Commission to send projects

[xuraniumx]

Greetings Everyone,

Hope you are doing great!

I had a client on Upwork. I believe that is his second project ever on the website. In the first one, he paid 2 hours and the contract is not finished yet.

the client is offering me to send a lot of projects that he has in exchange with a percentage of the earnings. 

for example, he sends me a contract of a 1000$, he then gets a 10% cut after the contract is completed and I receieve the money.

First, I want to know if this is legal on Upwork. Second, I want to know if there's any way he could scam me with that.

Cheers,

Zyad Mansour

[Anonymous-User]

It is either a scam or he is stealing from his employer in the hiring process, either way, I would stay away.

My gut feeling is scam.

[50f7abd3]

Hello Zyad,

To take your second question first, this sounds like a scam. Specifically, advance-fee fraud. I suspect you will be asked to send the 10% of the first contract; which is a fictional contract with work that looks real and keeps you busy; before you can gain access to the other contracts.

Considering this answer, it is safe to say that this is contrary to the Upwork ToS. A client should start a new contract for each new job or bundle a number of small contracts into one and make each one a milestone.

If a client makes such a request as you stated, do you not imagine that they themselves are doing something illegal? Why would a client, who presumably owns the work, want to make 10% off what he is to pay? 

Finally, a client who has only ever offered one job that has not been evaluated cannot be trusted. This is a red flag fest and I advise that you steer clear of such a client. 

[martina_plaschka]

It sounds more like a pay-back scam. Freelancer thinks he gets $1000, refunds $100 outside of upwork, bank or client reverses $1000, scammer earned $100. Could also be considered money-laundering.