Only bonus payments on an hourly contract

[get_gg]

Hi,

Initial job post was fixed-price but client sent me an hourly offer, attached screenshot (see screenshot1) and said that there was some problem with escrow payment in his region. He said that he contacted Upwork about this (his message to me):

yes i called them and its possible because fixed prices directly not supported in south america so they told me it works this way
accept the contract and lets try if it works

That sound strange to me so I asked him to make 4x milestones, he agreed and sent me 25% of the amount as a bonus. Now I can see that amount on my Reports page and everything looks like ok.

Also, note: job has verified payment, country in job post was China, client's timezone in chat was IST (Israel, I believe) and he said he's from South America.

Overall, the situation looks strange. Is this a fraud? Is it possible to work like that on Upwork? Is there any chance I won't receive a bonus that already has pending status on Reports?

Best regards.

[petra_r]

The English on that screenshot is so poor that it is almost certainly fake. Actually, never mind the "almost certainly" part. It's a forgery.

Go to your pending page. Is there a DATE in the left hand column next to the pending amount?

Does the client have history? Please bear in mind that if the client is "paying" you with a stolen card or simply hasn't enough money on it, you will not get paid as there is no protection for bonus payments.

[get_gg]

No, there's no date, it says 'pending' (see screenshot attached).

Client has no history on Upwork. Also, he hired another freelancer for the same job on the same conditions, I believe.

[petra_r]

When was that payment made? It is normal to say "Pending" for a few hours to a day - NO MORE. Any more than that means Upwork were unable to get the money from the client's payment method.

That alone would not worry me for a day or two, the forged screenshot, however, WOULD.

Do NOT hand over any work yet. Personally I have a feeling you'll never see a single Dollar of that money.

[get_gg]

Payment was made about 2-3 hours ago.

Thanks for a reply, Petra. I have the same feeling.

[petra_r]

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@Nikita N wrote:

Payment was made about 2-3 hours ago.

Thanks for a reply, Petra. I have the same feeling.

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 Frankly anyone who forges a screenshot is dodgy from the word "Go!"

[aocumen]

Hi Nikita, 

I went ahead and asked around about the screenshot that your client sent you. If I have more information I can share with you, I will come back and post it on this thread. 

In the meantime, I would suggest to follow Petra's advise, and not work on anything until the contract with this client has been unpaused.

[petra_r]

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@Avery O wrote:

In the meantime, I would suggest to follow Petra's advise, and not work on anything until the contract with this client has been unpaused.

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 Wait, what? The contract is paused??? I missed that, or it wasn't initially mentioned.

I was 99% certain that this was a scam. It's now 100%.

[prestonhunter]

re: "Is it possible to work like that on Upwork? Is there any chance I won't receive a bonus that already has pending status on Reports?"

Is there a chance?

Yes, of course there is.

Bonus payments are purely at the discretion of the client.

For example:

Suppose a client writes to the freelancer, in Upwork Messenger, saying: "I 100% guarantee you that I will pay you $500 as a bonus. No matter what happens, I will do that. You have earned it."

Then the client doesn't pay.

Would Upwork do anything? No. Upwork does not get involved when it comes to payment or non-payment of bonuses.

[petra_r]

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@Preston H wrote:

Would Upwork do anything? No. Upwork does not get involved when it comes to payment or non-payment of bonuses.

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 Preston, I think that thing that just flew past you was "the point."

You missed it.

The client has already "paid." - The client also registered yesterday and "spent" thousands via "bonuses" and showed the freelancers a forged screenshot.

Yes, Upwork does get involved when it comes to fraud.

[rverang]

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@Nikita N wrote:

No, there's no date, it says 'pending' (see screenshot attached).

Client has no history on Upwork. Also, he hired another freelancer for the same job on the same conditions, I believe.

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Yup, same job, 2 were hired. The other one was paid 2k.

I'm guessing you did 3 pages, as asked in the project description.

Unfortunately, definitely a scammer.