Payment to Client upfront

[donaldmclennan]

Hi! has anyone on this chat had to pay a client to register for work? Rcently I was asked to choose a project and then to pay 40USD to register for the work. Is this normal? I also had to give my WhatsApp number. Is this allowed to happen?

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Donald,

I would like to confirm that you don't need to pay anything in order to earn on Upwork. Our team will investigate the client further and will take proper actions. 

You can check out this Post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs. If you have any additional questions, feel free to follow up here. Thank you.

[donaldmclennan]

Thank you Goran, will you need the conversation with this guy from my messages? or have you guys got it handled?

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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Donald M wrote:

Hi! has anyone on this chat had to pay a client to register for work? Rcently I was asked to choose a project and then to pay 40USD to register for the work. 

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It's a scam. There is no work, all they are after is your $40.

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Donald M wrote:

 Is this normal? ?

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It's not uncommon.

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Donald M wrote:

I also had to give my WhatsApp number. 

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No, you didn't "have to" give them your WhatsApp number. You chose to do so. When you chose to do so, you violated Upwork's Terms of Service. You are not allowed to communicate with prospective clients outside of Upwork unless and until a contract is in place, partly to protect you from scams like that.

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Donald M wrote:

Is this allowed to happen?

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No, you are not allowed to give out any contact details at all until you are properly hired on Upwork.

[donaldmclennan]

With Humble apologies, I will terminate this person from my Upwork and Whatsapp with immediate effect. Hard lesson learned! Thanks again.

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Donald,

Our team has already reached out to you via ticket where you can share more details. You can access your tickets on this Link, thank you.