork's Terms of Service is a violation of Upwork's Terms of Service. All communications prior to the contract starting must take place on Upwork. We also encourage you to let us know if a TOS violation has happened by using the Flag as Inappropriate option throughout the platform. You can learn more about user reporting here.

 

I have escalated your report to the appropriate team for further review and action if necessary. You may want to check this help article and this thread for more information on how to stay safe on Upwork. 

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
Amanda's avatar
Amanda L Community Member

An offer letter does not mean you have a contract on Upwork through which you get paid. Unless the client sent you an "offer" through Upwork where you click on the button that says "Accept Offer" then you didn't have a contract. If you navigate to your My Contracts page, you can see whether or not you actually had an Upwork contract. You should never work without an Upwork contract in place. You will not get paid. Live and learn. 

Chisom's avatar
Chisom A Community Member

He sent the offer letter via upwork message. Meanwhile  I have been communicating  with the client from Upwork message  starting from my proposal  and interview  which upwork gave me an addition  10 connect. 

Why was my offer letter  not recognized  from Upwork.  I think Upwork  should  train clients on how to send offer letter.  This guy is going around recruiting freelancers to work for him Free.(Va appointment setter Philippines)

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

Chisom:

Part of learning new things is making mistakes.

That's okay!

It is important for you to understand that you not getting paid... that's all your fault.

 

And that's a good thing.

Because it means YOU HAVE THE POWER.

 

All you need to do is change your behavior in the future, and you will achieve a different outcome.

Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member

Clients know how to send offers. Freelancers need to know that they will never get paid if they work without a contract. 

Amanda's avatar
Amanda L Community Member


Chisom A wrote:

He sent the offer letter via upwork message. Meanwhile  I have been communicating  with the client from Upwork message  starting from my proposal  and interview  which upwork gave me an addition  10 connect. 

Why was my offer letter  not recognized  from Upwork.  I think Upwork  should  train clients on how to send offer letter.  This guy is going around recruiting freelancers to work for him Free.(Va appointment setter Philippines)

**Edited for Community Guidelines**


Hi Chisom, it would be good if your clients understood how to send an offer in Upwork but YOU also need to know when you have a contract on Upwork and when you don't. You BOTH need to understand how it works. Maybe they were new to Upwork as are you. That's why you both need to read the information pages on how to properly use Upwork. 

 

The fact is though, this guy was likely trying to get you to work for free by not sending an official Upwork contract. And that's why you need to learn the rules and how it works so you don't get scammed. If you had read the information on accepting a job, you would know that you didn't have a job in the first place because no offer was set. 

 

I'm not blaming you, just explaining how to fix it in the future. Obviously it's not your fault that scammers exist and take advantage of other people. But you do need to protect yourself. So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get to reading all the Freelancer help pages on how to find work, how to accept work, and how to get started working so you know all the steps to protect yourself. 

 

It will get better and easier. 

Petr's avatar
Petr D Community Member

have you contacted support yet?