I think I have been scammed by Upwork and its not fair, My account should be reviewed

[#1]

Now I saw a post from a client saying he needs a cryptocurrency expert the client is from the UK and he said he is into real estate and wants to explore the crypto world but they have some bans on crypto in their country. I actually Sent a proposal and it was accepted before we started this discussion.

Now he said he would pay me hourly for teaching him, and also I would help him buy some crypto because he cant in his country and he has tried a lot of things I did some research and found out that it was true.

So finally we had a zoom meeting he could not share his screen and so he sent screenshots of his binance not having a p2p section so I believed he could not really buy.

So he said I should send him crypto and he would pay me on upwork.

Firstly we spent an hour or more on our first contract and he paid me. He even sent the invoice and I researched and found out that it takes a 5 day security period for the payment to reflect in my earnings.

Wow, I was happy just made my first earning I went ahead to verify my account, it was also successful.

After that, the client gave me lots of bonuses and requested that I send him crypto and that he is eager to buy so he can show his friend that has been having the same challenges as him.

I sent Crypto and he gave me bonuses. To cut the long story short.

I checked my transactions and am seeing some return transactions of all the funds I was paid by the client, upwork suspended our contract (the new one we had for hourly training), and I already did all the client said to do and trusted upwork to deliver my funds cause I taught they were reputable but it seems not so.

On top of that, they gave me a certificate of earning 0$ and I cant still make my profile visible.

I think I have been treated badly by upwork and it's not fair something should be done.

My account was also blocked from withdrawal.

Now it seems like I lost my crypto and upwork ran away with my money, I never knew upwork was a scam also. Am disappointed.

To resolve this issue I need my crypto back, I can leave my hours of work and teaching to waste I followed the rules but still got scammed.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[#2]

You weren't "scammed by Upwork", you violated both (!) of the 2 most important parts of the Terms of Service and clearly didn't think before you acted.

As a result, you were scammed by a con-artist.

It is completely beyond me how anyone could ever, for one minute, think that any real "client" would ever buy crypto for HUGELY more than it is worth on Upwork. Or believe that you can't by cypto in London. The story is so ridiculous...

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Collins K wrote: I followed the rules but still got scammed.

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You didn't follow the rules and Upwork doesn't have the money. Those bonuses never went through (of course)!

If you want your crypto back, you can TRY to contact the platform you sent it on, they MAY be able to help.

You are really lucky though, others lost literally thousands.

[#3]

1. What rule was violated

[#4]

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Collins K wrote:

1. What rule what violated

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1. Financial transactions of ANY sort outside of the Upwork platform

2. Communicating outside the platform before a contract is in place.

Plus the rule of basic common sense that nobody in this universe (or any other) would REALLY pay REAL money to buy crypto via Upwork from a stranger.

[#5]

The zoom call was monitored by upwork

Ok what about my hour of teaching

The zoom call was made after the contract was made and I had my pay after

[#6]

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Collins K wrote:

The zoom call was monitored by upwork

Ok what about my hour of teaching

The zoom call was made after the contract was made and I had my pay after

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If you were hired on an hourly basis to teach somebody about what crypto is, that is a legit job. You will get paid if you used the tracker correctly. 

The problem here is that that small legit part was connected to a fraud, in which the client never paid upwork, so now all the earnings go down the drain. The client gets suspended permanently, and you might be too, that's up to upwork to decide. 

You have the following options: reverse the crypto transactions to you get your money back or convince the client to pay you through upwork. I don't know if the first is possible, I don't know about crypto and don't want to learn about it. The second is unlikely since this was a scam from the start, using a fraudulent or stolen credit card. 

[#7]

I see thank you ma'am

[#8]

We had a discussion on zoom that was the so-called accepted platform for communication on upwork, we discussed in-depth even to our personal lives schooling and all, the first transaction we had was a test, I was trying to prove to him that I was not a scam, but then I was also thinking he was one of those nice guys I have met in the past, I even told him of my experiences as a freelancer and all, and appreciated him for his patience and well did.

The issue here is that I trusted the invoices and popup notifications that upwork was giving me more than my instincts, I delayed in transactions did research and all, and asked my friend that was experienced using upwork they said bonuses cannot be reversed.

Basically, I was thinking the guy was a nice guy because I believe there are nice guys in the world.

I asked google can a bonus on upwork be reversed they didn't show me any reversal case so am like wow it's true he has sent the money.

"Plus the rule of basic common sense that nobody in this universe (or any other) would REALLY pay REAL money to buy crypto via Upwork from a stranger."

People do it on p2p platforms buy crypto from strangers.

What you should be telling me is the client was not genuine and unfortunately, it's a scam, he forged and upwork payment not abusing me Miss, Mrs, or Sir

Aside from the financial transaction outside upwork I was paid on a contract and the payment was also reversed

[#9]

I get that it's an awful experience to get scammed. Nobody here is happy you lost money. 

This guy was good, no doubt. He got your confidence. That's why they are called conmen (or women). Con stands for confidence. This is how it works. 

[#10]

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Collins K wrote:

I delayed in transactions did research and all, and asked my friend that was experienced using upwork they said bonuses cannot be reversed. I asked google can a bonus on upwork be reversed they didn't show me any reversal case so am like wow it's true he has sent the money.

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Asking a friend whether bonuses can be reversed is not "doing research". And you can't have looked this up on Google either, or you would have gotten dozens of matches from Upwork freelancers saying that their bonuses didn't come through after buying crypto. Spend some time actually reading the available materials on Upwork - everything that you need to know is right in their help pages and in the forum.

[#11]

Upwork is not a scammer.

Upwork is a service that clients use to find, hire and pay freelancers.

Upwork does not scam people.

Therefore, by definition, you were not scammed by Upwork.

You particated in a scam.

I truly am sorry about what happened. I know you are sincere when you express disappointment.

But it is important to understand the truth about what happened.

[#12]

My question is what should I have done, let's leave out the crypto part.

I worked for an hour and my payment showed and now it is reversed.

[#13]

What should you have done?

You should not have worked with crypto unless you absolutely knew what you were doing. Crypto is inherently risky.

You lacked sufficient expertise is the subject matter to work with it and not get hurt.

[#14]

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Collins K wrote:

My question is what should I have done

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SERIOUSLY?

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Collins K wrote:

I worked for an hour and my payment showed and now it is reversed.

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Of course it is. Upwork doesn't pay you to participate in fraud. And you didn't "work for an hour"-

[#15]

And what do you mean i did not think before I acted you ar trying to say I don't have brains or an a fool

[#16]

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Collins K wrote:

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

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She's the right person here. She's trying to help you.

[#17]

What I need now is an explanation not abusive and **Edited for Community Guidelines** replies.

She is not trying to help she is trying to make me feel bad and foolish I don't need that.

The other man is nicer

[#18]

What is **abusive** & **Edited for Community Guidelines** about my reply??

You want an explanation, right? Here it goes:-

As a freelancer on Upwork, you're supposed to provide services you hold expertise in.

You don't get involved in scams, frauds, or digital crimes.

You participated in a scam in this particular situation because you expected that someone is going to pay you money for free. That never happened. The opposite happened. That 'someone' stole money from you. Why? Because you violated the rules.

Anyways, I'm very sorry for your loss.

ETA: Scammers are getting very smart nowadays, so stay cautious and stay safe.

[#19]

Her reply I meant

[#20]

Upwork did not scam me then what happened, How come a fake invoice reflected and showed, and now everything is**Edited for Community Guidelines**

And my second issue is I have a certificate of earning and I can't make my profile public still

[#21]

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Collins K wrote:

Upwork did not scam me then what happened,

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You sent real money to a scammer who never paid the money to Upwork. You thought there was such a thing as "Easy free money on the Internet"

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 How come a fake invoice reflected and showed,

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You do understand the difference between an invoice and a receipt, right?

And my second issue is I have a certificate of earning and I can't make my profile public still

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What is the problem with your certificate of Earnings? To get your profile set to public just go to this page and click on the green button, then wait.

[#22]

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Collins K wrote:

Upwork did not scam me then what happened, How come a fake invoice reflected and showed, and now everything is**Edited for Community Guidelines**

And my second issue is I have a certificate of earning and I can't make my profile public still

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It is possible, that having transferred funds outside of Upwork and thus violated the TOS, that you will be removed from the platform. If you want to remain, your best course of action would be to review the TOS, understand what went wrong and make it clear to Upwork's customer service team that you will be more careful in the future. 

The crypto scam is very popular right now. So, maybe Upwork won't blame you for falling for it. But, you need to take responsibility for doing better going forward. 

Outside of Upwork, make sure you familiarize yourself with your jurisdiction's KYC and AML laws before getting into making crypto transfers for a fee. 

[#23]

The issue here is that I taught having a payment invoice is prove that a payment has been made and it's clear that it's not true.

It clearly means that on upwork payments can be forged 

[#24]

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The issue here is that I taught having a payment invoice is prove that a payment has been made

No. An invoice is basically a document that says "Please pay us $"

And anyway, you're not allowed to send money to a client in any form, so this transaction was never OK.

Quite apart from the fact that nobody would ever really buy crypto at hugely inflated prices on Upwork.

[#25]

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Collins K wrote:

The issue here is that I taught having a payment invoice is prove that a payment has been made and it's clear that it's not true.

It clearly means that on upwork payments can be forged 

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That is not untrue. If a client uses a stolen credit card, for example, the real owner might have the transaction reversed. A scammer can use that time to convince people that he paid, which he never did. 

The best way to not lose money is to know the ToS and be aware that any payment outside of upwork - including buying or selling crypto - is explicitely and strictly forbidden.