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pphelps07
Community Member

Scams

I'm a bit concerned that when a potential scam is uncovered, none of the freelancers who have submitted a proposal with the offending "company" are notified of the possible scam. The kicker is, I am currently scheduled to have an additional "meeting" with a person via Hangouts later on today, and it is only by chance that I suspected something was amiss. Don't you think its a bit unethical to keep this information from freelancers? UpWork did in fact block the person who placed the listing. That was good. But to keep it a secret, and not even allowing people to list the scam company's name in this forum...well, like I said, seems a bit unethical.

6 REPLIES 6
robin_hyman
Community Member

The scam company's name keeps changing.  The players keep changing.  It's hard to track down the culprits BEFORE they commit a violation.  It's up to us freelancers to appropriately flag job posts and clients who are misusing the platform. 

Yes, you are correct! Good answer.
petra_r
Community Member


Patrick P wrote:

 But to keep it a secret, and not even allowing people to list the scam company's name in this forum...well, like I said, seems a bit unethical.


It's not kept "secret" and you don't KNOW the scammer's company name. You don't really think they use real names?

 

Think about it logically: Say your name is Fred Smithers and you are the CEO of Smithers Inc in Texas. You see people on an Upwork post calling you a scammer because someone used your name and your company name to pull a scam. How do you feel and whom will your lawyers go after for damages? (In case you're wondering: It's Upwork.)

 

The good old fake check scam is old as the hills and just as dumb. Of course nobody would send a freelancer a REAL check for "stuff" and accepting such payment would be a violation of Upwork's terms of service so people who use their common sense and stick to the terms can't be caught out.

 

Others learn the hard way.

The company itself isn’t the scammer. But if “Company A” is the platform they are using, even as a company owner of said company, I would want people to know that they should be aware of the scam.
Like another respondent said, these companies are probably getting really tired of having to explain the truth...which would not be necessary if the freelancers knew NOT to respond to them in the first place.
prestonhunter
Community Member

re: "I'm a bit concerned that when a potential scam is uncovered, none of the freelancers who have submitted a proposal with the offending 'company' are notified of the possible scam."

 

If a scam job is reported to Upwork and they investigate it and remove the job posting, then the connects that freelancers used are automatically refunded to them. Typically a notification is sent to freelancers that the job has been closed.

 

re: "The kicker is, I am currently scheduled to have an additional 'meeting' with a person via Hangouts later on today, and it is only by chance that I suspected something was amiss. Don't you think its a bit unethical to keep this information from freelancers?"

 

I think Upwork freelancers would benefit from as much information as can be provided. I can see your point - how things could be made better with additional notifications sent to freelancers. But the system is the way it is. The truth of the matter this is primarily something that has an impact on newbies. Once you are experienced, scammers don't target you and you recognize scams immediately.

 

I doubt Upwork will be willing to send freelancers detailed notes accusing specific individuals of being criminals or scammers. Would you want to take the heat for something like that?

 

re: "But to keep it a secret, and not even allowing people to list the scam company's name in this forum...well, like I said, seems a bit unethical."

 

No, that is not unethical.

 

The names of "scam companies" are irrelevent. It is the behavior that matters.

 

The names that these scammers use aren't even their own names. They are just copying names off the Internet. It would not do anybody any good to name "Acme Co." as a scammer company. "Acme Co." is a real company. They're not the scammers. Upwork doesn't even know the scammers' real names. Think about it: What if somebody found your name and photo on the Internet, and used your name to conduct a scam? It would not benfit you or anybody else if Upwork posted a "scammer list" with your name on it, or if Upwork sent somebody a message identifying a scammer in association with your name.

It wouldn't be such a bad idea for Upwork to send out an email saying, "Project such-and-such has been closed due to a violation of our ToS. Please do not work on this project or communicate further with this client." And then maybe include a link to the "how to protect yourself" information on Upwork. I'm sure that it would save them from a lot of customer service headaches further down the line, and stop freelancers from trying to contact the unfortunate people/company that the scammers were impersonating.

 


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