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joansands
Community Member

Unable to Download a File

Today I have been unable to download a file from a client. She has sent me many files in the past and there was never a problem. Now I keep getting a message from Upwork that the file is unsafe. I contacted Customer Service but have not heard back from them. Has anyone else had this problem?

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prestonhunter
Community Member

re: "Has anyone else had this problem?"

Yes.

MANY freelancers have had these problems.

But I don't have problems like that.

 

Joan:

I suggest that you don't worry about this.

And don't contact Upwork Customer Support.

 

Do what I do: Take control and make things easier for yourself.

 

I use OTHER methods for file transfers.


This makes my life easier, and it makes me look smarter and more professional in the eyes of clients.

 

FTP, Dropbox, Google Drive, email, Skype, USB Flash Drive, WeTransfer, and dozens of other file transfer methods will meet your needs without blocking files, damaging files, or requiring that you work with customer service representatives in order to accomplish what you COULD do with a few mouse clicks.

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13 REPLIES 13
prestonhunter
Community Member

re: "Has anyone else had this problem?"

Yes.

MANY freelancers have had these problems.

But I don't have problems like that.

 

Joan:

I suggest that you don't worry about this.

And don't contact Upwork Customer Support.

 

Do what I do: Take control and make things easier for yourself.

 

I use OTHER methods for file transfers.


This makes my life easier, and it makes me look smarter and more professional in the eyes of clients.

 

FTP, Dropbox, Google Drive, email, Skype, USB Flash Drive, WeTransfer, and dozens of other file transfer methods will meet your needs without blocking files, damaging files, or requiring that you work with customer service representatives in order to accomplish what you COULD do with a few mouse clicks.

Thanks, Preston. This file problem never happened to me before. The client sent the file by email and I got that with no problem. Also, I use Avast & the file has passed them OK. I am glad to know that other people have had this file problem and I hope Upwork will get their act together.

gilbert-phyllis
Community Member

re: "I hope Upwork will get their act together."

 

For the sake of other users, I suppose this would be good.

 

Personally, I will probably never know from firsthand experience whether Upwork improves the situation. I stopped relying on Upwork for file transfers a long time ago.

FYI, Preston - I just edited the file the client sent me by email and sent the edited file back to her on Upwork with no problem. So, it is a mystery as to why Upwork thought the original file was not safe. Very peculiar.

re: "I just edited the file the client sent me by email and sent the edited file back to her on Upwork with no problem."

 

Just keep in mind that Upwork changes files silently.

This means that their file transmission process may change files without notifying freelancers and clients.

 

For example, if you send a Word file which has the "track changes" feature turned on, then Upwork's security scans may remove the changes or edits that you made to a file. This can cause problems between freelancers and clients when clients receive files that appear identical to the files they provided to freelancers. The clients don't realize that the freelancer really DID edit the file, but Upwork REMOVED the edits in the file that was sent to the client.

 

re: "So, it is a mystery as to why Upwork thought the original file was not safe."

 

Upwork uses third-party services and software - which they did not themselves develop - for scanning and altering files. They do this for security purposes, because they don't want to transmit files which contain malware.

 

The downside of these security precautions is that Upwork may block the transmission of files, or alter/damage files which contain password protection or other elements that interfere with their scans.

 

I agree that the reason why YOUR particular files were having problems with Upwork's security filters is a mystery.

 

Upwork's own staff would probably not be able to tell you WHY any given file was being blocked.

 

All they can do is to bypass Upwork's security scans and help transmit files directly, without the scans.

 

Which is nice of them to offer.

 

But if you use your own email/Dropbox/FTP/etc., then you don't need to wait for other people to help you.

 

If you don't know where files are coming from, having Upwork run security scans on them can be an invaluable service.

 

But if you know the client, and trust the client... and if the client knows and trusts you... and you know you aren't sending each other viruses or other dangerous hidden malware in your files... then you don't need Upwork's added layer of security.

Well, Preston, as I said, I uploaded the two files for my client for her on Upwork - with no problem - but then it turned out that she could not download my edited files and I had to email them to her. Now I am worried about my files for editing because of course I use edit tracking. It is not good if a client does not get an edit tracking file. Sometimes after I upload a file to a client, I then send it back to myself just to see if everything transferred. This is very annoying. I don't need Upwork to be checking on the security of a file for me because I have my own security system that I trust.

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Joan, 


I'm sorry to learn that this has inconvenienced you. Please know that all attachments and links transferred on Upwork are being scanned for potentially malicious content. We have taken this action because of reports that unknown file shares were being used for malicious activity. We currently support Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, and OneDrive. In the future, you can contact Customer Support to send and receive files from an unsupported file share.

 

Just the same, I'll share your sentiments with the team. 


~ Avery
Upwork
joansands
Community Member

Avery, are you kidding? If I try to send and receive files with Customer Support, it would take many, many hours and my clients would not put up with that. I would lose my clients. When I contacted Customer Support yesterday, it was several hours before I received a reply - and that reply requested all kinds of information about the files before they could do anything. So, then there would have been more hours involved. This is completely unacceptable. I have a good security system and I don't need Upwork interfering with my files. There was nothing malicious in my files yesterday according to my Avast security system - so why did Upwork tell me and my client that the files were unsafe? 

Hi Joan,

 

I'm sorry about the delay and frustration the blocked file created. I checked your support ticket and while our team responded within the standard time frame (and honestly faster than the general standard all companies strive to achieve), I do agree that we should provide even prompter support in cases like this and apologize for the delay in accessing the file. I do see that you've already resolved the case and would just like to add that in case this happens again, feel free to include the information about the client, related massage room and file in question in the support request, so our team to process the request faster. Feel free to also reach out to us in the Community or send a private message to one of the moderators directly, and we'll make sure to help with making the file available asap.

 

The process is in place to ensure the safety of our users. If the file appears to be malicious, it blocks the transfer and downloading by the recipient. I understand you're already using at least one security systems on your computer but in the interest of our users, we do take additional steps to prevent malicious activity and maintain the safety and security of our platform and users.

~ Vladimir
Upwork

Vladimir - Thank you for your reply. When I first contacted Customer Support I did give the client name. I was then several hours later asked for several other kinds of information about the file. I had already sent the file by email. I cannot afford to spend many hours attempting to either download or send a file to a client. And, when my security system found nothing wrong with the files, why did Upwork say the files were not safe?  In addition, I want some kind of security from Upwork that you are not going to strip my edit trackings from my files.

Hi Joan,

 

In addition to the information shared by Vladimir, Avery and in the support ticket, you can find answers to questions about why files may be scanned, blocked or modified on this page as well as other information about ways Upwork protects its users from potentially malicious content.

~ Valeria
Upwork

I am aware of all that information, Valeria, but I am not happy about Upwork interfering with my files.

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