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Tamer's avatar
Tamer N Community Member

I guess i got scammed

I sold cryptocurrencies (which is non refundable) through Upwork and got paid the money in escrow but Upwork told me that they have hold the account of the buyer and hold my withdrawal until they finish investigation 

 

the question is did i lost the money now? Or as long as the money was in escrow and got paid to me, It will come to me after investigation 

 

please advise

12 REPLIES 12
Robert's avatar
Robert Y Community Member

Your money is gone for good. Either the client paid you as a bonus (which they can take back), or they're using a stolen credit card and the rightful owner will reverse the payment. These crypto scams follow an exact and very predictable script. 

Tamer's avatar
Tamer N Community Member

So what is the use of escrow then?

the user have payment verified logo and have funded the escrow successfully and also paid me successfully , why i have to be blamed? There was no warning or anything from Upwork side so Upwork is the responsible not me

Wes's avatar
Wes C Community Member


Tamer N wrote:

So what is the use of escrow then?

the user have payment verified logo and have funded the escrow successfully and also paid me successfully , why i have to be blamed? There was no warning or anything from Upwork side so Upwork is the responsible not me


I'm sorry you got scammed, but no, this is not Upwork's responsibility. It's all on you. Had you read the terms of service and the escrow documentation, you would have seen that contracts to sell cryptocurrency are explicitly prohibited, and escrow does not cover cases where fraud, crime, or TOS violations are involved. When you accepted the contract, you clicked a box saying you'd read those documents and would abide by them.

 

Further, 30 seconds on Google would have shown that the client was lying. He claims to be based in Turkey and that buying crypto is illegal there. That's not the case.

 

Again, I'm sorry this happened to you, but if you are going to use any platform to earn money, including Upwork, I very strongly suggest you read up on its rules and how it works.

Peter's avatar
Peter G Community Member

Yes, you did get scammed. You should never buy anything for or from any client. Your money is gone and you won't get it back. The money was never really in escrow or recieved by Upwork. So sorry this happned to you, but maybe if you had been warned that this is a common scam here, you wouldn't have fallen for it. Please read this, which IMO, should be emailed to every freelancer and client on Upwork immediately:  https://community.upwork.com/t5/Community-Blog/Top-Red-Flags-for-Scams-From-Community-Member-Wes-C/b...

Tamer's avatar
Tamer N Community Member

This shouldnt be my problem, Thats why we use escrow , The money was in the escrow and got paid to me , If the escrow didnt receive it, It shouldnt be funded in the escrow in first place , else its the escrow to be blamed not me

Robert's avatar
Robert Y Community Member

Assuming the money was in escrow as a fixed price, it's still against the site's terms of service to buy anything for anyone or make any payment off the site. The purpose of this rule is to stop scams like this. To receive any kind of compensation from Upwork, a freelancer would have to abide by the ToS. Even then, only hourly payments are refunded, provided they're at that freelancer's usual rate.

Tamer's avatar
Tamer N Community Member

I made all of the transaction through Upwork , and got paid through Upwork
and used Upwork escrow , That shouldnt be my problem now
Robert's avatar
Robert Y Community Member

But you violated the site's terms of service. When you become a member, you agree to abide by these terms. If Upwork compensated everyone who lost money in this way, it would have gone bankrupt long ago. If you don't buy anything for anyone or contact anyone off the site before a contract is in place (also part of the ToS), you won't have your money stolen.

 

This client you bought the crypto for is a thief. All of his four contracts are for buying crypto, and he has made $3,500 from doing this to you and another freelancer. There are two other "jobs in progress" for an unknown amount, so he's probably stolen at least $7,000 - and he's only been on the site for 24 hours. 

Robert's avatar
Robert Y Community Member

...he's probably stolen at least $7,000...

 

I forgot the markup. But, for a bogus payment of $3,500, he probably got at least $2,500 in untraceable crypto. He has spent "over $5k" on the site in his short stay here, so he's probably walked off with $3,500 or so. 

 

We freelancers who post here don't like to see people being ripped off, and we warn as many people as possible when they make enquiries about suspicious jobs. You need to read the list of warning signs for scams, to ensure nothing like this ever happens to you again.

 

Top Red Flags for Scams: From Community Membe... - Upwork Community

 

Peter's avatar
Peter G Community Member

Upwork should warn as many people as possible about suspicious jobs when they are signing up, and put up a warning on every page a freelancer will ever see.

Sophie's avatar
Sophie A Community Member

The crypto was bought outside of Upwork. All transactions have to be done on Upwork. That is why buying things for clients is a violation of Terms of Service.

Mark's avatar
Mark K Community Member

Sorry that happened to you Tamer --

I think this is as an apt illustration as any that cryptocurrency is not currency.  If you tinker with pretend currency, you may get burned !!