Dec 10, 2019 09:12:59 AM Edited Dec 10, 2019 09:36:48 AM by Bojan S
I've been approached by 2 "clients" to go to Hangouts. I did with the first because...well they were my first reply. Then I started getting suspicious.
**Edited for community guidelines**
Pretty sure they're scammers as well.
Dec 10, 2019 09:21:24 AM by Louisa J
Chance it's a scammer: High
Note of advice: Do not ever take payment off of the Upwork platform. Your chat attached is a little revealing. It also has your address on. I'd delete that chat from your message if I was you. 🙂
Dec 10, 2019 09:38:55 AM by Petra R
Tina W wrote:I've been approached by 2 "clients" to go to Hangouts. I did with the first because...well they were my first reply. Then I started getting suspicious.
I've attached the conversation with that one.
It's the ancient super dumb fake check scam.
By agreeing to be paid off Upwork you violated Upwork's most important term of service.
Dec 10, 2019 09:53:11 AM by Tina W
Dec 10, 2019 09:45:34 AM by Bojan S
Thank you for flagging this to us, Tina. I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I've checked and jobs you're referring to have already been taken down because those were in violation of Upwork ToS and actions have been taken on the clients' accounts.
Please check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs and please use the flag option found on each job post or message anytime you’d like to report a violation.
Thank you!
Dec 10, 2019 12:21:03 PM by Nichola L
Preston H wrote:Google Hangouts invite = scam
__________________________
That is what we have all been saying - correctly.
But - just occasionally, Upwork's talent specialists see fit to use Google hangouts for a genuine job. They really should be dissuaded from doing this. I can't find the recent thread that addressed this.
Dec 11, 2019 06:28:05 PM by Terina M
Dec 11, 2019 07:00:32 PM by Avery O
I'm sorry to learn about your experience already, Terina.
If you haven't already, you have the option of reporting these jobs by flagging it as inappropriate so that it goes to the team's queue for their review. You may also send it to me through a private message so that I can look into it further.
Jan 22, 2021 06:26:06 PM by Terina M
Thank you, Avery, for replying, I didn't see this until now (2 years later, oops). I have, indeed, reported it to Upwork, and they got shut down pretty quickly. I think I might have been contacted either by them again, or it was a copycat, a few months later, and declined their invitation, as well as, having reported them. I'm glad we have Upwork looking out for us. I'm glad you're there, having my back.
Sincerely,
Terina
Dec 12, 2019 02:20:40 AM Edited Dec 12, 2019 02:23:09 AM by Preston H
re: "The problem is, they don't invite you from Google Hangouts, or these people who attempted with me didn't."
To clarify: When we refer to a "Google Hangouts invite"... this is a "shorthand" term that refers to when a freelancer receives an invite from out of the blue (they didn't send a proposal) to discuss a job. And after the freelances responds, the "client" quickly asks the freelancer to discuss the "job" using Google Hangouts.
The initial invite (invitation) comes through Upwork. This is followed by an invitation to "interview" using the Google Hangouts platform. But the interview is always a sham. It is a opportunity for the scammer to apply a script they use to trick the freelancer out of money in their bank account.
Jan 22, 2021 06:46:14 PM by Terina M
Hi, Preston,
It was an Invitation to Interview, through Upwork, and like all the other invitations, I answered it, gave my proposal, was contacted through the Upwork messenger, where she told me who the client was, and she needed my hangouts name so the hiring guy could give me more information (turned out THAT was the interview, there was no further information given). Seeing all those red flags come up was just exhausting for a really simple (so I thought) data entry job. I don't want to go through that again. Since then, I stay on Upwork messenger for communication with new clients. Lesson learned.
Sincerely,
Terina
Dec 10, 2019 03:16:42 PM by Sarah C
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