Get the scammers off Upwork. Please. They steal our money.

[#1]

So, just tonight I reported at least seven scams from the same working group who almost stole my identity six weeks ago. I am able to identify them by applying the same simple rules. They pitch remote, they pay at least forty bucks/hr., they promise the same weekly income, they use the same phrases to describe the work, only changing the job title. The history is mostly very recent, no verified payment. A dead giveaway is that they almost always are interviewing the maximum upper level of applicants.

If I can do this, why can't Upwork's algorithm, the mythical beast? 

Don't think this is serious? I had to change all my bank acounts, freeze my credit, deal with Social Security, credit cards, every single financial part of my life. Yes, a good week of my life spent on the phone and emailing to make sure they couldn't steal my money.

Please, Upwork, figure this out and do a better job of weeding these people out BEFORE they snag unaware freelancers!

[#2]

re: "Get the scammers off Upwork. Please. They steal our money."

By definition, stealing money from marks is one of the MAIN things that scammers do.

Upwork can not simply click a button and get rid of all scammers.

Scammers are attracted to Upwork because it is the industry leader. There are more users here. There is more real money changing hands here. It is natural that scammers like coming to Upwork to ply their trade.

Upwork has many initiatives in place to reduce the possibility that any users will get scammed.

Fortunately, people such myself and other experienced Upwork users are never bothered by scammers. The scammers know they can't make any money from experienced Upwork users. So that is something you have to look forward to.

re: "Don't think this is serious? I had to change all my bank acounts, freeze my credit, deal with Social Security, credit cards, every single financial part of my life. Yes, a good week of my life spent on the phone and emailing to make sure they couldn't steal my money."

I feel bad for what you went through.

But to get to that point, you broke a bunch of Upwork rules and you made a bunch of mistakes, right?

The good thing is: You will never make those same mistakes again.

[#3]

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michael s wrote:

So, just tonight I reported at least seven scams from the same working group who almost stole my identity six weeks ago. I am able to identify them by applying the same simple rules. They pitch remote, they pay at least forty bucks/hr., they promise the same weekly income, they use the same phrases to describe the work, only changing the job title. The history is mostly very recent, no verified payment. A dead giveaway is that they almost always are interviewing the maximum upper level of applicants.

If I can do this, why can't Upwork's algorithm, the mythical beast? 

Don't think this is serious? I had to change all my bank acounts, freeze my credit, deal with Social Security, credit cards, every single financial part of my life. Yes, a good week of my life spent on the phone and emailing to make sure they couldn't steal my money.

Please, Upwork, figure this out and do a better job of weeding these people out BEFORE they snag unaware freelancers!

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I am really curious how they got any of your personal information to begin with. Because really the only way for them to do that is if you violate TOS. Because if they create a contract with you on Upwork and you don't share unnecessary personal information, they should have nothing with which to hack your accounts or steal anything. 

[#4]

I can't understand why you let the scammers see the most private and sensitive information about yourself, which you would have to have done if they were left in a position to take money from your accounts and use your Social Security data. 

Upwork does pretty much all it can do to keep people from being scammed. The terms of service of the site include never giving out contact details before you start a contract (and nobody needs your private info after you've started one either). 

Nobody can stop scammers from posting fake jobs. Even if UW developed some kind of algorithm that would recognize their style of job ad, they'd just shift to a new one. 

[#5]

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michael s wrote:

So, just tonight I reported at least seven scams from the same working group who almost stole my identity six weeks ago

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It's not the "same working group" - it's just scammers who use variations of the same lame, old scam that has been doing the rounds all over the Internet for well over a decade.

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michael s wrote:

Please, Upwork, figure this out

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It's very simple.... Do not violate Upwork's tems of service and use a modicum of common sense. That way those scammers could never touch you, let alone cause you any inconvenience.

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michael s wrote:

Don't think this is serious? I had to change all my bank acounts, freeze my credit, deal with Social Security, credit cards, every single financial part of my life. Yes, a good week of my life spent on the phone and emailing to make sure they couldn't steal my money.

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Then you must have literally thrown all manner of sensitive information at them  and you must have violated Upwork's terms of Service, which are (at least partly) in place to protect you from scams. In future, don't do that.

[#6]

An FYI for any job seekers reading this thread,

You will find similar scams on many of the major job boards and social media and in professional groups. Scammers will pose as a major company or a recruiter and ask you to fill out traditional employment forms that collect more information than is needed to make an initial interview decision.

If you are looking at other places for freelancer or W2 gigs, be careful. I have seen lots of posts on job search forums about these types of scams lately. Do a web search for "freelance hiring scams" or "Job search scams" to find some articles that detail the most common strategies. 

Trying to get rid of scammers it like trying to eliminate **bleep** roaches. They continually adapt to overcome your defenses. 

[#7]

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Tonya P wrote:

An FYI for any job seekers reading this thread,

You will find similar scams on many of the major job boards and social media and in professional groups. Scammers will pose as a major company or a recruiter and ask you to fill out traditional employment forms that collect more information than is needed to make an initial interview decision.

If you are looking at other places for freelancer or W2 gigs, be careful. I have seen lots of posts on job search forums about these types of scams lately. Do a web search for "freelance hiring scams" or "Job search scams" to find some articles that detail the most common strategies. 

Trying to get rid of scammers it like trying to eliminate **bleep** roaches. They continually adapt to overcome your defenses. 

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That's all true, and in fact it's easier to spot and stop a scammer here on Upwork than in a situation where you would be an employee rather than a contractor. If someone hiring you as a contractor starts asking you for private details (Social Security number, etc.) you know they're a scammer. No client here needs that kind of information. Same goes for bank details. All payment goes through Upwork, and nobody needs any of your financial info.

[#8]

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Tonya P wrote:

Trying to get rid of scammers it like trying to eliminate **bleep** roaches. They continually adapt to overcome your defenses. 

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Most amusing example of the censorbot's Streisand effect since what it used to do to the comedian/actor Dick Van Dyke Van Dick Van Dyke Van Dyke.

[edited to add:] And Turing only knows why they're doing that weird repetition to him now.