Mar 29, 2020 02:31:31 AM Edited Mar 29, 2020 02:54:49 AM by Aleksandar D
I am a freenalncer at upwork and i got an invitation for doing a project, it was a great momenr for me but that guy was asking me to contact him personally on his whatsapp number and also he said that payment will be done outside upwork.
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
Mar 29, 2020 02:58:53 AM Edited Oct 29, 2020 03:14:16 AM by Aleksandar D
Hi Waleed,
Thanks for reaching out to us. Could you please send me a private message with more information on this as I couldn't find any message in which the client asked you to get paid outside of Upwork?
Please note that communicating outside of Upwork is not a violation of the Terms of Service.
Edited to add: According to the TOS change announced here, it's no longer allowed to share contact information before a contract is in place.
Also, please check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs and please use the flag option found on each job post or message anytime you’d like to report a violation.
Thank you.
Oct 29, 2020 03:09:08 AM Edited Jun 16, 2021 07:58:31 AM by Bojan S
You should be careful with cases like this. I have encountered a scam on **Edited for community guidelines**
Mar 8, 2021 05:48:00 PM Edited Mar 8, 2021 06:53:03 PM by Joanne P
Be careful with these direct contacts via**Edited for community guidelines**Sometimes it can be someone malicious
Jun 16, 2021 07:09:42 AM Edited Mar 21, 2022 08:50:51 AM by Valeria K
So you can refer to **Edited for Community Guidelines**to see. This version can support payment for your work.
Jun 16, 2021 07:41:43 AM by Will L
Amelia B.,
It is a violation of Upwork's rules to process payment through any channel other than Upwork.
Jun 16, 2021 09:28:15 AM Edited Jun 16, 2021 10:45:35 AM by Preston H
I've never heard of a Whatsapp invite that was from a legitimate client. As far as I know, these aren't "clients who are confused about how to use Upwork properly"...
...these are all scammers.
But my standard advice could apply here:
Offer the client the opportunity to do the right thing: If the client hires you using an official Upwork contract, without asking you to violate Upwork ToS again, then it's fine. If the client doesn't do so, then report him.
Oct 19, 2021 10:27:00 AM by Oscar Daniel C
I´ve got an invitation too and the client let me his number on the chat, sometimes some clients don't know how to use Upwork properly so I contact him, but I always let them know that I just work through the Upwork platform because is the safest way for both parts.
So I receive an email from Upwork regarding " This job was not in compliance with our Terms of Service". And it was removed from the marketplace.
So, I would like to know the best way to proceed and inform the client of the correct process within the platform, because I have been working really hard to improve my profile and become a Top-rated plus freelancer in the future, and clearly, I don't want to lose my badge and my status.
Thank you very much.
Best,
Oscar C.
Oct 19, 2021 10:56:52 AM Edited Oct 19, 2021 12:06:58 PM by Preston H
re: "So, I would like to know the best way to proceed and inform the client of the correct process within the platform"
Client: "Hey, Oscar, can you talk to me about the job on WhatsApp? Here is my number..."
Freelancer: "Dan: Thank you for contacting me. I would be happy to talk to you more about this job. Upwork requires that all communications be done using this Upwork Messages tool, until an official contract is in place. If you will go ahead and click the green 'Hire' button, I will accept the contract and we can communicate using WhatsApp or any tool you want to use. Until then, we can talk here using Upwork Messages. We can chat, or use the built-in Zoom meeting feature. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you."
Oct 19, 2021 11:53:17 AM by Martina P
Oscar Daniel C wrote:I´ve got an invitation too and the client let me his number on the chat, sometimes some clients don't know how to use Upwork properly so I contact him, but I always let them know that I just work through the Upwork platform because is the safest way for both parts.
So I receive an email from Upwork regarding " This job was not in compliance with our Terms of Service". And it was removed from the marketplace.
So, I would like to know the best way to proceed and inform the client of the correct process within the platform, because I have been working really hard to improve my profile and become a Top-rated plus freelancer in the future, and clearly, I don't want to lose my badge and my status.
Thank you very much.
Best,
Oscar C.
Don't worry about this. It is not your job to educate clients. Probably was a scammer anyway. Your best strategy is making very sure that you yourself don't violate any terms of service by talking outside of upwork before hire.
Oct 21, 2021 12:18:44 PM Edited Oct 21, 2021 12:19:02 PM by Preston H
re: "is it a scam or not"
99% of the time if a "client" asks you to contract him on WhatsApp to talk about the job, it is a scammer.
Even if it not a scammer, you still can't do that. You still need to use Upwork Messages only to communicate before a contract is in place.
Oct 21, 2021 12:24:57 PM Edited Oct 21, 2021 12:26:10 PM by Preston H
You want to know something funny?
WhatsApp was originally created in the United States, but almost nobody here uses it.
And most real, paying clients in Upwork are located in the United States. So if you simply blocked any client who sent you an unsolicited invite to talk on WhatsApp... there's almost no chance that you would ever miss out on a real, paying job.
True story:
Last week a real client who I am actually already working for said I could simply contact him on WhatsApp. I said okay, I will look into what that is. He lives in East Asia. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that I have never used WhatsApp and did not know anybody who uses it.
Jul 4, 2022 12:39:40 AM Edited Nov 15, 2023 01:34:17 AM by Nikola S
i also work on fm whatsapp . we often chat with each other very happily because we believe in the security of the app
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
Nov 15, 2023 01:32:15 AM Edited Nov 15, 2023 01:34:02 AM by Nikola S
It's important to be cautious when a client asks you to communicate or work directly through personal messaging apps like WhatsApp. While it might be a convenient way to communicate, it's essential to establish clear boundaries and ensure that you're comfortable with the arrangement. **Edited for Community Guidelines**