Returned Bonus

[gazaryan_georgie]

I had bonuses from a client for a job. At first, their status was Pending, after the contract was closed, the status changed to Returned Bonus. The money did not appear on the banalns. What's the matter?

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Georgie,

I checked your account and I can see that our team has reached out to you via ticket with additional information about your payment. Feel free to follow up directly there with any additional questions you have and our team will assist you further. Thank you.

[aju-kumar]

Hi Goran V,

Same happened with me too please help me too.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[759e32fa]

Hi Ajay,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I've shared your report with our team. They're currently working on it and as per their advice, you may try to withdraw again after 24 hours.

If the issue persists, please let us know so we can further assist you.

[shahzad_bacha]

Hi,

This happened to me as well.
The contract is suspended and i cannot see the bonus amount. it was there in pending for atleast a week and now it disappeared.

[the-right-writer]

Did you have a contract for fixed price or hourly? Was it funded, or was it set up in bonuses? More information is needed.

If you had only bonuses, it is a scam and there is no money. If the contract is suspended, Upwork should tell you why. Most likely, the credit card is stolen and they couldn't charge anyone. Upwork will try several times, which is why it was pending.

[shahzad_bacha]

it is hourly based contract and amount was setup as bonus

[the-right-writer]

Then you were scammed. No legitimate client will use bonuses only. A bonus is paid at the end of the contract for excellent work beyond the project.

There was no money; the card was stolen. The scammers use bonuses because it takes longer for Upwork to run the card. I hope you didn't buy anything or send them money.

Read the TOS and learn the rules or you will be scammed again and again.

[pgiambalvo]

How does reading the ToS protect freelancers from not getting paid when a stolen card is used?

[the-right-writer]

Because if you go through all the rules, it very clearly explains how you apply for and obtain jobs. I don't know if it actually states explicitly bonuses with no milestones or tracker is mentioned as a problem; probably not. I believe if you read the TOS, Upwork rules, you would be hesitant to accept a job that is set up differently than the standard.

I should have included the link to Wes' post because I'm sure he mentions this in his great resource.

[pgiambalvo]

I agree that everyone should read the ToS and Wes' tips to help keep them safe. But that would still offer no protection from clients using stolen credit cards for fixed price or non-tiime tracker hourly contracts.

[the-right-writer]

I disagree. Bonuses are known to be a scam. It would never have happened if the individual had not decided to accept large bonuses instead of a contract. If you don't follow the rules, you will be scammed.

However, some people do follow the rules and are scammed. There are ways to limit the amount of money that is up for grabs by using the tracker appropriately or milestones. No, following the rules is no guarantee, but it dramatically reduces the number of scammed people. You probably noticed that the vast majority of people who are scammed do not follow the rules. Most are new and just jumped into applying for jobs.

Upwork still doesn't bother to filter the contacts from their own feeds; they are not going to do anything about the scams because it either benefits them or doesn't hurt them. Strangely enough, other platforms are not inundated with obvious scams. So, if you are going to freelance here, you must protect yourself. In this individual's case, he messed up and got burned.

[feed_my_eyes]

These bonus payment scams are almost always related to buying crypto or similar for clients, which is indeed against the ToS. Someone who's read the ToS would also know that there's no payment protection for bonuses.

Scammers generally don't bother using a stolen credit card to hire a freelancer for real work - they can't make thousands of dollars from getting a logo designed or an article written for them.

[the-right-writer]

Please read all you can about scams. Here is a link to a wonderful resource for avoiding scams.

https://community.upwork.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?q=wes%20scams

[pgiambalvo]

You got scammed and won't ever get your money, that's what happened.

[shahzad_bacha]

How is that a scam? isn't the payment goes to escrow?

[martina_plaschka]

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Shahzad B wrote:

How is that a scam? isn't the payment goes to escrow?

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Shahzad B wrote:

How is that a scam? isn't the payment goes to escrow?

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It does, but if the client doesn't pay upwork, there is nothing to go into escrow. 

[pgiambalvo]

Like Martina said, if the client doesn't pay upwork, there is nothing to go into escrow, even though it shows up as being in escrow, making you think you will get paid when there is no guarantee that you will be. Upworl does not verify whether or not a card is stolen before allowing clients to use it.

[shahzad_bacha]

Why does upwork sent me a confirmation email? if they don't have the payements in escrow.

[prestonhunter]

Bonus payments are not protected.

Sorry.

If you want maximum protection, then use an hourly contract and follow the rules for Upwork Payment Protection.

Then... if something goes wrong with the client's payment method, Upwork will pay you out of its own pocket.

[feed_my_eyes]

The payment wasn't in escrow, it was paid as a bonus.