My hard earned 3000$ got refunded to client because there was "some issue" with his account.

[thegeek2]

Hi, I had recently done a job and while the 3000$ I earned were still in 7 days lockup I had received an email that due to some issues with my clients account, the contract is terminated and all the money is refunded to the client. Can you believe this **Edited for Community Guidelines**? The issue was with the client's account and he got all the job done and plus all his mont also came back. Upwork support team is not supporting me on this. What should I do ? Can I file a complaint in SEC ?

[petra_r]

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Saad M wrote:
Hi, I had recently done a job and while the 3000$ I earned were still in 7 days lockup I had received an email that due to some issues with my clients account, the contract is terminated and all the money is refunded to the client

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Basically the client was a fraud. What kind of "work" were you doing for the "client" for $3000?? 

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Saad M wrote:
What should I do ?

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What is the client saying about this?

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Saad M wrote:
Can I file a complaint in SEC ?

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What does this have to do with the SEC?

[thegeek2]

I sold him some crypto

I want to go to SEC against Upwork. If the client was fraud what is my mistake ? He was fraud and Upwork still refunded him. I was fair and lost all the money. Is it justice ?

[ashrafkhan81]

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Saad M wrote:
I sold him some crypto

I want to go to SEC against Upwork. If the client was fraud what is my mistake ? He was fraud and Upwork still refunded him. I was fair and lost all the money. Is it justice ?

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Another victim of Crypto fraud! 

[martina_plaschka]

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Ashraf K wrote:

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Saad M wrote:
I sold him some crypto

I want to go to SEC against Upwork. If the client was fraud what is my mistake ? He was fraud and Upwork still refunded him. I was fair and lost all the money. Is it justice ?

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Another victim of Crypto fraud! 

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Why don't they use some common sense, or at least, read the forum? 

[mian_11]

You can buy Cryptocurrency on Upwork ? This was new for me

[a_lipsey]

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Mohsin S wrote:
You can buy Cryptocurrency on Upwork ? This was new for me

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No, you can't. That is the point. 

[mian_11]

I know you can't buy a Cryptocurrency on Upwork and why would be someone doing this stuff on Freelancing platform STRANGE!!!

[wescowley]

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Mohsin S wrote:
You can buy Cryptocurrency on Upwork ? This was new for me

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No, but apparently it's fairly easy to convince people to give large amounts of it away for free.

[martina_plaschka]

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Saad M wrote:
I sold him some crypto

I want to go to SEC against Upwork. If the client was fraud what is my mistake ? He was fraud and Upwork still refunded him. I was fair and lost all the money. Is it justice ?

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Oh I see. What would you want to the SEC to do against upwork? Since you have done something that is not allowed on upwork, I really don't see that you have a good case. The problem starts with you doing something that upwork does not allow. I don't see how they have done something wrong. 

So my conclusion is that it is your fault that you didn't educate yourself on what is allowed on the platform, that's on you. A second mistake might be complaining about it on a public forum such as this. A third mistake is not using your common sense and believing the **Edited for Community Guidelines** the client told you to get you to spend your own money. 

At this point you are very lucky to not get suspended. 

[kg_2211]

Above all, my point is why Upwork is refunding money back to Client?

[jr-translation]

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Kaushal P wrote:

Above all, my point is why Upwork is refunding money back to Client?

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1. The client never paid the money to Upwork.

2. The freelancer violated the ToS.

    a) Upwork is a platform to sell services not crypto currency

    b) Selling crypto currency is a payment made outside Upwork.

[petra_r]

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Kaushal P wrote:

Above all, my point is why Upwork is refunding money back to Client?

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Because they can't allow fraudulent transaction, payments with stolen cards or hacked accounts or money laundering to be done on the site.

Did you actually think any real client would really pay you $100 to send $40 worth of money? Or thought about where that money came from? Or considered the terms of service?

[martina_plaschka]

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Kaushal P wrote:

Above all, my point is why Upwork is refunding money back to Client?

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Aside from what has already been explained to you, it's never a good idea to work for a different rate than the hourly rate on your profile. If you work for less, it looks like your rate is just a thing on your wish-list, but not something you think you actually deserve. If you work for more - especially a lot more - it looks as if you are taking advantage of a desperate client, or deal with a stupid client who doesn't realize your services are available for much less, or third option, something fishy is going on with both client and freelancer involved. None of these 3 things are good things to have on your profile. 

[petra_r]

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Saad M wrote:
I sold him some crypto

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You didn't. You sent money to some scammer and violated Upwork's terms of service in the process.

The "money" that the "client" sent was never real. Had you, for one minute, thought logically about why that entire deal made no sense at all, instead of letting greed take over and think that something that sounds too good to be true, could still be true (such as a random stranger giving you free money), you wouldn't have fallen for this silly and plump scam.

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Saad M wrote:
I want to go to SEC against Upwork

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That won't work... (of course...)

Even if you had a leg to stand on (which you obviously don't), the SEC wouldn't be the right place.

[martina_plaschka]

If this job involved cryptocurrency, the SEC is not the proper authority to complain to. Actually, there isn't one. That's what people seem to like about it. 

But you didn't do that, right, you didn't buy crypto for anybody pretending he can't do it himself because of reasons?

[thegeek2]

Yes I sold him some crypto. But I think Upwork is the guilty party here. Why they refunded him. I want to go SEC against Upwork

[ashrafkhan81]

They refunded because that card did not belong to him and the actual owner of the card account probably charged back the amount! 

[martina_plaschka]

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Saad M wrote:
Yes I sold him some crypto. But I think Upwork is the guilty party here. Why they refunded him. I want to go SEC against Upwork

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On what grounds?

[roberty1y]

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Martina P wrote:

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Saad M wrote:
Yes I sold him some crypto. But I think Upwork is the guilty party here. Why they refunded him. I want to go SEC against Upwork

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On what grounds?

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Martina P wrote:

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Saad M wrote:
Yes I sold him some crypto. But I think Upwork is the guilty party here. Why they refunded him. I want to go SEC against Upwork

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On what grounds?

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None,**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[martina_plaschka]

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Robert Y wrote:

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Martina P wrote:

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Saad M wrote:
Yes I sold him some crypto. But I think Upwork is the guilty party here. Why they refunded him. I want to go SEC against Upwork

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On what grounds?

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Martina P wrote:

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Saad M wrote:
Yes I sold him some crypto. But I think Upwork is the guilty party here. Why they refunded him. I want to go SEC against Upwork

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On what grounds?

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None,**Edited for Community Guidelines**

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I heard they don't take appeals. 

[ashrafkhan81]

Do not buy or sell crypto on this platform. Do not try to help a client in distress by sending payment to their friends or relatives in your country against a funded milestone. 

[thegeek2]

That's the mistake of Upwork. Why they didn't checked this when he was adding the payment method.

[martina_plaschka]

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Saad M wrote:
That's the mistake of Upwork. Why they didn't checked this when he was adding the payment method.

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Because that takes a few days. Or maybe hours, I don't know, but enough time for a gullible freelancer to believe he got paid, and for the client to disappear with your money. 

[thegeek2]

Okay if the payment method isn't verified. Why Upwork allow them to deposit ?

[ashrafkhan81 · Accepted solution]

The rule of the thumb is, on Upwork on IRL, if a deal sounds too good to be true it probably is not! 

This client most likely offered you more than the market value of the crypto, why do you think that happened? Why would anyone pay more than the market value of the Crypto to you? 

It is really sad Saad, $3000 is a big amount for anyone especially in Pakistan or India. Trust me there is nothing that can be done you were a victim of fraud! 

There were many such reports on the Forums last month, interesting observation is all the victims I read about were from Pakistan! Not sure if they are targeting freelancers from Pakistan or if Freelancers from Pakistan are falling for it more often! 

Although, it is already mentioned in Upwork ToS not to do any financial transaction out of the platform. They may need to run an awareness campaign or sent few emailers to inform freelancers about this new "modus operandi" on their platform! 

[prestonhunter]

re: "Can I file a complaint in SEC?"

The SEC has no interest in talking to you about this.

Read more here:

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Clients/problem-solve-here-no-FTC-BBC-FBI-PD-etc/td-p/678783

[AndreaG]

Hi Saad,

I'm sorry to hear about this. I can see our team has reached out to you regarding this situation, you can check the information they shared with you here and reply directly to them if you have any questions. 

Only approved payment options should be used or received for payment. Additionally, talent should not send payment in any currency to clients off the platform for any reason, even in exchange for payment on the platform. Be cautious of requests to buy, sell, or transfer currencies of any kind (regular or crypto). Being asked to buy, sell, trade, or transfer any form of currency, even for a fee on Upwork, is prohibited and should be reported. For example, purchasing or transferring Bitcoin or other forms of cryptocurrency on behalf of a client is a violation of Upwork’s Terms of Service and a common scam.

Please check out this help article for information on Fixed-Price Payment Protection and this post for some more Tips to Avoid Questionable Jobs.

[prestonhunter]

I think cryptocurrency and Bitcoin are awesome in the same way that I think mixed martial arts (MMA) and free solo climbing are awesome.

[a_lipsey]

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Preston H wrote:

I think cryptocurrency and Bitcoin are awesome in the same way that I think mixed martial arts (MMA) and free solo climbing are awesome.

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Oh don't tease us, Preston. Explain that last bit. 

[prestonhunter]

I really do think it's cool.

I don't want to see it banned or anything.

But you shouldn't be doing this unless you know what you're doing.

And you shouldn't be doing this unless you accept the fact that you might get hurt.

There are a lot of things that I think are awesome, but which I wouldn't do personally.

And some very cool things have an appropriate place... but you can't do them everywhere.

[jared_k]

But presumably a freelancer who is hired to "get" crypto for someone knows that there are already plenty of exchanges where one can buy crypto. And if one doesn't want to deal with a KYC site, he/she can go to any number of anonymous crypto exchanges on the net. So, you should know better. You lost this one; move on and learn from it.

[rverang]

I saw a week ago someone got hired and got paid the same day, $4300.

Is this you? (Probably not as you are compaining about a $3000 earning)

[thegeek2]

Thanks for the support. Yes I got scammed and nothing could be done now. End of story

[martina_plaschka]

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Renante V wrote:

I saw a week ago someone got hired and got paid the same day, $4300.

Is this you? (Probably not as you are compaining about a $3000 earning)

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That could very well have been him. The client promises a huge commission, 30% sounds about right. It has to be enough for a freelancer to lose all common sense and only see $$$  blinking in front of his eyes.