Contact outside of Upwork

[#1]

Hello:

I responded to a proposal and they requested I have a brief discussion with their HR person who was not on Upwork. This was outside of Upwork on the Wire platform.

The HR person pretty much immediately stated that they would like to hire outside of Upwork. I told them that was against Upwork Terms of Services.  They then recanted and said they would use Upwork.

I reported the job to Upwork but in doing so did admit that I contacted them outside of Upwork for a preliminary introductory discussion.

Am I going to get banned? I feel like an idiot.

Any and all insight appreciated.

[#2]

Well you came here with ash on your head, so I think the upwork gods will not punish too severely. But I can't speak for them, so I don't know. Don't do it again. 

[#3]

Thank you for the response, Martina.

It was a stupid mistake that I just didn't think through and then as soon as I realized I did report the job. I really hope there are no permanent repercussions. I'm just starting to get traction on Upwork.

[#4]

Thanks for reporting this client, which you were right in doing. And you should not have communicated outside of UW before a contact was set up. Read the ToS and follow them. If someone want s to hire you off of UW, they are violating the ToS and should get banned just as a freelancer might. Hope you don't but at least you're being honest about what happened and are seeking advice here. And if some wants to communicate off of UW right off the bat, they are probably one of the many scammers who post here.

[#5]

Thank you Peter.

I just didn't connect the dots. They were on Upwork, but wanted to connect me with someone that didn't have an account but that would potentially give the go for ahead for hiring, which would have been via Upwork.  As soon as the "we want to pay you outside of Upwork" came up, lots of alarm bells went off in my head.

As soon as I realized the mistake I did report the job...and did implicate myself, but felt that being honest was the best course of action.

[#6 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for reporting this, Scott.

I’ve escalated this report to the correct team for their review and the project has already been taken down because it was in violation of Upwork TOS and action has been taken on the client account. 

In a case like this, when a client shares their contact information or requests yours, let them know that sharing contact information before a contract has started is against Upwork’s Terms of Service and that 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.

[#7]

Bojan:

Thanks so much for the reply.  I did indeed flag as inappropriate as soon as I realized what they were doing.

Do I need to be concerned with my account being banned or is it a forgivable offense (with a much needed lesson learned on my part) considering I did report the job.

Thanks again:

Scott

[#8]

I believe it is extremely rare for brand new users to be kicked off of Upwork if they make a mistake but come forward and are honest about it.

In all my experience reading in the Forum, Upwork is understanding and reasonable… even merciful… about such situations.

[#9]

Thank you so much for a little peace of mind. Thoroughly appreciated.

[#10]

I've been contacted by **Edited for Community Guidelines** for a job and they used Connecteam with your logo on it. Is it a legitimate offer?

[#11]

Hello Michele,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I checked your account, and it looks like you do not have a pending offer with the client you are referring to. Please know that we do not recommend working without a contract in place. To be eligible for our Upwork Payment Protection you will need to be hired on an official contract and fulfill the criteria required.

I would also like to clarify that requesting free work is not allowed and it is in violation of Upwork's Terms of Service.  If you are asked to create work without payment or secured funding, it is against our Terms of Service and you should flag it to our team for further review.

Additionally, I encourage you to check available learning paths in the Academy section and this helpful article to help you get a safe and successful start on Upwork.