Aug 11, 2021 12:43:17 AM by Dhruvin V
Hi all, today i received a message on one proposal.
That client wants to give money to their relatives in India from my local banks as I am from India. he says he can pay me 950usd and I need to pay 550usd to their relatives. and for to make sure I agreed and asked the client to pay me. also, he paid me and I received the money in my Upwork wallet then I did not feel right so I refunded the money.
but I am very curious to know what is it all about if anyone knows it. he asked me to transfer money to local banks instantly.
Aug 11, 2021 12:49:01 AM Edited Aug 11, 2021 02:52:04 AM by Petra R
Dhruvin V wrote:but I am very curious to know what is it all about if anyone knows it. he asked me to transfer money to local banks instantly.
It is (obviously) a scam. The money would have been reversed anyway. Had you sent the money you would have lost $550.
Basically those scammers either use stolen or hacked payment methods to pay on Upwork and then take the real money you send or, more often and much more simply, they initiate a bonus payment that can't be charged because there are insufficient funds on the client's payment method. So the freelancer thinks the money is there because they see it in Pending, when in reality it isn't at all. Ask yourself why any real person would pay $950 for you to send $550 when they could just send $550 to their relatives themselves. It makes absolutely no sense
Aug 11, 2021 12:52:21 AM by Martina P
Dhruvin V wrote:Hi all, today i received a message on one proposal.
That client wants to give money to their relatives in India from my local banks as I am from India. he says he can pay me 950usd and I need to pay 550usd to their relatives. and for to make sure I agreed and asked the client to pay me. also, he paid me and I received the money in my Upwork wallet then I did not feel right so I refunded the money.
but I am very curious to know what is it all about if anyone knows it. he asked me to transfer money to local banks instantly.
It is about stealing your money. You will see a payment in your upwork account (it's not a wallet), which will be reversed later, so you're out of your own money.
I guess it's a good thing that you reconsidered doing this, but, my friend, the red flags should have gone up the first second he mentioned that. Ask yourself:
- why does he not send money directly?
- what flimsy "excuse" is he using why that's not possible?
- have you researched if that is factual?
- who would pay such a high amount as commission for an money transfer?
- why did he select you and not anybody else?
yeah. Not even a complete list.
Aug 11, 2021 12:52:50 AM by Goran V
Hi Dhruvin,
Could you please share the job post URL or the client name with me via PM (click on my name? Our team will investigate this further and if any violations are found proper actions will be taken. Thank you.
Aug 11, 2021 12:54:59 AM by Petra R
Goran V wrote:Could you please share the job post URL.
It's the $950 contract that opened and closed today....
Aug 11, 2021 01:32:56 AM by Martina P
Petra R wrote:
Goran V wrote:Could you please share the job post URL.
It's the $950 contract that opened and closed today....
Since he said he refunded, I guess it takes a little time for the job to disappear?
Aug 11, 2021 02:15:20 AM by Petra R
Martina P wrote:Since he said he refunded, I guess it takes a little time for the job to disappear?
Yes, up to a day or so.
May 21, 2023 11:39:40 PM Edited May 22, 2023 01:49:55 AM by Pradeep H
I have had the same situation today. But I didn't accept the offer yet and didn't responded at all.
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
May 22, 2023 01:50:55 AM Edited May 22, 2023 01:52:25 AM by Christine A
This is an obvious scam; they'll steal your money and then reverse the payment that they made to Upwork (or the rightful credit card holder will report it as stolen). It's also a terms of service violation for you to send payments to anyone off of Upwork. Flag the job as inappropriate and Upwork will refund your connects.
If you seriously thought that anyone was going to pay you this much money for doing nothing, then you need to start thinking more carefully. Why would you even apply to this job in the first place? Your profile says that you're a graphic designer, and the job had nothing to do with design work.
Aug 9, 2023 05:57:17 AM by Henry C
Thanks, I will keep it in my mind.
Aug 11, 2021 02:34:49 AM by Fortune A
The same people with same strategy, some times they come with the payment as a bounus and when you have done what they need they take it back. Thanks for sharing this so that no freelancer can fall for these scams. On a second thought no one gifts $400 for free.
Aug 11, 2021 02:48:47 AM Edited Aug 11, 2021 02:49:26 AM by Petra R
Fortune A wrote:some times they come with the payment as a bounus and when you have done what they need they take it back.
They don't take it back, it was never paid in the first place. If a client gives a bonus it immediately shows as pending even if the client's payment method has not yet been successfully charged. That's how the con works. The payment (which never happened) is eventually reversed by Upwork. Clients can't "take payments back" just like that anyway, it's simply a transaction that never actually happened.
Apr 12, 2022 03:14:27 PM by Marcela V
That happened to me today. A client offered a contract and told me that he would send me 2300$ and was expecting that I transfer 1300$ for someone in China via Payoneer. I know that Upwork are full os scammers thoses days. I got curious about where this was going and said 'ok'. He sent the money via Bonus Payment. I said to him: "You know that we need to wait 6 days for the money, right?" He said 'yes, that's why I needed you to send 1300$ now.' I just laughed... That's just ridiculous. I want to know how can I report this person so he can't try to allure people?
Apr 12, 2022 03:56:46 PM Edited Apr 12, 2022 03:57:14 PM by Peter G
Flag them and report them here. You did the right thing as they are one of the many scammers you will encounter on Upwork. If you haven't read this yet, please do: https://community.upwork.com/t5/Community-Blog/Top-Red-Flags-for-Scams-From-Community-Member-Wes-C/b...
Apr 12, 2022 04:19:06 PM Edited Apr 12, 2022 05:11:51 PM by Avery O
Hi Peter, and Marcela,
Peter, I want to clarify that there is no need to report these here. As a gentle reminder, including identifying information such as names of persons or companies in an accusation of misconduct, is not allowed based on our Community Guidelines.
Marcela, don't hesitate to report suspicious user activity by following the steps here. I will also look into this and will send a follow-up report to the team for their review and action.
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