Apr 9, 2019 05:08:36 PM by Kym M
Greetings!
Along with some of my earlier posts, I suppose I have another set of questions. I've been going through the archives and the very helpful tutorials, forum sticky posts etc on avoiding questionable jobs, proposals/bid awardments and scam identifyers.
I bid on 4 jobs today. One message I received from one of them was discovered to be a scam. I just received another message from the client with a file attached labeled "bid awarded" which is a word document file with a dropbox link and the following text:
"Hello,
If you’ve received this form, that means your bid has been selected and are now invited to be a long term member of the team. I’d like you to start with TASK 1 (attached below). I’ll setup a milestone shortly. We look forward to working with you.
LINK - dropbox REDACTED
Password REDACTED"
I am concerned because I received no official notice that I won the bid and it still showing that there were 50+ applicants and 15 people being interviewed. I never received an "interview" request, just this message from the client. I am wary to try the link in the case of malware. I checked it via VirusTotal for both the word file and dropbox file via URLs. Both were clean.
Right after I received this message a little notice came up under the clients name stating " CLIENT NAME REDACTED does not currently have access to Upwork and will not receive messages until access is restored"
Presumably, this means someone else might have blocked him or reported the job. Additionally, his payment method is unverified. I know that's a red flag. I cannot converse with him because it appears he has no access to the message feature on UW now. Additionally, I'm thinking I should report at this point?
Would someone be so kind as to advise or point me in the direction of an existing thread regarding how normal client interactions from proposal submission to bid acceptance process etc, goes so I can adhere to that structure? I am cautious about this process as with anything online, some people are less than honest.
Thank you for your guidance, in advance!
KM
Solved! Go to Solution.
Apr 9, 2019 09:22:23 PM by Kathy T
If you don't see a notification on Upwork that you have been offered a contract, then you are not hired. It doesn't matter if the client messaged you saying, I'm hiring you, or you're hired. It doesn't matter if you get an email saying the same. You are not hired until you are offered a contract here which you can decline or accept. If you accept, you'll see the contract listed in the Jobs section on the home page.
Apr 9, 2019 05:14:44 PM by Kym M
Okay... It's definitely Malware. I withdrew my proposal. He's spreading malware, so how can I report this. I couldn't find a report button for the actual listing. The link is below. I'd like to officially report.
Apr 9, 2019 05:26:58 PM Edited Apr 9, 2019 05:27:59 PM by Mary W
Kymlee, I pinged a moderator to respond to you. You can go to the original job posting and flag it as inappropriate. On the drop down menu, tell them that it's malware.
Apr 9, 2019 05:38:24 PM by Kym M
Thanks Mary!
I tried that, and just realized the job posting has already been removed. I presume someone else already reported him. What a pain in the neck though. Thanks for the response and fielding a Moderator in. Much appreciated!
KM
Apr 9, 2019 06:53:48 PM by Julie J
I've seen a bunch of these lately. Interviewing just means they sent a message to a freelancer. When you see 15 interviews or some large number for a simple job and the client has no history it's probably a red flag. Also avoid any one that asks you to talk on Google Hangouts, had one of those yesterday .
Apr 9, 2019 07:46:28 PM by Avery O
Hi Kymlee,
I would like to confirm that actions have been taken against the client's job post, and account. Thank you for sharing it here.
I have responded on your other thread with tips and insights on how you can work safely on Upwork. Hopefully the resources I shared will help you.
Apr 9, 2019 09:22:23 PM by Kathy T
If you don't see a notification on Upwork that you have been offered a contract, then you are not hired. It doesn't matter if the client messaged you saying, I'm hiring you, or you're hired. It doesn't matter if you get an email saying the same. You are not hired until you are offered a contract here which you can decline or accept. If you accept, you'll see the contract listed in the Jobs section on the home page.
Apr 14, 2019 08:05:39 AM by Kym M