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fizyks
Community Member

Scam

There is a scammer posting jobs and offering interviews on telegram. I would like to report it and give any details possible so no one gets PII taken and they are removed from the website. The scammer has an hour long job interview and offers a job from a reputable company in my case **edited for Community Guidelines**. I just got a message from them again from this job lead. 
**edited for Community Guidelines**
 
 
ACCEPTED SOLUTION
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Dustin, 

Thank you for flagging this here. I can confirm that actions have been taken against the client's job post and their account for a violation of the Upwork Terms of Service. 

 

In the future, you can flag the job post as inappropriate so that it goes to the team's queue for their review. I highly recommend that you read up on the "Safety First!" section of the freelancer resources we have compiled, and these tips for avoiding questionable jobs for more information about working safely through Upwork.


~ Avery
Upwork

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36 REPLIES 36
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Dustin, 

Thank you for flagging this here. I can confirm that actions have been taken against the client's job post and their account for a violation of the Upwork Terms of Service. 

 

In the future, you can flag the job post as inappropriate so that it goes to the team's queue for their review. I highly recommend that you read up on the "Safety First!" section of the freelancer resources we have compiled, and these tips for avoiding questionable jobs for more information about working safely through Upwork.


~ Avery
Upwork
fizyks
Community Member

I appreciate your help, Avery. I have taken the opportunity to read those tips. I had also flagged the job as inappropriate prior to posting on the community board for all to see. Thanks again!

 

-Dustin

sbiegel
Community Member

I was able to see the company noted in the google search link. This "company" also has a scam posting in the accounting/bookkeeping posting. I have reported the conversation and the job. Is there anything that Upwork does to vet these postings?

 

I know what to avoid (read your articles, plus already know what a lot of scams sound like) and I know immediatly what are scam triggers in contacts from these "companies", but these job postings look and sound legit and have none of the warning signs to keep you from applying to them. And now I'm two for two on time wasted on scams and have put a lot of time creating personalized proposals for these jobs that's just wasted.

 

So how do we avoid these types of scams? What can be done? Or is UpWork just literally all scammer postings and no legit jobs? 😞 

 

 


Stephanie B wrote:

 

So how do we avoid these types of scams? What can be done? Or is UpWork just literally all scammer postings and no legit jobs? 😞 

 


The biggest giveaway is if a client asks you for personal details like copies of your I.D., your address or your banking information. As soon as that happens, flag the job as inappropriate. 

 

You can also avoid being scammed if you simply refuse to accept payments off of Upwork and insist on receiving an offical job offer before doing any work.

 

Unfortunately there are few warning signs to prevent you from applying to these jobs in the first place. You can check the client's hiring history and only apply if they've hired several times before and have good reviews, but then you'll miss out on potentially working for some good new clients. But yes, there are legitimate jobs here. I've done 343 of them, and have never been scammed. 

 

fizyks
Community Member

I have also been doing work for 3 weeks that has paid about $700. There are real jobs here. The reality is just that there are a few bad apples anywhere.

2110fa96
Community Member

there are also chinese translate position as well. 

same run down.

I may have a similar problem with a spanish translating position as well. Went through a telegram interview with **edited for Community Guidelines**

Anyone else?

It takes some audacity to continue to use the same name in an online market place over several weeks.

Did **edited for Community Guidelines** post the job on upwork?

Text from the chat...

It does seem like Upwork is proactive about suspending these users.

Please stop using names and company names in your posts, as it's against the forum guidelines. Scammers use the names of real people and companies in order to appear legitimate, but I guarantee you that these are not their real names, so there's no point in warning other freelancers not to work with them. (The scammers will be back again tomorrow, using different names.)

Understood. Thank you for the information. My posts have now been edited to reflect those guidelines.

I had a same experience. It was my first upwork job and I was so happy and made it official sending me an employment letter. It was really well designed to trick people. I lost $2500 trusting them so much through the employment process. I reported everywhere(FTC, FBI, bank, warned the real people and company they have been using, reported to Telegram, tracking their email IP address) but it seems like nothing will stop those people and catch them. I feel so angry and sad..as it is so hard to be survived as a freelancer during these times. He is still on Telegram but I can't do anything about it. I talked with another person who is chinese trnaslator and she said the same story. They are still here and take off thier job offer once they find people so they can't be seen. 

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Yurina,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Could you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about your report. I'll be sure to escalate it accordingly.

 

Thank you.

~ Bojan
Upwork

Hi Nate, 


Kindly refer to my reply to your other thread here.


~ Avery
Upwork

Hi i think i am being scammed i have not been asked for social security or bank account info but i did seem to be following in the pattern of some posts i read. I made a proposal on a job titled Remote Translator someone named **Edited for community guidelines**asked me to Interview via Telegram on 10/2 then sent .e the attached letter of employment on 10/5/20. I have not been asked for nor provided my social security number or bank account information yet. They emailed me from**Edited for community guidelines**

Don't respond and block them.  Immediately!  Next thing they want is to send you a "check".  It's a fake.  Run the other way, fast.  They use legitimate company names as a cover for their scam.  They'll send you...say, a $1000 check to deposit.  After you do that, they want you to buy equipment that they should pay for directly.  When the check is found to be bad, you're going to owe the back that money.  But they're going to get their money and run.  Because the company you "bought" the equipment from is them.

 

Icis, all communication between you and a potential client must be on Upwork, not telegram or anything else.  Only on Upwork.  You can chat or video chat on Upwork.  This is true until  you receive an offer from the client through Upwork and you accept it through Upwork.  After that, you can communicate however you wish.

 

Communicating off the platform is a violation of the Terms of Service and can get you in serious trouble.

Hi Icis Aynne,

 

Please send me a PM by clicking on my name, and kindly share more information so I can look into this for you. Thanks!

~ Joanne
Upwork

It should be noted that that interviewing with a prospective client off upwork violates TOS.

That should serve as enough of a red flag to walk away.

There is as fact as well!

Of course they are not ALL scam posts, but there sure are a lot of them, aren't there?  All we freelancers can do is to keep flagging them and do the best we can in ID-ing them before we apply, which is becoming increasingly hard to do, just because of the sheer number of them. I agree that doing this is very time consuming. I'm sure UW will continue to do whatever they can on their end to try to decrease the number of scams that appear and that we have to wade through.

sparkesusan
Community Member

And they're still there!  Only now the name is**Edited for community guidelines**.  I'm like, yeah, I'll throw out a bid and got a reply.  I have to note here that the payment method was "not verified".  So after I received the reply, I ask them to place payment in escrow for verification.  Poof!  They were gone!  No job, no messages.  Imagine that!  Here are the clues.  Refusal to verify payment (I don't usually go for those jobs that aren't), and the instructions that they attached from XXXXX (sure the company name isn't allowed here) was purely awful!  LOL It sort of is laughable the mistakes that were made!  Capital letters, spacing errors, grammar was way off, and they seemed to use the words "a lot" quite often.  And yes, they wanted me to download "Telegram".  Um, how does NOT sound to you?  I refuse to download a link like that.  Just thought everyone should know.

Hi Susan,

 

I'd like to check this for you. Please share more information about this via PM by clicking on my name so I can check this with the team. Thank you. 

~ Joanne
Upwork

Hi. The person who messaged me on Up work used the name**Edited for community guidelines**. After I asked her to place the payment funds in escrow, the messages and the job were immediately gone. They were using the company name of**Edited for community guidelines** They have the name of**Edited for community guidelines**as hiring manager. His Telegram ID was**Edited for community guidelines**

Thank you for the additional information, Susan. Could you also share a screenshot so I can include it in my report? Please send it via PM by clicking on my name. 

~ Joanne
Upwork


Susan S wrote:

And they're still there! .


Susan, there isn't just one set of those people, the Internet is crawling with them, thousands upon thousands of them, all (obviously) using fake names and fake company names, or rather the names of real companies that have nothing to do with the scam.

 

They specifically target new US-based freelancers.

Yes, this is the second one for me. I always keep the paperwork I print off. It's amazing that people will take a "check" from them! I call that money laundering or trying to get my bank account . I like to show people what to look for with this stuff.


Susan S wrote:
I call that money laundering or trying to get my bank account .

It has nothing to do with money laundering. Money laundering requires money to be there in the first place, which isn't the case here because (obviously) the check is fake. They also have no interest in your bank account. They want people to deposit the fake check into their account and then think the funds have cleared and send (real) money back to the scammer in form of "buying your home office / needed softeware / whatever from our trusted supplier"

 

It's one of the oldest, dumbest scams on the net.

 


Susan S wrote:
I like to show people what to look for with this stuff.

Unfortunately, the kind of person who falls for nonsense like this won't see it until it's too late.

 

Unfortunately, yes.  Sent my print off to you.  Sorry for the chicken scratch on it!

c63040ae
Community Member

Dustin, i am trying to get ahold of you, i think im being scammed and would like your advice on the situation. Im brand new to upwork, and something felt so fishy to me and your post seems similar to what im going through, is there a way i can chat you ? email you? or even a way to talk on the phone so i can show you whats going on?  let me know!

 

Madeleine Haddad

if you see this, email me at **Edited for community guidelines**

thank you so much!


Madeleine H wrote:

Dustin, i am trying to get ahold of you, i think im being scammed and would like your advice on the situation. Im brand new to upwork, and something felt so fishy to me and your post seems similar to what im going through, is there a way i can chat you ? email you? or even a way to talk on the phone so i can show you whats going on?  let me know!

 

Madeleine Haddad

if you see this, email me at **Edited for community guidelines**

thank you so much!


Madeleine, you can't ask people in the forum to send you private emails or talk to you on the phone. You don't need to show another freelancer "what is going on". That is very intrusive, don't do that. At the very least, check the date. You replied to a post that is almost two years old. 

You really need to educate yourself before you do absolutely anything else. Start with your profile. I have no idea what you are selling. Ask yourself: is your profile title what a potential client will put into the search function to find you? 

Experienced freelancers with a great profile and portfolio who present professionally are not targeted by scammers. Your profile is a scammer magnet. 

fizyks
Community Member

The best way to find a suitable opportunity from a real person is to look for "payment verified" and jobs that have paid money previously. If a contact has not paid out any money and looks or sounds suspicious, walk away. 

I only propose my services to individuals who are verified.

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Madeleine,

 

Could you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about your report? I'll be sure to check it and advise you accordingly. 

 

Thank you.

~ Bojan
Upwork
colettelewis
Community Member

 I wish  - REALLY WISH -  that Upwork would return the forums to some sort of logical chronological order, particularly when old threads are bumped.  This particular thread is nonsensical.  And it doesn't help much to click "previous threads" or "sort by".  One is not given any option on the latter in any case.

 

It's bad enough to get confused freelancers who have not even read the basics about the site, without their finally drowning in a muddled mess of old and new posts in the forums. 

 

 

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