Freelancer Fraud - no work provided by freelancer

[Petra R]

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@Aaron S wrote:

I haven't been given any reason.

Not yet though the staff member isn't much help. I've asked to speak with someone higher up.

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Give it time. Both parties will be given opportunity to state their sides. Arbitration is the very last resort, and SHOULD it come to that stage I would gamble on the fact that the freelancer will NOT pay the arbitration fee, which would result in you getting yours back, AND the funds in Escrow back too. 

The question still remains why you hired a freelancer with very low ratings?

[Aaron S]

Thanks.
I hired him some time ago; before his ratings dropped off a cliff.

[Tiffany S]

People's interpretations fascinate (and sort of depress) me.

Piecing together the original post and the OP's responses here, we have a freelancer who had good ratings when hired, then in a relatively short period of time had his ratings "fall off a cliff," stopped responding to the client here and hasn't offered any explanation in the dispute process...and the assumption is fraud?

My first thought would be more along the lines of serious car accident or some other type of personal crisis.

[Aaron S]

I'm pretty easygoing. Excuses are no problem, as long as the work gets done.
He has ignored my messages for over a week yet the upwork staff member dealing with the case was able to reach him.
At one point a month or so back he asked me to come to Skype to show me what he had done. Of course, he didn't show me anything...