Solved: New to Upwork - Typist - Faced Scam

01e38686 · ‎03-03-2022

Hi everyone! I am new in Upwork and the freelance world. I started from the typist since it doesn't require experience, however, I am afraid I have faced twice a scam.

Follow the telegram link to get the job. I messaged the person and he shared the company details **Edited for Community Guidelines**. I searched on google and found the company, which seemed trustworthy. I ask the person's LinkedIn profile to verify it however he didn't share but asked me my CV which I also didn't share and deleted the conversation.

Second, also typist required from PDF to Word offered a fixed price of 500$.

I applied and got a message on Upwork again directing me to the Telegram. I replied her mentioning that having conversations outside of Upwork is against the policy, but I didn't get a response.

I wanted to be sure. So I followed the link and was asked about my age, sex, and country. I asked why the contract can't be done via Upwork to which he mentioned that they receive over Upwork too many messages. When I asked why my age, sex, and country matter he mentioned that this requires work.

I am not sure what kind of scam this is and how many people have been victims of this kind of situation.

I have deleted both chats from the telegram immediately and reported the message at Upwork.

Isn't it suspicious? Anyone has experienced this kind of situation.

sofia2008 · ‎03-03-2022

Many did. Solution: do not communicate outside of Upwork before being formally hired. You are violating the Terms of Services you agreed to by signing up on Upwork.

Yes, there are a lot of scams. There are equally lots of freelancers falling for it by applying to jobs before being ready to work on the platform.

View solution in original post

sofia2008 · ‎03-03-2022

Many did. Solution: do not communicate outside of Upwork before being formally hired. You are violating the Terms of Services you agreed to by signing up on Upwork.

Yes, there are a lot of scams. There are equally lots of freelancers falling for it by applying to jobs before being ready to work on the platform.

01e38686 · ‎03-06-2022

Dear Ms. Sophie A,

Thank you so much for your kindness and time. We say 'hurrying makes laughing'.

I am afraid I was too much in a rush, end up making extremely obvious and laughable mistakes.

I hope this topic will help the new freelance joiners not to be caught by scammers.

Best regards,

Alina

4a1498c5 · ‎02-05-2023

Hello, I was scammed too with those typing jobs and I would like some help on how to get my money back if you know who can help me..

nyonomega0 · ‎03-03-2022

Alina,

✌ Two things:

1) If you get an invitation or an interview request, that means it's a scam. Why? Cause your profile is absolutely nothing. I'm not saying this in a rude way, but in a concerning and helpful way. A serious client is not going to consider a freelancer whose profile headline says "New to freelance", therefore, in case you do get an invitation or an interview request through sending a proposal, it will almost certainly be a waste of time at best and a scam at worst.

2) re: "Second, also typist required from PDF to Word offered a fixed price of 500$."

No one is going to pay YOU $500 for typing a PDF document into Word.

re: "I applied and got a message on Upwork again directing me to the Telegram. I replied her mentioning that having conversations outside of Upwork is against the policy, but I didn't get a response. "

Right call.

re: "I wanted to be sure. So I followed the link and was asked about my age, sex, and country."

Wrong call. You shouldn't have followed the link.

re: "I am not sure what kind of scam this is and how many people have been victims of this kind of situation. "

It probably isn't a scam, but just some ill-minded person trying to communicate with you and waste your time.

re: "Isn't it suspicious?"

I don't think so.

Bonus Tip: If you want to work on Upwork as a freelancer then you should consider educating yourself regarding what freelancing is. For now, I would suggest you don't waste your time here.

Kind regards,

Sushant

01e38686 · ‎03-06-2022

Dear Sushant B,

Thank you so much for your time, details, honesty, and suggestion.

Regards,

Alina

prestonhunter · ‎03-03-2022

re: "I am not sure what kind of scam this is"

It is a scam designed to steal your money.

If you continued, you would have been asked to send money to the scammers.

re: "I am not sure... how many people have been victims of this kind of situation."

We don't know.

Not even Upwork's most senior executives know for sure.

I'm sure it's a lot.

Does the precise number actually matter? No, not really.

It might be fun to know.

But the important thing is that YOU are not one of those people who was scammed.
For now, immediately ignore, block and/or report everybody who asks you to communicate via Telegram or other non-Upwork tools. Don't waste time with them. Focus on your time on the real clients.

01e38686 · ‎03-06-2022

Dear Mr. Preston H,

Thank you so much for your time and advice.

I hope this topic will help the new freelance joiners not to be caught by scammers.

Best regards,

Alina

ericaandrews · ‎03-03-2022

Your first mistake was not taking the time to understand the Upwork Terms of Service and the rules of using the platform. Stick to the terms of service and follow the Upwork rules which ban doing any 'interviewing' outside of Upwork, and you won't have the same problems.

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211062618-Upwork-Terms-of-Service

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Communication-outside-of-Upwork/m-p/844073

Unfortunately, too many new freelancers quickly scroll through the Upwork Terms of Service when joining and click "Yeah, uh huh. OK" without reading it, then skip the Upwork Readiness Test, begin interviewing for jobs, and then get scammed or ripped off.

Suggestion: Take the time to fully read and understand the UW rules, do the Upwork Readiness Test and take time to UNDERSTAND it, and spend sometime reviewing the threads on the "New to Upwork" community board before submitting proposals to anymore jobs.

01e38686 · ‎03-06-2022

Dear CJ A,

Thank you for your time and advice. I did the reading part of the term and conditions after the lesson 😁. I hope this topic will help new joiners.

Best regards,

Alina

reputationstars · ‎03-19-2022

I am getting a few of these kinds of requests daily now, because I am a top rated freelancer.
"Retype PDF into word"

"Retype document"

Etc

Everytime I have applied I have been asked to send message on Telegram, etc

One time it was another marketing job that had a good pay. I knew it was a scam and too good to be true. So I decided to talk to them on Telegram to see what the scam is. They wanted to refer many jobs to me that would pay at least $100,000 each time, but wanted me to pay $500 sign up fee!

When its too good to be true, then don't beleive it. If they had made the numbers a little more realistic, it would have been more believable, but how many freelance jobs do you know that pay that much?

PradeepH · ‎03-19-2022

Hi Pierre,

Thank you for your message. I checked the job post you were referring to and it seems that it's already been taken down because it was in violation of Upwork ToS and action has been taken on the client account.

Please check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs and please use the flag option found on each job post or message anytime you’d like to report a violation.

Thank you

Pradeep

rodriguezjoaquin · ‎11-17-2022

I am in the middle of a possible scam. I need to report it. They are asking me for 80.00 as a refundable fee in order to get payed 1,200.00 when their budget is posted at 50.00

bundie702 · ‎03-20-2022

One of the most popular scams on Upwork is the "retype a document" ad. One of them approached me the other day (I don't get too many scam invitations). I was suspicious, and sure enough, when I asked for more information they directed me to Telegram. I said this isn't allowed, and they actually replied that Upwork *does* allow *their* company to correspond off platform. I said no again (and reported them with a cut and paste of their response). They were quite persistent, telling me I was missing out on a wonderful opportunity. The ad has been taken down, but not until the next day.

In addition to the poor grammar, incorrect capitalization, no hiring history, and high fixed or hourly rates, if you're familiar with US time zones, another clue is that they claim to be in the US when their local time is 5 or 6 hours ahead of the latest US time zone, suggesting Europe or Africa...

I wish Upwork would link to the excellent posting someone made on how to recognize scams on the signup page...

gilbert-phyllis · ‎03-20-2022

Bettye U wrote:

I wish Upwork would link to the excellent posting someone made on how to recognize scams on the signup page...

Wes's post is now featured in the carousel in the upper righthand part of the forum page. And here is the link.

bundie702 · ‎03-20-2022

I'm delighted to hear that! Thank you for telling me.

arthureng · ‎03-27-2022

Those scammers even reported me as an "abuse" on telegram!

03830c13 · ‎10-20-2023

I understand that Upwork keeps certain information about profile visibility private. Is there any way to access more detailed information about the factors that influence profile visibility, such as badges and profile completeness? I am only interested in information that is publicly available through Upwork. Thanks.