Suspended Account & Upwork

[c953821f]

Dear community,

I will tell you about 3 incidents that happened to me. This will be both to inform you and to reflect my anger. I had never heard of some verified fraudulent customers.

When it happened to me, I thought I was working with a good client. Confirming everything, the work was flowing incredibly fast. And he never negotiated a price with me. Although I found this situation strange, I wasn't worried; it was a verified account. And when the next day came, the e-mail went that the contract was suspended. I was worried, I wasn't sure if I would get my money. When I wrote to the support page they told me not to worry. They told me that my working hours are in the wage protection program and would be credited to my account after a certain period. And I got my money in exchange for some hours dropping. (You can see picture Case 1. jpg)

I went through the same processes again. And I noticed similar features between the two accounts. Both were previously unrated accounts from the Arab Emirates. They worked hourly and were of the same concept. I have forwarded these to the Upwork support team as feedback. I could not transmit. Ultimately, I want to make this community better. (You can see picture Case 2. jpg)

On the 3rd occasion, it happened to me two days ago. When we agreed on the contract in a very short time, I decided to examine the account. I did not start work during that time. Some commonalities caught my eye again.

There was no negotiation on the job fee.

It was a new account that was verified but not yet rated.
The job requested was different from the others but without details.
And the job was an hourly price job.

Before starting work, I requested that the customer be investigated which I suspect. Then the account was suspended. All my anger starts from here. While I am trying my best to share information and wait for him to solve the problem. I'm just pasting what the Upwork support team wrote here. (You can see picture Case 3/1-2.jpg)

‘’ This does not affect your Upwork account or other active contracts. However, if we see future work between you and any client that involves violations of our Terms of Service, your Upwork account may be suspended.’’
 
I'm really angry with this support team threatening to suspend my account.

How do I know that I will never encounter these accounts again? Maybe next time they'll come up with a different method.

I want you to discuss this issue with me.

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[williamtcooper]

Yilmaz,

Please click Upwork's Terms of Service and the Academy link on the top of this page on how to use the site.

Also if something walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. Avoid those types of situations going forward. Have a great day!

[c953821f]

It's not about looking like a duck. It is your attitude towards someone who has informed you of the situation in good faith.

You say that when you went to the police you thought he was a thief. An unreasonable situation arises if the police arrest you instead. I`m talking about this. I find it ridiculous that Upwork is threatening me in case it happens again, instead of solving this problem.

[williamtcooper]

Yilmaz,

I am not Upwork, but a freelancer just like you and have used the site for a long time and am passing on some wisdom if you are going to be here for the longterm.

And yes if you break the Terms of Service of the site that is how Upwork may respond.

Follow the Terms of Service and these problems will be avoided. 😁

[c953821f]

Anyway. I know it's not your Upwork. 😄 I'm a little pissed off and sorry for the serious answer. 🙂

What I mean is basically this. Any violations and illegal acts of a verified customer that I come across must be Upwork's responsibility.

I am a designer. I am not an agent or judge to identify criminals. I'm here because I believe reliable customers are here. But I'm learning by experience that I need to be more careful.

[williamtcooper]

After being on this site for five years and working many times with Support, this is what I have seen:

Nice agent

Rude agent

Informative agent

Clueless agent

As long as I don't get a clueless rude agent, then there is something to work with.

It's just like anywhere people are people.

I would do your best to comply and move on from being irriated because it's a waste of your time. Go for a jog. 😁

[spectralua]

Yilmaz Erman, i have similar issue with scammers. I won't was warned about blocking a while. Upwork just desided to not pay within own fake protection. So loosing money and time.

Im also asked support about possible scammer and received answer that all good there, i can work. 

William, i not agree. It is legal cliens. It is allowed to pos job. It is verified. Why freelancer should ignore it? I have some works done for newbie clients. Some was without verified payment before job taken. Them added payment, received job, paid. I see no reasons to descriminate clients.

[c953821f]

Yes, Mykola we are talking about exactly the same thing.

I find it ridiculous that he puts this responsibility on employees.
It should be Upwork's job to catch scammers, not mine.

And that's why I shouldn't be threatened with my account suspension.

[ArjayM · Accepted solution]

Hi Yilmaz Erman,

Thank you for reaching out and I'm sorry to learn about this disappointing experience you had with a client. Firstly, we may suspend accounts that violate our Terms of Service and may be suspended due to a single violation or repeated violations.

We totally understand your concern about getting an unfair suspension. However, If you believe we made a mistake suspending your account, we hope you’ll reach out. The fastest way is to respond to the email we sent you (about the suspension). You may want to check this help article for more details about the Account Suspension Appeal process.

You can learn more about Trust & Safety actions here. You can also read about our most important policies to learn which account activities and behaviors are off-limits. 

You may also want to check this help article and this thread for more information on how to stay safe on Upwork.