URGENT: Client has paid me Bonus BUT will I g...

kiranjadhav1 · ‎08-15-2021

LOOKING FOR URGENT ACTION ON THIS. THIS MIGHT BE A SCAM.

Hello,

My customer has paid me a bonus over hourly basis contract. I am seeing that amount in Pending payment section where upwork holds payment for 5 days. (It is not "In Review").

As I received this payment, I started his work and made upfront investment in this project from my side.

Now I am seriously worried about if I will receive that payment or not. Client is looking Phishy.

If this is loophole in Upwork and Scammers are using this for scam, then Upwork would be responsible for the money as they are showing it is paid but on security hold.

UPWORK SUPPORT TICKET #32417170

02d3e798 · ‎08-15-2021

You have one open job that says fixed price?

kiranjadhav1 · ‎08-15-2021

No it is hourly contract.

petra_r · ‎08-15-2021

Kiran J wrote:
No it is hourly contract.

It doesn't matter. Go to your Reports > Pending Page. Is there a date in the left hand column.

When was the bonus payment "made"

What was the "investment"??

02d3e798 · ‎08-15-2021

I would suggest then that assuming you haven't sent them money, do a small amount of work on the hourly timer and check the contract isn't suspended when Upwork try and collect the funds on Monday.

If your gut instinct is your not going to get paid then probably best to hold back on doing much work.

If you have sent them money then you've learned something from everyone else's comments.

wescowley · ‎08-15-2021

When was the bonus paid? It usually takes 24 hours or so for it to have a release date assigned to it. If it's been much longer than that, then Upwork probably hasn't been able to charge their card.

petra_r · ‎08-15-2021

Kiran J wrote:
As I received this payment, I started his work and made upfront investment in this project from my side.

Please tell me you didn't send any crypto or gift cards or money in some other way?

If you do to your Reports > Pending Page, can you see a date in the left hand column? When did the client pay the bonus?

Kiran J wrote:
If this is loophole in Upwork and Scammers are using this for scam,

It is not a loophole if freelancers use the site correctly and work contracts correctly, which basically means either hourly contracts or fixed rate contracts that have funded milestones. Bonuses are not mean as payment, and are in no way protected.

Kiran J wrote:
then Upwork would be responsible for the money as they are showing it is paid but on security hold.

No, they're not. You are.

martina_plaschka · ‎08-15-2021

Kiran J wrote:
LOOKING FOR URGENT ACTION ON THIS. THIS MIGHT BE A SCAM.

Hello,

My customer has paid me a bonus over hourly basis contract. I am seeing that amount in Pending payment section where upwork holds payment for 5 days. (It is not "In Review").
As I received this payment, I started his work and made upfront investment in this project from my side.

Now I am seriously worried about if I will receive that payment or not. Client is looking Phishy.
If this is loophole in Upwork and Scammers are using this for scam, then Upwork would be responsible for the money as they are showing it is paid but on security hold.
UPWORK SUPPORT TICKET #32417170

You made an upfront investment? That's rich. No need to further explain what you did, everybody knows you sent him crypto. Which is not allowed on upwork. Oh man.

Another problem might be that you represent as a group, not as a single freelancer on your profile.

kiranjadhav1 · ‎08-15-2021

No I didn't send any crypto. I have also taken his ackowledgement on the work in chat.

If Bonus is not part of Upwork policy, why the hell that option is given there?

If payment is not received by Upwork then they should show the status right?

Upwork doesn't have any option to take payment for servers/source code purchases etc. So bonus is the only option. Upwork has clearly shown that payment is made by customer.

I have taken customer's acknowledgement on the work and payment. Please check below screenshots.
**Edited for Community Guidelines**

martina_plaschka · ‎08-15-2021

Kiran J wrote:
No I didn't send any crypto. I have also taken his ackowledgement on the work in chat.
If Bonus is not part of Upwork policy, why the hell that option is given there?
If payment is not received by Upwork then they should show the status right?

Upwork doesn't have any option to take payment for servers/source code purchases etc. So bonus is the only option. Upwork has clearly shown that payment is made by customer.

I have taken customer's acknowledgement on the work and payment. Please check below screenshots.

Of course you bought crypto for him, for about 400-500 usd, while he sends you 950. You are not the first one to fall for this scam, but you could have avoided it if you had just read a few recent forum posts. Why did you both avoid the specifics of the task in your official upwork communication? Nothing fishy about that.

Bonus is the only option for what? You still pay the same fee on your bonus, on an hourly job, or on a fixed price jobs. It does absolutely not matter.

Bonus is just what the name implies: a very happy customer wants to show his appreciation. Like when you tip a waiter. It is by no means meant to be used for regular work assignments, because, as has been pointed out, it's not protected.

13c57936 · ‎02-25-2024

Then why the hell upwork charges escrow 10% fee on that. Upwork is pure **bleep** in that case

petra_r · ‎08-15-2021

Kiran J wrote:
No I didn't send any crypto. I have also taken his ackowledgement on the work in chat.

What DID you buy?

Kiran J wrote:
If Bonus is not part of Upwork policy, why the hell that option is given there?.

It's there for clients to basically give you a tip after the work was successfully done. Literally to pay a Bonus.

Kiran J wrote:
Upwork doesn't have any option to take payment for servers/source code purchases etc.

You're buying $950 worth of servers and source code? Why didn't the client buy that? And save the fees? That makes no sense. So let's rethink what you paid for, shall we?

Once again: WHEN did that "payment" happen? Today? It is quite normal for it to show as pending for 24 hours or so.

martina_plaschka · ‎08-15-2021

Petra R wrote:
Kiran J wrote:
No I didn't send any crypto. I have also taken his ackowledgement on the work in chat.
What DID you buy?

Kiran J wrote:
If Bonus is not part of Upwork policy, why the hell that option is given there?.
It's there for clients to basically give you a tip after the work was successfully done. Literally to pay a Bonus.

Kiran J wrote:
Upwork doesn't have any option to take payment for servers/source code purchases etc.
You're buying $950 worth of servers and source code? Why didn't the client buy that? And save the fees? That makes no sense. So let's rethink what you paid for, shall we?

Once again: WHEN did that "payment" happen? Today? It is quite normal for it to show as pending for 24 hours or so.

Since everything is so super legit, I'm wondering why he is panicking now? There should be no reason for that.

tlbp · ‎08-15-2021

First, if the payment still shows in your overview report, try not to panic and wait to see what happens. Bonuses sometimes take longer to process than other payments, in my experience.

Now, regarding everything else:
There is an option to reimburse freelancers for expenses. However, you still pay the commission on the reimbursement amount. So anytime the client can purchase something under their own name and then provide you with access, that is the better choice.

Regarding these reimbursement payments, bonuses or escrow, Upwork doesn't protect these payments. That's not what you are paying for. Your fee is a commission for access to Upwork's leads.

Upwork does offer Payment Protection in very limited circumstances for hourly contracts when each of the criteria for protection are met.

You cannot create a contractual obligation based on what you think the other party (Upwork) should do. Howling that Upwork should have protection or else doesn't make it so. Upwork invested time and money creating a TOS and user agreement that ensures that you are left holding the (empty) bag in most cases of scams. Choose your gigs accordingly.

LuiggiR · ‎08-15-2021

Hi Kiran,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. As it has been mentioned already in this thread, I'd like to reiterate that bonus payments are meant to be used by clients as a way to reward you for doing a great job and are not covered by payment protection. I've escalated your concern and someone from our support team already reached out to you via a support ticket with more information and to assist you further.

~ Luiggi

kiranjadhav1 · ‎08-15-2021

Hello @Luiggi,

I understand this payment is not protected.

My concern is:

We trust in Upwork as mediator. I confirmed that client has paid me a bonus and it is showing under Pending, which means client has paid me and money is with upwork/escrow whatever. And now client doesn't have any hold over it.

Client can hold money if it is in "In Review" tab.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

So why Upwork shown that money under Pending which assured that Client has been charged on his credit card.

petra_r · ‎08-15-2021

Kiran J wrote:
So why Upwork shown that money under Pending which assured that Client has been charged on his credit card.

No. It does not assure that. As long as it shows as "Pending" in the left hand collumn, rather than as a date, it means that the charge is pending and that the client's payment method has not yet been successfully charged.

Kiran J wrote:
Client can hold money if it is in "In Review" tab.
Please correct me if I am wrong.

You're wrong. "In review" is for charged for hours that were logged, or for milestones that were submitted but not yet released.

Kiran J wrote:
Hello @Luiggi,

I understand this payment is not protected.
My concern is:
I confirmed that client has paid me a bonus and it is showing under Pending, which means client has paid me and money is with upwork/escrow whatever. And now client doesn't have any hold over it.

It doesn't mean that until there is a date in the left hand column on your Reports > Pending page. While it says Pending there, the client has not been successfully charged yet.

What is your client saying? And seriously, what did you buy? Usually it's crypto or gift cards or similar at ridiculously inflated prices. Old scam.

sjulius09 · ‎08-18-2021

Patiently waiting to see what this gentleman bought for their client 🙂

martina_plaschka · ‎08-18-2021

Julius S wrote:
Patiently waiting to see what this gentleman bought for their client 🙂

He is not saying, but it's gotta be crypto - even mentioning the same amount others who have (almost or fully) fallen for this scam have reported. He will be lucky not to lose his profile. The relevant job on his profile has disappeared, meaning the client's payment method did not work and he will not get the payment.

URGENT: Client has paid me Bonus BUT will I get it for sure