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hkemper4
Community Member

Offer outside of Upwork

I am new to Upwork and had a Skype interview and answered written questions. A few hours later, through Skype they said they wanted to offer me the position and to look for an offer letter in my email. It basically said you will be hired as an employee and make this much $... on each assignment...sign here. I told them I didn't see a contract in my contract tab on Upwork, just my email. They said that the "opt out" fee has been paid to Upwork and that Upwork is just a means to secure a freelancer and the post is removed after the freelancer has been shortlisted. I told him that I will sign the contract if it was sent to me through Upwork. He basically said they wont do that and that I would work on the company archive and login there for the materials needed. I know nothing about his company. He said he will send me more information once I sign the contract and I'm employed with them. I looked up the company name on Google and it is a tobacco company that says it's currently closed. It's my first time doing this so I have no idea if it's legit or not.  Any help or advice is appreciated.  Thanks!

6 REPLIES 6
mtngigi
Community Member


Heather K wrote:

I am new to Upwork and had a Skype interview and answered written questions. A few hours later, through Skype they said they wanted to offer me the position and to look for an offer letter in my email. It basically said you will be hired as an employee and make this much $... on each assignment...sign here. I told them I didn't see a contract in my contract tab on Upwork, just my email. They said that the "opt out" fee has been paid to Upwork and that Upwork is just a means to secure a freelancer and the post is removed after the freelancer has been shortlisted. I told him that I will sign the contract if it was sent to me through Upwork. He basically said they wont do that and that I would work on the company archive and login there for the materials needed. I know nothing about his company. He said he will send me more information once I sign the contract and I'm employed with them. I looked up the company name on Google and it is a tobacco company that says it's currently closed. It's my first time doing this so I have no idea if it's legit or not.  Any help or advice is appreciated.  Thanks!


It's a scam - new freelancers rarely receive legit job offers. I suggest you spend a little time learning how the site works, and how to work safely on Upwork:

 

Getting Started:
https://community.upwork.com/t5/New-to-Upwork/Getting-Started-on-Upwork/m-p/264214#U264214

 

Questionable Jobs:
https://community.upwork.com/t5/New-to-Upwork/Tips-to-Avoid-Questionable-Jobs/td-p/240833

hkemper4
Community Member

Thank you!  That's what I needed to hear.  I appreciate your help.

joywriter
Community Member

Hi Heather!

 

Don't forget to report them to Upwork.

 

Click on report job posting and in future occasions you can easily have someone from the Support Chat

help you very quickly with a response.

 

Best of luck!

Hugo

john-ortlief
Community Member

Hi Heather,

The exact same thing happened to me a little over a week ago.  The entire deal sopunded too good to be true but they went to great links to project legitimacy and so I went through the skype interview.  However, I examined the website they sent and no contact information was to be had, nor was a street address listed.  I looked up the names of the people I was talking to and they did not appear on Linked In (a flag).  

So I called the support desk here at UpWork and they thought the entire thing looked fishy.  For instance, the company had just joined UpWork very recently and had no payment verification established (which I was told is also a flag).  Further research lead me to this little gem (read NEW SCAM):

 

It's a scam if:

You must purchase something from them -- or FOR them -- to get started.
They want to hire you immediately, but first you must pay for some supplies needed for the job.

Only they can provide the appropriate supplies. Or, possibly, you need to pay them for some special training that they will provide you to help you get started.

 

NEW Scam (July, 2019): They send you a check so you can purchase a computer. Then, you must then send the computer to them to have software installed. When their check bounces, they have a new computer, and you have a bill to pay.

 

Best!

John O

 


John O wrote:

NEW Scam (July, 2019): They send you a check so you can purchase a computer. Then, you must then send the computer to them to have software installed. When their check bounces, they have a new computer, and you have a bill to pay.


LOL, that's not new. It's been around at least 15 years. One of the oldest and dumbest scams on the net.

 

It's also not how it works. They end you a check to buy a computer etc from their "trusted supplier" (which is, of course, they themselves) and when the check (obviously) bounces, you are out of the money you sent to the "trusted supplier" 

 

If you send them the computer, you'd have their address. 

 

Real-Job-Or-Scam.jpg


John O wrote:

Hi Heather,

The exact same thing happened to me a little over a week ago.  The entire deal sopunded too good to be true but they went to great links to project legitimacy and so I went through the skype interview.  However, I examined the website they sent and no contact information was to be had, nor was a street address listed.  I looked up the names of the people I was talking to and they did not appear on Linked In (a flag).  

So I called the support desk here at UpWork and they thought the entire thing looked fishy.  For instance, the company had just joined UpWork very recently and had no payment verification established (which I was told is also a flag).


No payment verification is most certainly not a flag - the rest of it is so obviously a scam. It's a wonder how people fall for it.

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