I'm considering emailing a client directly to seek payment

[alaliberte73]

I was given an email address while working with a scammer "middle-man" client.  I'm considering contacting the company that hired her directly to tell them that their hired person scammed a few people on UpWork.  I have done a little research, and the company is legit, website, phone number, all in good standing.      

I did a search on UpWork jobs, and I see two other freelancers were also taken advantage of by the same scam job post--but there is no way to directly contact them to ask questions.  Does this warrant contacting the real client--the one that actually hired the scam artist to manage the writing?

I don't want to get into hot water here, but this is just not right and I think the real contractor might want to know.   Especially since he has a four-star rating, and this person is ruining their reputation.

Thoughts?  Has anyone done this before with success?  

[prestonhunter]

April:

You may have an idea which is problematic to discuss here.

Because on Upwork all payments go through Upwork. So if you were to seek payment outside of Upwork, then you would be violating one of Upwork's most sacred rules.

Were you to "report a scammer"... Upwork might support you and help you with that.

Were you to "arrange to get paid directly by the company that hired the middle-man"... Upwork might investigate you or suspend you.

[bobafett999]

I would.  Just don't ask for payment.  If your hunch is correct that the person is scamming the real company, they will appreciate that.  But if they themselves are in the scamming game all that will cost you is an e-mail.  But again don't ask for payment.

[kat303]

April - I would like to know how you got scammed. If you followed UpWorks procedures and policies and read messages here, you would know what to look out for and how this site works. Could you let me and the other know how you got scammed?

As for contacting the original company, - yes, that company be actually exist, be legitmate, have a phone number, email address, real address, and even an employee with the same name as the scammer. That in itself is a scam. Clients like to scam new freelancers by telling them they work for XXX. That's to gain a freelancers trust. They know most likely that the freelancer will look up that comany and see it actually exists. But, the scammer is NOT an employee of that company.

For example, I can look up a real company here on the internet, and look at a directory of employees and then post a job here and communicate with freelancers that I'm from XXX and my name is XXX. They look it up, see it exists and trust on the freelancers part is established. And then the scam begins.

[petra_r]

April, if this is the contract you discussed elsewhere you were not scammed, you mismanaged a contract.

Regardless of the ins and outs of how you did not get paid (working without fully funded milestones and sending the Escrow funds back to the person who hired you before the funds would have auto-released to you anyway) your contract is with the person who hired you and the NDA that is part of the Terms of Service means contacting you client's client can indeed land you in deep water.