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tatianaaristi
Community Member

Scam?

Hi,

 

I applyied for a job answering a survey and the person contacted me telling me they needed my email to send documents because the documents had a pasword. He introduces himself with one name and his email has a different name. The person joined in January this year and it says it has spent over $2000. How can I tell if this is a scam?

 

Thank you

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
prestonhunter
Community Member

Alexandra:

It is highly unlikely that this is a scam.


Scammers do not spend $2000 paying freelancers.

 

Most of the time scammers never pay freelancers ANY money, and they pride themselves on being able to steal work/identity info/money from scammers without every paying scammers anything.

 

I have done "answer survey" jobs on Upwork. I provided my email address and even phone number to survey takers. (I have participated in form/web-based surveys and I have participated in live over-the-phone surveys.) They asked questions. They paid me money. That's not a scam.

 

Just make sure you don't do anything unless you have an Upwork contract in place.

 

If you're relatively new to Upwork, then please: Come back here and talk to us about about each step so that we can help you avoid any mistakes.

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8 REPLIES 8
prestonhunter
Community Member

Alexandra:

It is highly unlikely that this is a scam.


Scammers do not spend $2000 paying freelancers.

 

Most of the time scammers never pay freelancers ANY money, and they pride themselves on being able to steal work/identity info/money from scammers without every paying scammers anything.

 

I have done "answer survey" jobs on Upwork. I provided my email address and even phone number to survey takers. (I have participated in form/web-based surveys and I have participated in live over-the-phone surveys.) They asked questions. They paid me money. That's not a scam.

 

Just make sure you don't do anything unless you have an Upwork contract in place.

 

If you're relatively new to Upwork, then please: Come back here and talk to us about about each step so that we can help you avoid any mistakes.

re: "He introduces himself with one name and his email has a different name."

 

Personally, I do not care at all what a client's name is. I don't care what a client's email address is. I don't care if their name is part of their email address. I don't care how many names they have.

 

Of course, as an experienced Upwork user, I am able to spot a scammer within a few seconds.

 

I identify scammers based on their behavior, not based on their name(s).

Thank you. In fact I'm really new to Upwork and if this happens it'd be the first job I get. 

Alexandra, good luck with your job and I second what Preston wrote. Also, unlike freelancers, clients aren't required to use their real names when setting up Upwork accounts, and sometimes more than one person will share a client account, not to mention email accounts, all of which is allowed, so there's nothing suspicious in itself about an email name being different from a client name.

__________________________________________________
"No good deed goes unpunished." -- Clare Boothe Luce

Hi,

 

I just received a message saying my proposal was accepeted but I need to send documents (I-9, front and back of driver's license, photo holding my driver's license, head shot, resume, etc.) as part of the registration process to a gmail account, not a work email. I am a little skeptical of this because I don't want to send my information to a random email. The message also said the I-9 would have employer information on it but the link they sent was to download the I-9 from the IRS. I researched the company and I know they are legitimate, but why am I sending these documents to a gmail account and not a work email? I have tried messaging back but haven't received a response yet. Do you think this is a scam?

Jessica, it really doesn't matter who they claim to be. You're not applying for employment, so there's no need to provide any of that. It would be like asking the plumber you called to show you their driver's license. Nor is there any need to do all that by way of gmail, instead of Upwork messaging, or their company email as you mentioned. So most likely, it's just a scam to steal your identity.

__________________________________________________
"No good deed goes unpunished." -- Clare Boothe Luce


Jessica W wrote:

Hi,

 

I just received a message saying my proposal was accepeted but I need to send documents (I-9, front and back of driver's license, photo holding my driver's license, head shot, resume, etc.) as part of the registration process to a gmail account, not a work email. I am a little skeptical of this because I don't want to send my information to a random email. The message also said the I-9 would have employer information on it but the link they sent was to download the I-9 from the IRS. I researched the company and I know they are legitimate, but why am I sending these documents to a gmail account and not a work email? I have tried messaging back but haven't received a response yet. Do you think this is a scam?


scam


Jessica W wrote:

Hi,

 

I just received a message saying my proposal was accepeted but I need to send documents (I-9, front and back of driver's license, photo holding my driver's license, head shot, resume, etc.) as part of the registration process to a gmail account, not a work email. I am a little skeptical of this because I don't want to send my information to a random email. The message also said the I-9 would have employer information on it but the link they sent was to download the I-9 from the IRS. I researched the company and I know they are legitimate, but why am I sending these documents to a gmail account and not a work email? I have tried messaging back but haven't received a response yet. Do you think this is a scam?


Your initial instincts were right. Though I agree with Preston that it could have been legit, there were too many red flags already. Stay safe. 

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