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Aeman's avatar
Aeman P Community Member

Report a client

Hello Community Members,

 

A client is asking me to work outside Upwork and pay me in cryptocurrency.
I want to close the ongoing project, but he will give me a bad rating, affecting my JSS.
What should I do?

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
Tatevik's avatar
Tatevik G Community Member

There is a "Get Support" button on the bottom-right corner of this page, click that, type the issue, the robot will suggest you articles and below them there will be buttons to reach support via live-chat or open a ticket. Pick whichever option you like.

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33 REPLIES 33
Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

re: "A client is asking me to work outside Upwork and pay me in cryptocurrency. I want to close the ongoing project, but he will give me a bad rating, affecting my JSS. What should I do?"

 

It depends on the details. Read these examples:

 

1) Janet has been working for Mr. Smith for 10 months. Jane writes blog articles for Mr. Smith and always gets paid as expected - through Upwork. Recentlyl Mrs. Smith watched a YouTube video abut Bitcoin. He thought that it might be fun to try using Bitcoin. He asked Janet if she would like to be paid through Bitcoin. Jane said: "Thank you for thinking of me, but Upwork policy requires that all payments go through the Upwork platform." The client apologized for his misunderstanding and said he wouldn't bring it up again. Janet did NOT report this client.

 

2) Peter was hired by a client named Shifty Jones. Shifty hired Peter using an hourly contract. Peter has not logged any time yet. Shifty told Peter that he would be hired to create a financial spreadsheet file for a pet store. After Peter was hired, Shifty told Peter that he would pay Peter $1000 in Bitcoin. But first, Peter needs to send Shifty $100 using PayPal. This is because Shifty's elderly aunt lives in Indiana, which doesn't allow dogs to get medical care (according to Shifty). And his aunt's dog has doggie amnesia. Peter thought this sounded suspicious. Peter clicked on the "Flag as inappropriate" link on the job posting page. Or Peter flagged the conversation about paying through Bitcoin within the Upwork Messages tool. Then Peter closed the contract.

Peter's avatar
Peter G Community Member

Preston, how did you gain access to the details of my last gig?

Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member


Peter G wrote:

Preston, how did you gain access to the details of my last gig?


I don't get how sending the aunt $100 would do any good since dogs can't get medical care in Indiana? That part just never made any sense. Maybe it would have  been better to get some bitcoin for the dog to nibble on. Good for the teeth, too. 
I'm still confused. I lived in Indiana, and they had some strange laws that left me very confused, like going to the store on Sunday and only being able to look at the wine bottles, but not being allowed to purchase them. Here in Austria, on any Sunday, you can go to the store and look at the wine bottles through the window from outside, but you can't purchase them, because the store is closed, At least that makes sense to me. 

 

Peter's avatar
Peter G Community Member

Wow, from Indiana to Austria. That must have been some major culture shock. Like going from...Indiana to Austria. At least you're in a better place now. And I've always found that no matter where you live, drinking wine from a bottle while looking at wine in bottles makes the day a little brighter.

 

Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member

Well it was from Austria to Illinois to Indiana back to Austria. So yes, big time culture shock. Mainly how regulated the land of the free really is, like the rules of the homeowners association for example. Those were unexpected. 

Mick's avatar
Mick S Community Member

Dry Humour 🤣🤣🤣

Haris's avatar
Haris M Community Member

😂👍The Doggie Amnesia scam..  pulls my heart strings and gets me every time! Now I know what to do with the next "Milo" who can't remember and can't get puppy care, thank you!
Jokes aside, yes, when it sounds like ***, clarify first and if not, call it out and shut the contract!

Tatevik's avatar
Tatevik G Community Member

Contact support, report the client, once their account gets suspended for violating Upwork ToS then close the project, he won't be able to leave a feedback then.

Aeman's avatar
Aeman P Community Member

okay!

How can I contact the support team?

Tatevik's avatar
Tatevik G Community Member

There is a "Get Support" button on the bottom-right corner of this page, click that, type the issue, the robot will suggest you articles and below them there will be buttons to reach support via live-chat or open a ticket. Pick whichever option you like.

Bojan's avatar
Bojan S Community Manager

Hi Aeman,

 

Could you please send me a PM with more information about the client you'd like to report? I’ll check your report and escalate it accordingly. 

 

Thank you.

~ Bojan
Upwork
Md's avatar
Md R Community Member

Hello sir

Preeti's avatar
Preeti S Community Member

Hey Bojan, 

I would like to report a client I worked for. I submitted a 70 pages English to Hindi Translated work in ZIP file for 3500 USD. But now the client is asking me to pay 65 USD first for some fee. 

Need your urgent help in this. 

Sophie's avatar
Sophie A Community Member


 wrote:

Hey Bojan, 

I would like to report a client I worked for. I submitted a 70 pages English to Hindi Translated work in ZIP file for 3500 USD. But now the client is asking me to pay 65 USD first for some fee. 

Need your urgent help in this. 


This is a scam. Do not send money, you will never be paid. You do not have an active contract on Upwork, and you were planning to have payment outside Upwork, which is a serious violation of the Terms of Service and can get your account suspended. You should look at the Academy ressources at the top of this page to learn how things work before communicating with any clients.

Clive's avatar
Clive C Community Member

In my case, I worked for a client for 4 hours. The project for the client was to test his Crypto Currency platform. The client told me that I would have to take a subcriptions worth $100 in Etherium on the platform before testing and he would reimburse me the money as soon as the sign up is done. He sent me contract and I accepted it. I signed up on the platform and paid fees for subscription through Crypto currency. When the time came for the reimbursement, the client asked me to add extra hours in timesheet and claim the funds and asked me to upgrade my subcription from $100 to $500 service plan. I found it suspicious so I reported the client to upwork support by reporting his message. Now the contract has been suspended but my work of 4 hours is also on hold. Also I have lost $100. Client is not responding to my messages. And I am unable to find human support on upwork. Get support only gives robotic replies which are certainly not helpful. What should I do in this case?

Annie Jane's avatar
Annie Jane B Retired Team Member

Hi Clive,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. Please keep in mind that any financial transactions outside Upwork, even cryptocurrency payments, are against ToS.

 

Since the contract is on hold, you cannot resume work until the issue on the client's account is resolved. Should their account be removed for violating ToS, the contract will then be removed.

 

In order to protect yourself moving forward, please log your time according to the Hourly Payment Protection so Upwork can step in and cover the payment in case the client's payment method fails. Otherwise, the hours you logged will not be paid.

 

We highly suggest reviewing our ToS, reading these tips on how to avoid questionable jobs, and this post from our Community member, Wes, about top red flags for scams for you to keep yourself safe in the marketplace. Should you also encounter any suspicious user activity again in the future, please send us a flag so the dedicated team can review it and take action as soon as possible.


~ AJ
Upwork
Clive's avatar
Clive C Community Member

Hi Annie I had recorded my work through upwork desktop app. Will the work be covered under Hourly payment protection incase the client's is removed for violation on ToS and contract is removed too?

Annie Jane's avatar
Annie Jane B Retired Team Member

Hi Clive,

 

To qualify for Hourly Payment Protection, you must:

  • Have an hourly contract
  • Have an ID Verification Badge
  • Work with a client who is using a verified billing method
  • Use an Upwork account in good standing
  • Log your hours with the Upwork Desktop App
  • Have contract-related activity in your Work Diary
  • Update your Work Diary with memos or activities labels that describe the activity performed
  • Maintain adequate and fair activity levels
  • Stay within the contract's weekly limit

 

The following cases do not qualify for payment protection:

  • Time segments in the Work Diary that don’t meet all of the qualification criteria above. For example, we exclude segments that are:
    • Added manually
    • Idle or empty
    • Over the weekly limit
    • Showing the freelancer engaged in non-work-related activity
    • Missing memos or have inadequately described memos

 

Kindly check the link to the help article I provided to learn more about Hourly Payment Protection.


~ AJ
Upwork
Katherine's avatar
Katherine C Community Member

a client has posted a job saying they will pay upfront and to contact them on there cellphone number. im not applying for the job. should i report this client?

Nikola's avatar
Nikola S Retiring Moderator

Hi Katherine,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. Please know that sharing contact information before a contract has started is against Upwork's Terms of Service and that all communications prior to the contract starting must take place on Upwork.

I encourage you to let us know if a TOS violation has happened by using the Flag as Inappropriate option throughout the platform. You can learn more about user reporting hereOur team will review your report and take appropriate actions as per our internal processes.

~ Nikola
Md's avatar
Md R Community Member

Hello 

My gmail : **Edited for Community Guidelines**

Md's avatar
Md R Community Member

Hello 

Tina's avatar
Tina M Community Member

Hello I have noticed a very suspicious account on Upwork. The client posted a job worth $400 monthly, I applied and got a response for an interview. I made a bid for $375 but now the client offered me $250. We spoke for a while as I answered questions. He or she kept questioning my capabilities and seemed uncertain of me.

 

It seemed I had gotten the job till they requested a trial the following day for 6 hours after which they said they would decide whether to hire me. I agreed but upon further deliberation I felt it was rather suspicious plus the pay would be low. I then looked further into their account and noticed they had been deliberately posting jobs and putting other freelancers on such trial basis.

 

I then contacted them to let them know this is against UpWorks terms and conditions and that they should pay me the daily $10 via escrow even if it's a trial. They then ignored and proceeded to block me. Luckily I dodged a bullet of wasting my time and doing the wrong thing on Upwork but this user has been taking advantage of so many freelancers promising them a job yet they know that they will not pay or hire them. They waste people's time and give them false hope which can make certain users judge the app which has done nothing wrong and only tries to protect freelancers.

 

Please address or block this client they have been active since 2019, posted nearly 60 jobs but only hired 13 and do not pay the stated amount. I am very disappointed by this client and I can't let them continue to take advantage of other users on the platform! 

 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Laura's avatar
Laura L Community Member

I have tried about 4 times now to get Upwork to do something about a client that 1. stole a logo, 2. would not pay me and asked for free work and also didn't pay another freelancer on Upwork. So far they have not contacted the client or suspended him until things are resolved. I want to stop him from taking advantage of designers. I did contact the person that designed the original logo so she is reaching out to see what she can do leagally.