Increasing amount of SCAM projects on Upwork. Beware and how to spot them.

[silw]

In the past few months, I have noticed and nearly fallen victim to a group of individuals posting fraudulent job offers on Upwork.

After conducting extensive research, I have found that this group has been continuously flooding the platform with fake job offers and attempting to install spyware on freelancers' systems. While they began by targeting the crypto sector, they have now expanded their scam to other fields.

Their tactics involve opening new Upwork accounts and creating multiple job postings in the same sector.

They attempt to interview as many people as possible and then initiate a fake onboarding process where they ask you to download a file or visit a link outside of Upwork, which ultimately installs malware on your system.

There are several indicators that suggest that you may be dealing with these scammers:

-fresh account

-unverified payment method

-a high number of interviews

-above-average payment

-urgency to download a file or visit a link

additionally, they often fake existing projects.

To avoid falling victim to these scams,you can:

-run antivirus software, and be cautious of links or downloads

-if ANYTHING during the process feels fishy, be extra careful

I am sharing this information to warn other freelancers about this group and to encourage them to be vigilant while using Upwork.

Upwork has been notified of these scams, but unfortunately, they have been unable to prevent these individuals from creating new accounts and perpetrating the same scheme.

Therefore, it is crucial to be cautious while accepting job offers, especially those that seem too good to be true or require you to visit a suspicious link.

[sajal36]

That true. However this might not be limited to only specfic as this can happen with sophisticated too. 

[allpurposewriter]

Nice work, Aron. You got my vote for this week's King of the Platform. Thanks for sharing.

[spectralua]

You don't need to google it, use antivirus or other useles things. Just follow rules! You cannot chat Telegram and conversation outside (linkedin or so) before contract started. Thats all. With following ToS scammer have very low chances.

With your post you forcing newbies to be banned.

[sofia2008]

Already well documented tips here

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

[bf33f2a3]

I strongly agree. I've also noticed these kind of projects.

[prestonhunter]

re: "To avoid falling victim to these scams,you can: -Google the project or the person communicating with you to see if they are genuine"

I absolutely NEVER do that.

I have never done that.

That is what scammers WANT you to do.

re: "then contact them on linkedin or discord"

It is a violation of Upwork ToS to contact a prospective client prior to having an official Upwork contract in place.

re: "be aware of their poor English or strong Eastern European accent"

I have had great experiences working for people from all over the world, including people with limited English language skills. Mostly I never actually speak to clients. I usually only communicate through written messages. So I have no way of knowing how well they speak English or what type of accent they have.

[b8b80eb0]

Strongly agree with your views.

Great work

[26eb03ec]

i have applied such fake post after apply  just  1 minut i understand this is fake  my connect lost i already have less connect now i am prayng some good  choice come my connect increase or some purposal accept  and i found riht client i want succes on upwork