Number of freelancers being interviewed is inaccurate

[#1]

I bolded the crux of my question to avoid more responses telling me to avoid scams, which wasn't what I was asking:

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I applied for a writing job this morning, heard from the client within minutes after submitting my letter, but his response screamed "Scam!" ("for more information, contact NAME at Telegram"). Of course I flagged the job and expect it will be taken down shortly. But here's the interesting thing: The job is showing as having NO interviews. I just checked it 20 minutes after I responded to the client (telling him if he wanted to hire me it would have to be done through Upwork, not Telegram) and it STILL shows no interviews. I suspect this "client" contacted every applicant with the same spiel about Telegram. I KNOW he contacted ME. So I don't understand why it's showing no interviews. This worries me because I use how many people are being interviewed as a factor to whether to apply or not...

Can anyone shed any light on why it shows that no one is being interviewed when I was interviewed?

[#2]

This is how scammers work. They contact you directly, then negotiate "terms" with you without interviewing you, hence no interviews.

Stay clear of these types of jobs.

[#3]

Thanks for replying, but you seem to have missed my point. My question isn't about deterring scammers (I've been on Upwork 8 years and have NEVER fallen victim to these), but why I was "interviewed" and the job posting showed zero interviews...I always believed this information to be accurate and helped me determine whether or not to apply.

[#4]

Many scammers try to exploit and cheat the Upwork platform by spam posting jobs or by trying to contact freelancers directly with sketchy job invites or automated messages. If the writing of the person who's contacting you seems robotic, then it's often better to avoid further contact 😉

Besides, if anyone wants to speak with you, why not ask them if they can schedule a meeting on Zoom right in the Upwork chatroom? That tends to deter scammers.

[#5]

Thanks for replying, but you seem to have missed my point. My question isn't about deterring scammers (I've been on Upwork 8 years and have NEVER fallen victim to these), but why I was "interviewed" and the job posting showed zero interviews...

[#6]

My suspicion is that there is a delay in showing the number of interviews. I think most stats on Upwork are delayed.

Or, it could also be that you cannot see your own interview; meaning, you can't see that your own interview has been counted. (I'm not sure why that would be the case though.)

I agree though--if there is a delay or all interviews are not being counted, it means freelancers are using inaccurate numbers as a factor to determine whether or not they should apply to a job.

[#7 · Accepted solution]

They might be archiving the people they've 'interviewed'. Archived proposals aren't counted.

[#8]

Something just occurred to me...if I was the only applicant and the client eliminated me after I declined to participate in his scam, that might explain why the posting showed no interviews... 

[#9]

Yes... I forgot about that. As Jamie pointed out, archived proposals are not counted.

Twenty minutes is a quick trigger though!

[#10]

"Twenty minutes is a quick trigger though!"

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Yes, it is, but I didn't know how quickly they'd take the job down for being a scam, so I didn't want to wait too long. 🙂