Fraudulent job offers *edited*

[1b4b63d0]

Hi!

Someone tried to scam me today. In his message, he asked to contact him via Telegram ( **Edited for Community Guidelines**) and at the end of his message he wrote this sentence: **Edited for Community Guidelines**

Out of curiosity, I searched for this company in Google and in their landing page was the notice I have attached to this message.

Beware! I read they are using different names ( **Edited for Community Guidelines**). Don't get scammed!

[xrmsquared]

Please see my post above in reply to Carissa.

Exactly the same playbook and patterns in play. Completely fake work.

[feed_my_eyes]

1. You are not allowed to contact clients off of Upwork before you've been hired. 2. If you haven't been hired on an Upwork contract, then you haven't been hired (payments here are in U.S. dollars only, not euros). 3. Nobody would pay 1,000 euros for 200 pages of typing. That would mean that a decent typist could earn 80 euros/hour. Jobs like that don't exist.

[7bd81fdf]

I received 2 messages today (I'm a newbie) asking me to contact them for an interview via any of these methods:
SKYPE ID : **Edited for Community Guidelines**
OR
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
WHATSAPP CONTACT :
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
TELEGRAM ID:
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
Use the entry Code :
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
Interview Method: Via Hangout chat /Skype

[77d1a64c]

I'm new to UpWork.

A message like this, for a job, was sent to me also. The person, **Edited for Community Guidelines**, said the information would be sent to see if I qualify for the job... as though she was acting as a middle-person. How is there an extra middle-person on UpWork? 🙄 I didn't send my information.

In two of the most recent messages sent to me, separately, each client said the interview would be conducted on Telegram.

One client, for example: **Edited for Community Guidelines**has a cat-fished telegram account of **Edited for Community Guidelines**. She wanted to know my full name and where I was from. She sent a PDF with "terms and conditions" which states that I pay a registration fee to access PDFs I can choose from to type copies into MS Word.

The flow of the interview by both clients were not consistent, as though they were examining my profile (taking screenshots maybe). Again, their telegram names and the name posted in UpWork messages are totally different.

 It seems this is a method to make fake-accounts on Telegram, where the scammers screenshot the user's photos and elements of their profiles. Also to infiltrate groups their targets are in. I flagged both job proposals.

Question: How are interviews conducted on UpWork? Is there a representative from UpWork who acts as a middle-man between the client and the job-seeker?

I had one interview that I wasn't sure of. It was on Skype. The mediator had something like an UpWork logo in their profile picture, but the interview was all written. No video... no one spoke. Though the potential client submitted a video of her holding up her drivers' license, there was a lot of empty space in between interactions, so I asked questions. Because I didn't receive any answers, I politely exited the interview.

Sorry about the long message.

[16760b4f]

I have received two replies today from two separate proposals and from two separate names, both with exactly the same text. As I am new, I am dubious of everything, but this looks quite scammy and discouraging:

Hello,
Thank you for your interest in our project. Please use this link **Edited for Community Guidelines**) to request an interview via Skype.

We want to make the interview session as convenient as possible because we have discovered that most of our time zones are different, which disrupts the interview's flow and we also intend to make the contract an extended one.

[neriyha]

Mine is not asking for any money but a typing job as well asked me to fill up the form for freelancer but outside upwork but not asking any money, I don't if this is legit but they asked me to message via telegram also. 

[martina_plaschka]

---

Neria I wrote:

Mine is not asking for any money but a typing job as well asked me to fill up the form for freelancer but outside upwork but not asking any money, I don't if this is legit but they asked me to message via telegram also. 

---

They would be pretty unsuccessful scammers if they asked for money right away. 

The scam works like this: make you do some work like typing a pfd into word (yes, really), and after you have spent hours or days on it, you will be asked to pay a registration/bank/insurance or some other fee. 

When you have paid the first one, they will come back with another fee. 

[b19c6415]

This just happened to me now.. I don't know how to reach out to An Upwork representative that will help me. **Edited for Community Guidelines**is still talking to me on paying them after I just did a job for them.. after my hard work

[sofia2008]

You do not need an Upwork representative.

Talking to them outside of Upwork before you have a contract on Upwork is a violation of Terms of Service. Never start working until you have a contract on Upwork to avoid this type of situation.

Stop talking to them, block them and flag them by following the steps here Report Suspicious User Activity – Upwork Customer Service & Support | Upwork Help

A real client will never ask you to pay them to get your payment.

I encourage you to look at the ressources in the Academy section at the top of the page to get more familiar with how the platform works.

[1ec3a539]

I got the same scam today, i talked with him in telegrame 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[759e32fa]

Hi Benaouda,

Thank you for reaching out to us. As a gentle reminder, please know that communicating outside Upwork prior to a contract starting is a violation of our Terms of Service.

Please utilize our Message Center in order to protect yourself from scams. Additionally, you can send us a flag if you encounter any suspicious user activity so we can investigate.

[karliciouso]

Glad I research the company name first. They asked me to message on telegram that goes by the account of **Edited for Community Guidelines**but she introduced herself as **Edited for Community Guidelines**. Blocked her already.