*Edited* - I've been scammed

[lernice-parker]

I am relatively new to Upwork and received a project from the above asking me to convert and type a document from PDF to Word. Being desperate for money, I quickly said yes and typed out a 100 page document for these fools only to get to the end and complete it within their timeframe for them to ask me for $100 afterwards.

When I mentioned I don't have the money, the person I was speaking to started getting aggravated and angry. Blocked me now on Telegram. 

How do I report this to Upwork?

Will I get paid for this project or is this just a lost cause?

How do I move forward and can I? 

[bobafett999]

You can't report it to upwork.  You did everything outside of them.  Blame it on yourself and move on.

[prestonhunter]

re: "How do I report this to Upwork?"

Honestly, I would not worry about that. Upwork personnel already know all about this scam and have probably already removed this job post and client.

But the answer to your question is: We can report fraud clients by clicking on "Flag as inappropriate" on the job posting page.

re: "Will I get paid for this project or is this just a lost cause?"

No, you will not get paid for this.

re: "How do I move forward and can I?"

Yes, you can move forward.

You need to accept the fact that what happened was your fault, because you broke the rules and used Upwork incorrectly. Once you accept that, you will gain power.

YOU have the power to change how things work out in the future.

[3239b7c5]

I also had been scammed with the same 100 pictures project. I did everything and they want 200 USD from me.

[2b7c808a]

i was just scammed with the same 100 images, all my sleepless nights, time, energy .. all gone 

[a1173563]

Don't stop trying keep on trying

[hasibjennys]

i am also

[bingiart]

Hi Lernice P.,

Before starting the work...

Know what not to do here.

For Example...

• Don't go outside UpWork no matter who calls you. Do the work in UpWork.
• Do not share any of your personal contact information.
• Don't ask for money/5 star rating in message box. and etc.

If you need an answer to any question, search your question first in the community. If you don't get an answer, post your question. Because you will get late reply when you post.

Take some time and check out these courses

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Learning-Paths/ct-p/LearningPaths

You will understand more after completing these courses.

Important:

Check this Expert talk

Identifying & Avoiding Scams : https://community.upwork.com/t5/Videos/Identifying-amp-Avoiding-Scams/ta-p/1088711

Check out these articles:

Top Red Flags for Scams

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Community-Blog/Top-Red-Flags-for-Scams-From-Community-Member-Wes-C/b...

9 Tips to Help You Create a Freelancer Profile That Stands Out

https://www.upwork.com/resources/9-tips-create-freelancer-profile-stands-out

This is my opinion. I hope this message helps you.

[966c0343]

thank all you guys,today I also got **Edited for Community Guidelines** software response they want me to contact with telegram,I did but I found they type the company name **Edited for Community Guidelines**,Becuse I am new and recently I submitted many proposals.some friends once reminded no outside contact.

[97052219]

They tried to scam me too. I was not fooled tho 

[bingiart]

Scammers target freshers and post jobs where they get more proposals. For example Data Entry Jobs, Typing Jobs etc. Be careful if you do this kind of jobs.

[6561efc7]

this **Edited for Community Guidelines**? they email me and they told me to reached them via telegram. should I just ignore them?

Edited today 18/11

When I asked them how the payment terms, they said they gonna direct transfer to my paypal/bitcoin/bank account. I was like convinced that, yeah, this is frikin scam. And then I refuse the job and I blocked them. Never work outside UW again anymore. Oh and just like the case above me, they told me to translate picture image, like 100 pictures and the payment gonna wired after I finished all the job, heck, it's $2500 and feels like bs to me. how can it could be so much money.

[bingiart]

Hi Nisca A.,

Don't go outside UpWork. It's not safe. Also, it's against the UpWork rules.

Scammers target freshers and post jobs where they get more proposals. For example Data Entry Jobs, Typing Jobs etc. Be careful if you do this kind of jobs.

Check out this article:

Staying Safe on Upwork

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211067668-Staying-Safe-on-Upwork

[5d0920ce]

Actually it's the same as mine, when I was at page 10 my curiosity hit me and decided to search the company and it's reputation and to my surprise, it's **Edited for Community Guidelines**. decided to message again that person through TG and he blocked me lol

i'll now strictly do work inside UW only

[6bfcdaf8]

I think its an important psychology lesson. They get you to invest many hours and in the end rather than accepting that you were a fool, you'd rather pay 100 dollars and believe it was all legitimate. They could even ask for another 100 and many would fall for the second trap too because you're now too deep. Same works with gambling.

[22f13934]

Got the same job offer.

But I'm rather interested in how they reason it for YOU to give THEM money? 

[47c155c3]

What's the company's name so that the rest of us can be on the alert

[martina_plaschka]

Doesn't matter. Obviously scammers use fake names or pretend to work for real companies. For that reason, no company can be named in the forum. 

[7791c7a8]

exactly

[cc90751a]

What's the company's name? The one who scammed you. 

[prestonhunter]

re: "What's the company's name? The one who scammed you."

The names don't matter.

If you are asking for the name, it means you don't understand how this works.

[95d1f228]

I applied for 2 jobs and both turned out to be **Edited for Community Guidelines**. Same MO, advised to contact a 3rd party outside of the platform on Telegram. Asked to convert 100 images to Pdf in 2 or 3 days at $25 an image and was told they couldn't pay via the platform because of an ad dispute. Luckily I followed my intuition, searched for **Edited for Community Guidelines** scam and found this post. 

[sofia2008]

Following your intuition is a good start, but keep in mind scammers use real company names and a google search might not be conclusive. Scammers are always finding new ways to succeed because many freelancers do not follow the rules, just because they do not read them.

Communicating outside Upwork before a contract is in place is a violation ot their Terms of Service all freelancers agree to when they create an account.

Please read the main article and click the links in this post To all freelancers looking for help - Upwork Community

[29b2457a]

I also have been scamed by the same one who said he is from "marine software" but u was onto when he asked a payment. 

My suggestiin to upwork. 

When someone press a link and gows outsude uowork dont just warn, guve a link ti the forum to looj for scams. 

I have

[76952b8f]

They've just ask me earlier to message them to telegram. That action made me think twice. I'm from philippines actually. But before doing what they are asking i actually researched about the company as well regarding the post using the marine software to upwork and directs me here. My last message to them is "No thanks. I'm uninstalling telegram now. Bye"

[veraokojie]

You're not supposed to work outside upwork. A potential client telling you to contact them outside the platform is a sure sign of scam. Run!

[duramon]

I am currently talking with said company in Telegram. Was interested in the job at first but then I saw a couple more job postings with similar description and it immediately spark my curiosity. What made me suspect them even more is after a reply in Upwork messages, the message is deleted, as if to erase any trace to them.

A quick look in Google for the company name brought me to this discussion, and I'm glad I suspect them in the first place. Always be careful my friends.

[66eb94f9]

I fell for it, too. We've come to the point where I have to pay them. 

[47c155c3]

I've managed to find the guy behind this scam.

He is actually from Ghana. Fortunately, I am also from Ghana. I've reported the case to the police and I'm hoping they arrest him and the bank reverse all monies back to me.

I'll keep y'all posted

[prestonhunter]

Well... Good luck with that.

For everyone else:

If you participate in a scam on Upwork, police will not help you. Nobody can help you get money back if you send money to a fake client.

[d_holschbach]

I fell for it too. This is called "advanced-fee scam". Anything has been said here already. I didn't give him the requested 200usd. But I wasted 3 working days ☹️  Lesson learned. Move on 🙂

[85c5564a]

I am new uowork and I got this same project of 100 images to convert into images. I have spent my time, labor and completed the project and sumitted. When I have asked for payment, they have asked $150 as linking fee to be linked with their company payment server. I said; i am not afford to pay it. Then they asked me to pay $50... 

[2ac7ecf1]

**Edited for Community Guidelines** it's a new acoount on telegram this scammer, i've been also scamed of **Edited for Community Guidelines**. And so that no one gets caught, I provide screenshots and lists of mailboxes of this scamer
emails  **Edited for Community Guidelines**

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[1ff2d4e7]

I saw this company's job detail, I summited a proposal, and he gets me a telegram ID, i almost to work for him. So thank you so much!

[m_terrazas]

---

Jota L wrote:

I saw this company's job detail, I summited a proposal, and he gets me a telegram ID, i almost to work for him. So thank you so much!

---

For you (you must change the profile photo, what you have is not allowed) and for many of those who have commented here.
I've seen the profiles of quite a few and, well, the "nothing profile" match is overwhelming.
Ask. How many of you have read the TOS that you claimed to have read when creating your profile?
Because in them it clearly says that you should not communicate with clients outside of Upwork until you have a contract.

So do yourself a favor. And the others too if you read this.
Start by reading this:
https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/To-all-freelancers-looking-for-help/m-p/1222058#M731117

[cbdd2878]

I'm new to the community and I find it normal to discuss work outside of Upwork, but get paid through Upwork. I think we need a YouTube tutorial video to get Upwork working properly. And the video should be on the main page of the Upwork website.

[aocumen]

Hi Vasyl, 

As a gentle reminder, please note that users cannot communicate off Upwork until a contract has been set up on your account (the client sent an offer, and you accepted it). It would also be best to visit these articles for more information on how you can keep in line with Upwork's Terms of Service when engaging on the website:

• The new starter's guide to being safe and successful on Upwork
• Get to know each other before a contract
• Keeping your contact information safe

You may also want to read up on this Community article and these articles for more information about working safely through Upwork.

As for working safely on Upwork, talent may explore the Trust & Safety Courses in the Upwork Academy.

[aa6f2a13]

Hi Lernice, 

If it is any consolation, I too was a potential scam victim by this Marine team. I submitted a 50 img convert to pdf and as usual paynt was thru Paypal but i was told by these fools thru email that i will need to submit a refundable deposit of USD80 in order for the payment to push thru. Screw that!! I gave them a piece of my mind and accepted the fact. 

My mistake was two : 

1. Not doing research about the company

2. Transactions were done outside of Upwork ( in my case, Telegram). 

Lesson learned but hey thank you you for voicing out. I was also thinking where can i voice out and then i saw your post. 

Lets not give up and move forward. 

[95d1f228]

I just received the same offer and thought it strange that I was asked to communicate via Telegram instead of the platform. I checked this morning and the proposal was removed and my correspondence deleted. I just had an uneasy feeling in my gut when I saw that. I was initially contacted by **Edited for Community Guidelines** and then asked to contact **Edited for Community Guidelines** on Telegram. He said they needed a medical researcher to convert jpeg to Word, but the document sent through had nothing to do with medical research. Quite disappointing that the first job I apply for on Upwork turns out to be a scam. 

[d32eeb63]

Hello everyone,

I am new to Upwork and i received a same scam proposal last night from a company called **Edited for Community Guidelines**. They sent me a message on Upwork and provided a link to their Telegram. I messaged them there, and they asked me to introduce myself. After our conversations, they offered me a job to convert 100 JPG images into PDF files for $2500. I decided to search for this company on Google and came across this page where I read reviews about them. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and helping me save my time and money.