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Vinod's avatar
Vinod M Community Member

Client changed requirement, hold my payment for unagreed thing & cancelled contract without paying

Hello,

Unfortunately today I came across one scammer here. Long story, in short, I applied to his job post and according to it, he wanted to build code in Xcode. When he came for discussion then he told me that his previous developer not available so looking for a new one to do this task. Also, he told me that he himself worked on it but he had some error to build it and that's why he looking for someone to do the task. So first I asked him for the source code to check out before opening a contract as I wanted to make sure I will resolve the error. When I (one of developer from my team) resolved error then I asked him to open a contract where he started to bargaining and he wanted this to be done in very cheap but later we agreed on a certain amount and opened contract where I found that he just funded $5 in escrow and he said he will pay remaining when I will deliver code. As I didn't have any choice, I sent him the source code and asked for money but then he changed his mind and asked me to give details about what was an error and how I have resolved it. As we had to do many things to resolve the error so it was difficult for me to give details. Also, we didn't agree on this in the contract so I didn't keep details of resolving the error. Then he holds my payment for this reason. As it was night time here and my teammate was not available so I asked him that I will try to give you details in the morning where he thought that I am lying to him and he went ahead and cancelled the contract without paying. 

 

As upwork is bringing new changes from next month so I am worried that how they are going to deal with this kind of scammer. He himself told me that he had 80 profiles on upwork. 

 

 

 

Furthermore, I also found that he had posted the same job twice in a day which I guess to catch a fish and unfortunately it was meSmiley Sad

 

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

 

This was the first time he posted, See his project's fixed price $555 and now see how much he wanted to pay,

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

 

This is a second time he posted a job,

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

 

Talking about money I have lost today is not big but I had the worst experience and waste of time. Also as an experienced freelancer and working since a long time here it won't affect me more mentally but I am just worried that what will happen to a New freelancer if they will face this kind of things. They might lose their confidence. I don't know whether it will cost my JSS or not but I would like to see how Upwork will deal with it and what actions they can take.

 

Looking forward to hearing back from Upwork officials here as well as senior members.

 

Thanks,

Vinod

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
Bojan's avatar
Bojan S Community Manager

Hi Vinod,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I checked your report and was able to locate the job you're referring to. I'll file a report to our team for further investigation.

 

Please, check this help article for more information on how to use the flag option found on each job post or message to report any suspicious or inappropriate content. Also, check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs.

 

Thank you!

~ Bojan
Upwork

View solution in original post

8 REPLIES 8
Michael's avatar
Michael S Community Member

Best to just flag these kinds of jobs and ignore them.

 

Putting only $5 into the escrow with a promise to pay later (and always "as a bonus") is how they game the system. They know that if you agree to that, they'll only ever have to pay $5, because that's what's in the contract, as bonus payments aren't covered by any of Upwork's protections.

Lila's avatar
Lila G Community Member

You noted "you didn't have any choice" but you did have a choice. You choose to trust someone's word. This is more of a lesson learned than what more Upwork can do. It matter of learning how to filter through these scammers and finding the right client.

 

The most Upwork can do is continue creating more clear content on how not to get scammed for newcomers. That doesn't help prevent from someone choosing to miss all the signs to get scammed. Next time be more assertive and clear about the payment. Don't feel like you have to do anything. It is ok to say NO. 

 

Best wishes.

Lila
Bojan's avatar
Bojan S Community Manager

Hi Vinod,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I checked your report and was able to locate the job you're referring to. I'll file a report to our team for further investigation.

 

Please, check this help article for more information on how to use the flag option found on each job post or message to report any suspicious or inappropriate content. Also, check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs.

 

Thank you!

~ Bojan
Upwork
Vinod's avatar
Vinod M Community Member

Hello Bojan,

Thank you for giving your kind attention to this problem. I will go ahead and use flag option for this job.

Kathy's avatar
Kathy T Community Member

As upwork is bringing new changes from next month so I am worried that how they are going to deal with this kind of scammer. 

 

Don't know why you should be worried because it's not Upworks responsibility to look out for YOU. It's YOUR responsibility. No matter what was agreed on you will only get paid from what's in escrow.This client, has done this many times before and always to new freelancers because they don't know the procedures of this site and how to work the right way. Make sure escrow/milestone are FULLY funded BEFORE you start work, promises don't pay the bills, buy groceries, or put gas in your car. As long as freelancers keep falling for this, this client and many others will continue this tatic. 

 

You stated you didn't have a choice. You ALWAYS have a choice, The choice is not to accept a contract if the client only wants to pay cheap. The choice is NOT to start work until escrow is fully funded or to just do $5 worth of work until the rest is funded. 

Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member


Vinod M wrote:

Hello,

Unfortunately today I came across one scammer here. Long story, in short, I applied to his job post and according to it, he wanted to build code in Xcode. When he came for discussion then he told me that his previous developer not available so looking for a new one to do this task. Also, he told me that he himself worked on it but he had some error to build it and that's why he looking for someone to do the task. So first I asked him for the source code to check out before opening a contract as I wanted to make sure I will resolve the error. When I (one of developer from my team) resolved error then I asked him to open a contract where he started to bargaining and he wanted this to be done in very cheap but later we agreed on a certain amount and opened contract where I found that he just funded $5 in escrow and he said he will pay remaining when I will deliver code. As I didn't have any choice, I sent him the source code and asked for money but then he changed his mind and asked me to give details about what was an error and how I have resolved it. As we had to do many things to resolve the error so it was difficult for me to give details. Also, we didn't agree on this in the contract so I didn't keep details of resolving the error. Then he holds my payment for this reason. As it was night time here and my teammate was not available so I asked him that I will try to give you details in the morning where he thought that I am lying to him and he went ahead and cancelled the contract without paying. 

 

As upwork is bringing new changes from next month so I am worried that how they are going to deal with this kind of scammer. He himself told me that he had 80 profiles on upwork. 

 

 

 

Furthermore, I also found that he had posted the same job twice in a day which I guess to catch a fish and unfortunately it was meSmiley Sad

 

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

 

This was the first time he posted, See his project's fixed price $555 and now see how much he wanted to pay,

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

 

This is a second time he posted a job,

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

 

Talking about money I have lost today is not big but I had the worst experience and waste of time. Also as an experienced freelancer and working since a long time here it won't affect me more mentally but I am just worried that what will happen to a New freelancer if they will face this kind of things. They might lose their confidence. I don't know whether it will cost my JSS or not but I would like to see how Upwork will deal with it and what actions they can take.

 

Looking forward to hearing back from Upwork officials here as well as senior members.

 

Thanks,

Vinod


The client was intending to pay $555 just as much as the clients who put $12345 into the budget field. It means nothing. It's simply bait to entice freelancers into thinking that they will get that money. Or they have no idea what it is going to cost, so they put $5, or some put $99999, well I've seen it all. In your case he wanted to scam you from the start. Consider yourself lucky you don't have a job, because scammers all but guarantee bad feedback as well, which could drag you down and ruin your upwork career. 

Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member


Vinod M wrote:

Hello,

Unfortunately today I came across one scammer here. Long story, in short, I applied to his job post and according to it, he wanted to build code in Xcode. When he came for discussion then he told me that his previous developer not available so looking for a new one to do this task. Also, he told me that he himself worked on it but he had some error to build it and that's why he looking for someone to do the task. So first I asked him for the source code to check out before opening a contract as I wanted to make sure I will resolve the error. When I (one of developer from my team) resolved error then I asked him to open a contract where he started to bargaining and he wanted this to be done in very cheap but later we agreed on a certain amount and opened contract where I found that he just funded $5 in escrow and he said he will pay remaining when I will deliver code. As I didn't have any choice, I sent him the source code and asked for money but then he changed his mind and asked me to give details about what was an error and how I have resolved it. As we had to do many things to resolve the error so it was difficult for me to give details. Also, we didn't agree on this in the contract so I didn't keep details of resolving the error. Then he holds my payment for this reason. As it was night time here and my teammate was not available so I asked him that I will try to give you details in the morning where he thought that I am lying to him and he went ahead and cancelled the contract without paying. 

 

As upwork is bringing new changes from next month so I am worried that how they are going to deal with this kind of scammer. He himself told me that he had 80 profiles on upwork. 

 

 

 

Furthermore, I also found that he had posted the same job twice in a day which I guess to catch a fish and unfortunately it was meSmiley Sad

 

This was the first time he posted, See his project's fixed price $555 and now see how much he wanted to pay,

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

 

This is a second time he posted a job,

 

Talking about money I have lost today is not big but I had the worst experience and waste of time. Also as an experienced freelancer and working since a long time here it won't affect me more mentally but I am just worried that what will happen to a New freelancer if they will face this kind of things. They might lose their confidence. I don't know whether it will cost my JSS or not but I would like to see how Upwork will deal with it and what actions they can take.

 

Looking forward to hearing back from Upwork officials here as well as senior members.

 

Thanks,

Vinod


The client was intending to pay $555 just as much as the clients who put $12345 into the budget field. It means nothing. It's simply bait to entice freelancers into thinking that they will get that money. Or they have no idea what it is going to cost, so they put $5, or some put $99999, well I've seen it all. In your case he wanted to scam you from the start. Consider yourself lucky you don't have a job, because scammers all but guarantee bad feedback as well, which could drag you down and ruin your upwork career. 

Petra's avatar
Petra R Community Member

I know a client who puts random amounts in the budget field simply to weed out the freelancers who bid the budget without thinking.

 

Frankly a freelancer who bids hudreds for a job that realistically is worth tens is either an idiot or a scammer him/herself...

 

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