** SCAM!

[#1]

I just want to warn everyone out there about the**Edited for Community Guidelines** scam. They are a "client" who is having freelancers take an "assessment" test on**Edited for Community Guidelines**. They claim that the "assessment" should take less than 3 hours and upon completion, they will release the first milestone of $20. THIS IS A SCAM! 

First of all, the assessment takes a lot longer than 3 hours. I'm not sure why I ever agreed to it in the first place. But they are having freelancers sign into**Edited for Community Guidelines** with their log in credentials, perform work (which they are no doubt getting paid for), and when the freelancer completes the "assessment" and requests payment, they simply deny the request. They do this continually until the freelancer just gives up and moves on. There is no response from them other than their denying of the payment request to prevent Upwork's auto-release of funds. 

Furthermore, and perhaps more frustrating, is the fact that "Upwork Talent Specialists" are the ones working for them (**Edited for Community Guidelines** the freelancer but simply deny the requests like clockwork every Sunday. One "specialist" I should warn you all about is**Edited for community guidelines**. She was the one who reached out to me to accept the contract with**Edited for Community Guidelines** and as soon as I began the work, she ghosted me. There's no telling how many others they are scamming but it's hard to believe that they're getting away with it. And when I initiated a dispute to get paid for the project, the client never responded to the dispute and thus it was closed!!!

How is this happening and why it is allowed is beyond me. I'm just trying to do my part by warning you all of this scam. Be cautious. Be aware. And avoid**Edited for Community Guidelines**,**Edited for Community Guidelines**, and**Edited for community guidelines**at all costs!

[#2]

Your post is useless as a warning because the moderator will erase all names and titles from it soon. I hope you left an honest review there?

But support for obvious fraud by Upwork Talent Specialists is a serious accusation.

[#3]

It's a scam by an "enterprise client"  and perpetuated by Upwork Talent Specialists. I won't have fallen for it otherwise.

Which is why I'd choose to ignore the rare invite by Upwork specialists now. 

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/scam/m-p/1493204

[#4]

Hi, I would like to know if it is related to the talent store-finance training AI model. I recently got an invitation and even sent a proposal and cover letter to them. It was my first time receiving this offer, so I took a chance and accepted it, but I kind of doubted when I saw all your comments. Should I still go for this job? Or if I stop, how will I end the contract? Currently, they sent me a link that is outside Upwork for signing up with them. 

[#5]

If it's Sc*** AI or Rem***Ta***, I would proceed with caution. They haven't paid most freelancers after Sept 23.

They keep abusing the "Need Reviews" option to avoid auto release of the milestone everytime you request it.

[#6]

Hi, I recently accepted an offer to teach physics to an AI model from the company Sc***AI.  They sent a link to register for Outlier.  Do you think this is the same kind of scam?

[#7]

Hi Christopher,

Sorry for not responding earlier, as I wasn't active on Upwork.

I hope you ignored their invite as it is probably a scam. They have delayed my milestone payment again.

Besides, the time spent on the project is not worth the paltry fees.

[#8]

Did you complete the project with them without any issues?
I am offered by the same for some AI model training as well, your experience will be helpful.

[#9]

It's a scam.

[#10]

Use Rekha's experience, and in general, be very cautious with these jobs. No matter where they come from, you have to do heavy vetting of the client and the job. Assume every client and job is a scam, until proven otherwise. It's better to pass on a sketchy job, than to fall for a scam. The scammers are putting more energy into scams, and making them more complex.

[#11]

If the client wants you to go outside Upwork for any reason, even to chat, before an Upwork contract is in place, it's a scam. If the client wants to pay you or have you send them money for anything, at any point, it's a scam.

If the client is not following the Terms of Service or the terms of the contract, then stop and contact Upwork.

Read this post from community member Wes. It has excellent advice on the Red Flags on Scams.

[#12]

Unfortunately, this scam is being encouraged and perpetuated by Upwork Talent Specialists. 

You get lulled into a false sense of security because they are the ones doing the inviting, and not the client.

I can only speculate that Upwork gets some lumpsum fees from Sc*** to look the other way and offers credit when someone disputes. 

First it was for writing, then economics (me and others), now finance and biology.

There was a veteran freelancer who recently posted on the forum about the same scam seeking biology experts. 

As someone who provided (and still does)  User Testing/Experience feedback on a specific website for it, I presumed it was something similar. 

[#13]

I understand. I almost fell for an Upwork Talent specialist conversation.

That's why I tell everyone - trust no one. I did not post and offer this advice before the open doors to warm bodies policy. Now, everyone must assume every job is fake and a scam, and every client is a fraud and scammer who is here just to rob freelancers. Until I can prove to my satisfaction otherwise, I won't consider the project. This goes for Upwork only. I follow other practices on other platforms and the physical world.

Yet, you can do everything correctly, do your due diligence, and still be scammed, or waste time, energy, and a great proposal.

Upwork has not given us a clear description of who or what the "talent specialists" are, and why they approach freelancers with scams. It's absurd that freelancers must treat a jobs platform as a very real financial minefield, apparently planted by Upwork. Upwork controls the "feature" and they are the only ones who can remove scams and prevent more.

As I have posted before, if Upwork doesn't like people stating they are participants in a scam, they can make easy, simple, cheap, energy-efficient, filters and programs to prevent the majority of scams. That they do not is naturally going to lead people to believe it is intentional.

[#14]

Actually it's not useless as it's already helping a fellow freelancer (see below) avoid this scam. If you find it useless, feel free to move on. And yes, support for obvious fraud by Upwork specialists is a very serious accusation and I am very serious about it. This scam, which was brought to me by an UTS and is being perpetuated by UTS, is very unsettling and it has cost me a lot of time to rectify. That is why I made this post. Again, if you find it useless, then there's no need to continue our discussion. 

[#15]

I'd like to see real results about "the fact that "Upwork Talent Specialists" are the ones working for them (**Edited for Community Guidelines**)". Don't forget to update the topic if have some.

I'll keep eye on it. Good luck.

[#16]

It's a UPA unfortunately. She denied the milestone request last week, making it twice in as many months. They wait for around 10 days of the 14-day period before pausing the auto release.

  I didn't bother after that as I got busy with work. I might dispute that payment after my current project is over. 

I will be wary of these specialists and their invites from now on. Upwork has changed on its head in one year. 

[#17]

Thanks, I was about applying as a freelancer on their company's website, but then decided to read reviews about the company. Fortunately, my search for reviews led me here, to this post. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[#18]

Same here I was about to click on the confirm offer button but decided to do my due diligence first. 

[#19]

I don't think Mykola meant "useless" in the way you thought. He was referring to, I believe, the annoying habit that Upwork has of deleting anything about the job scams in the name of unproven accusations.

I don't see your response. Did you leave an honest review and feedback?

[#20]

Thanks for posting this. Your story to a large extent resonantes with one job I got approached for and I am about taking the preliminary assessment estimated for an hour on**Edited for Community Guidelines**. Though the client's name hasn't been revealed, the job title has "SCA***" as part of it and based in the US. Could this be the same client?  I do not have spare time to waste on an unfruitful journey. 

[#21]

Yes, it's time wasted unless you want to see how ChatGPT and other models perfect their answers. 

[#22]

Yes, the SCA**** job title is the same one that I was suckered into. It would be in your best interest to walk away from that one. You will not get paid. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but at least you're finding out about it now before investing any more time and energy into it. Best of luck!

[#23]

None of this makes any sense. If a client doesn't respond to a dispute, the escrow money is supposed to be released to you. Clients can't deny payments indefinitely. And what do you mean about the Upwork Talent Specialists? They sometimes help clients find freelancers, but after that, they have no role in the project and don't have the authority to approve or deny your payments.

[#24]

True! It was an UTA that got me one of my long term clients with whom I continue to work outside.

Things have definitely changed this year, while I was away,  and not for the best. 

[#25]

Christine, unfortunately it's all true. Clients can in fact deny payments indefinitely until a dispute is initiated. And the client never responded to the dispute so the mediator had to close it. I was issued a credit from Upwork for the amount owed and I have now been informed that they are investigating the issue. Perhaps you've never had to dispute a non-payment before and hopefully you don't have to. But if you get yourself tangled up with this scam, you'd see exactly what I'm talking about. 

And I mean exactly what I said about the UTS. Maybe you're new to Upwork and/or aren't exactly sure about how things work, but the UTS was my only point of contact throughout this entire ordeal and they were unresponsive the entire time except every Sunday when they denied my request for milestone payment. I'm hoping you won't have to experience this problem and that is why I made this post. Best of luck!