Upwork generates fake jobs to scam freelancers for money?

[spectralua]

I'm already tired of it, the situation has crossed all boundaries.

Fake jobs to scam freelancers for connects (money). This happens all the time. I want to show with an example:

12 hours ago the client creates a job. I spend time and $ for application. 20 other freelancer also boosted and applied. Nothing happening with job, client never checkig it.

After 12 hrs same client creating same job again.

Fake works are generated time after time, this is not a single sample. Does the job violate ToS? I want the fake to be deleted and the connects returned. But the Upwork ignores my complaint each time and leaves the work active.

I conclude that the fake works are generated by the Upwork itself. The goal is to waste connects and get fake "active jobs" counter and show site look like alive. In reality there is no client or job. Otherwise action would have been taken. This is true?

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[marjan22]

Fake jobs, spam jobs, freelancer ads,hacking jobs any type of job is welcome if freelancers are applying to it and spending expensive connects. 
Ive been finding them all over the place 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[yofazza]

I have this guy and his friends, some not new, from US, some have spent over 10k, posting the same job over and over again. No hires.

But being a positive person 🤣, I feel they're from the same 'group' of people/work, "rotating" it to look for potential candidates. One little excess of Upwork's 'gate opening' policy. 

Or maybe I'm wrong and they are Upworkers milking freelancers' connects. 😁

The job is vague, only tell it's about "node.js" and will require a "sample result on video before hire". It's theoritically safe for a programming job, it's also another reason to think that they're just some 'worried clients', but I still flagged some of them for 'requesting free work', 'repeated post', and as far as I remember no action is ever taken.

I really wanted to submit a proposal to see what's the job about, but the connects now are too precious. I am a hyper-targeter with still so little views. 😁

[PradeepH]

Hi Mykola and Marjan

I am sorry to hear about your experience and how you feel about Upwork. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the fake jobs on Upwork. We are committed to maintaining a high standard of quality and security for our job platform. We use a combination of automated tools, manual reviews, and user feedback to identify and flag suspicious posts. Our team of moderators also reviews and removes any posts that violate our terms of service. Connects are refunded to all freelancers who applied to jobs that were removed for TOS violation.

I have reviewed all the job posts on this thread that were reported as inappropriate and I can verify that they were removed except for one post which has been escalated to the team for further action. I would like to thank you for your hard work in maintaining the standards, security, and excellence of the Upwork Marketplace. We are always here to help you if you have any questions or concerns.

- Pradeep

[pgregory_indigo]

You, and the other moderators, trot out this standard response every time this subject comes up, which is ridiculously often. Has it not become obvious yet that your claims are not aligned with the perception we have on the platform, and anyone with any sort of PR background would know that perception is everything? Many of us report multiple job posts per day, to no effect, and certainly no improvement in any automatic or manual system that is supposed to reduce the number of similar job postings. Is it any wonder nobody here has any faith whatsoever in yours or UpWorks claims that they are taking all these steps to reduce the number of fake/scam jobs?

Perhaps if you were to show some empirical evidence, illustrating the number of fake jobs that enter the system and how many get automatically removed before we see them, then we might have some reason to believe your claims. As things stand, it's nothing but lip service I'm afraid, lip service that does not correlate to our perceived reality.

[laitash]

>  Our team of moderators also reviews and removes any posts that violate our terms of service

Seriously? I was contacted by someone asking for my email and a crypto address, flagged it immediately and it still been hanging there for another week before it was removed. I wonder how many desperate newbies they scammed during that week.

[0149fac5]

It seems like people realize that there are fake accounts, but has nobody else realized that these fake accounts are beneficial to Upwork's business model? What is stopping upwork from creating bogus jobs in order to gather up connects? Their current policy does not refund spent connects on jobs that expire. This is a major red flag in their business model because it opens the door for them to create an artificial demand for their connects by using dummy accounts with fake job opportunities. Upwork could be creating fake accounts to post fake jobs, freelancers would then spend their connects sending proposals to the fake jobs, the fake jobs just sit until they expire, then Upwork keeps the connects and freelancers have to purchase more of them. Does this not seem crazy to anyone else? How does upwork prove they are not doing this? 

[debi-f]

Upwork has changed in the last 1–2 years. There are fewer invitations and fewer jobs, a lot of new freelancers, more connects required to apply, a lot of SCAMMERS, and even when you flag them, Upwork is not helping.

It seems that Upwork is doing its business selling connects, that's why there are jobs that require 16 connects, and they allow people to boost their bids with 50 connects or more, and they keep the scam jobs until people post their bids…using connects, of course.

Maybe if Upwork will not earn extra-money from us, they will decide to control the platform and check the clients before they post jobs. And they should also filter many new freelancers. 

[amlasikandar]

I'm on the same page with you. Recently, I re-engaged with Upwork after a hiatus of a couple of years. However, I've encountered a perplexing situation—I've applied to several jobs but haven't received a single response. This is quite different from my previous experience, where I achieved significant success by investing time in crafting effective applications. I'm starting to get the sense that many of the job listings might not be genuine. It seems like Upwork is emphasizing profit through connects, and if they believe they can continue with this approach without consequences, they might be in for a surprise.

[lisaannburke]

Thank you for this post. I am experiencing the exact same thing. No response to my propsoals and I know how to prepare effective proposals or I wouldn't have the earnings history I do Historially,  I applied and heard back within hours (sometimes minutes). At this point, I have submtted 14 proprosals and only 1 was viewed. 

[0149fac5]

I see your point. All of what you said still points to Upwork doing the scams on purpose. It benefits their business model. Im still wondering how they could prove they are not doing this.

[yofazza]

On the other hand, if it can be proven that Upwork is doing it intentionally, the management will all go to jail 😁

But I'm afraid the accused aren't supposed to be the ones to prove it.

[the-right-writer]

If there were such actions, management always throws the "lesser" people under the bus.

[c_pinney]

I was chatting with someone about this the other day. I'm sure if you do a deep dive into the jobs posted on the platform one could find evidence to prove your theory. You would also need a whistleblower from within the company to come forward. My theory is that there are freelancers who create client accounts and post jobs that require a lot of connects to apply with hopes of draining money from other freelancers. All in all there are a series of scams currently taking place on the platform however Upwork is earning more money from these scams so why would they put an end to it. 

[celgins]

How does upwork prove they are not doing this?

They don't have to prove anything. If any freelancer wants to pursue an investigatory effort, they are welcome to, and I'm sure other freelancers will support them and cheer them on.

It's easy to create a client account and post jobs--real or fake. The question becomes, can it be proven that someone (anyone) employed or contracted by Upwork is purposefully creating fake, bogus, and scam jobs for the sole purpose of extracting money from freelancers?

[the-right-writer]

I still don't see how they are making money off of the obvious scams, but they aren't trying to stop them in even the cheapest, simplest, way.

[celgins]

I still don't see how they are making money off of the obvious scams...

I don't either because you and I both know that once a freelancer engages a scammer, and jumps over to Telegram or any other off-site spot, Upwork isn't making money.

Going forward, I guess I should choose my words more carefully and make a distinction between "scam" jobs and "fake" jobs. A fake job might sound perfectly legit, but have no true intent. In this case, freelancers could use Connects to apply to a job that never hires. The job expires and freelancers don't get their Connects returned.

The problem is, Upwork cannot prove intent when a client creates a job. They have no idea if the client has a specific need and is serious about hiring or just "testing the waters."

Either way, someone would have to prove that Upwork, itself, is intentionally creating fake jobs or is directing others to create fake jobs for the purpose of collecting Connects fees from freelancers.

[mcgooligan]

You are missing the point here. We are saying that upwork is creating the fake jobs to get conects - or rather, money. Scam jobs are entirely different and that's not what's being discussed here.

[bobafett999]

Who knows?  Upwork makes more money via these fake jobs than if those jobs were real and were awarded( few years back someone had analyzed their Financials and concluded that average jobs on upwork were less than $300).  Now with expensive jobs and boosting they must make more than $30 per posting.  So now tell me what incentive do they have to police the posting, take them down and refund the connects?

No one can prove if they themselves are generating fake jobs or not.  However, on thing is clear they do encourage them and do nothing about it.  

[the-right-writer]

I understand why you feel the way you do. This is directly Upwork's fault.

I am not ready to say Upwork creates fake jobs, because I don't see the evidence. What I do see, is that freelancers and even clients have reason to feel that way, because Upwork is not taking action on even obvious scams. 8 out of 50 jobs this morning had phone numbers or email contact. Upwork, despite their protestations, is not taking action against the scammers. They refuse to put a basic filter in the feed, like the one they use in the forum. They refuse to remove the simplest of scams. It is their fault that people believe Upwork is actively working to scam freelancers.

If Upwork used the filters they have, or even allow us to use a basic Boolean, but no, they absolutely, positively, refuse, and fight to keep them here. There is no other conclusion than they want the scams here. I don't understand why, the money and clients are gone or are leaving.

If Upwork doesn't like the Internet talking about the platform being full of scammers on both sides, they could put a basic filter in the job feeds. They refuse, and will offer the canned, "we are doing everything..."

So, yes, it is Upwork's fault that people think they are an active participant in scams for bilking the freelancers. If they made any effort to stop the scams, I would say your post is absurd.

[bobafett999]

Yup if they were transparent create a  dashboard that shows how many fake jobs were removed for a week and how many connects were refunded.

Instead they have their standard mumbo-jumbo that they have algorithms in place, teams in place and blah blah blah

[tlsanders]

Why on earth would they advertise that there are huge numbers of fake jobs being posted, even if the numbers they are posting were the ones caught? Who but a scammer would ever consider using the platform after seeing that?

[fred-derf]

Here is another thing I find with many of the repeater jobs. There will be a high number of invitations, usually with just a few responses.

Looking at this logically - No serious freelancer-seeker is going to sift through 20-30-40 replies, their profiles and video samples in effort to hire someone for a 12/hr. job.

A commonality in these is the job history.  One recent example showed a 6% hire rate; two hires, each for $20.

Upwork needs to start charging a fee to post job proposals. In the real world businesses do paid adverts to solicit applicants.

We freelancers are footing the bill for the epidemic of scam postings!

[tlsanders]

Better just to close their doors now than throw up an obstacle that would drive off a signicant portion of the few remaining decent clients adn die a slow death.

[spectralua]

Job post **Edited for Community Guidelines**

10 freelancers applied and boosted. After 2 hours created the same, 1:1:

Job post **Edited for Community Guidelines**

Upwork, how long it will take? Why reports ignored?

And more important question: why you didn't do your job and i must post each violation here? Whole team fired, sick or drunk?

[spectralua]

And another one **Edited for Community Guidelines**

[spectralua]

Day more passed. Noone will remove 2 from 3 doubles. 

Noone hired. Noone read proposals. Connects wasting trap.

Now i can say for sure that upwork scamming freelancers with fake job posts.

[feed_my_eyes]

---

Mykola A wrote:

Now i can say for sure that upwork scamming freelancers with fake job posts.

---

This client has hired over 500 freelancers and spent $118K on Upwork; they're also located in Costa Rica. So how can you "say for sure" that this is a fake job posted by Upwork? What actual evidence do you have? (Admittedly, their customer service is crappy and slow to respond, but that's not proof.) And if you truly believe that Upwork is a fraudulent company who's trying to steal your money - which you've been claiming for months - then why are you still here? 

[spectralua]

Upwork can generate any "client". With 10 hired, 100 or 1000. In Costa Rica as well. Or use abandoned account. It is make account real? This just a record in database required less than second to generate. Upwork never share details to verify is client real.

I have no evidence a while. I have facts:

1. "Client" violated rules.

2. I reported rules violation.

3. Job post at place, connects not refunded. Other freelancers keep wasting money there.

4. "Client" have 50+ applicants for urgent job and hired noone and won't check proposals. Will you read proposals if you posted many copies to hired someone? Yes, if you aren't bot who have other goals.

Conclusions?

This is just one of many examples i have.

I have written about my reasons for being here more than once. Look it up if you're interested.

[ai_specialist]

Exactly, they can simply change their database entry to show that a client has hundreds of hires and millions of dollars spent. ( Which they will obviously do, if the want to scam freelancers for spending conects on fake jobs. They will not post fron an account with 0 hires and payment method unverified).

[yofazza]

The client has 500+ previous jobs.

I posted a similar 'report' above, where it looked like one "result" of what Upwork is currently doing. Clients are "encouraged" to get "creative" to find the right freelancer. Some clients are now "rotating it themselves" until they find someone "promising".

Based on what some clients have reported in the forums, I'm quite certain that posting such job will attract hundreds of "Dear Sir, I understand you're looking for someone to renew certificates, I have 5+ years experience..."  proposals.

So, the client see AI or boring copypasta in the first two lines, and they repost without opening any of the proposals. Maybe there are one or two good proposals, but they are buried by the notorious sorting algo so even the two lines etc. are out of the client's view.

The job is is actually simple and the offered rate is normal where it should be done in around an hour, or less for someone who's experienced with GoDaddy system. The client said it's a rush task as well, so even the $75/hr is normal. But somehow, I feel like I'm not interested in 'competing' there. The connects are too precious to gamble in the mess.

[spectralua]

Yep, easy work for hour opened 2 days with 3 copies and noone able to complete this "urgent" work? Look like client dont know that his account posted copies.

I think upwork generate fakes from behalf of sleeping accounts. Them able to set any price and terms as noone will be hired at all.

In any case: i claimed fake job and asked for wasted connects refund. Fake still there, connects wasted. Thats why i think that upwork scammed me (and many others) but not client. If it was client then fake must be removed with rules violation and connects returned.

[yofazza]

😁

I don't know the truth, but I still believe it's not easy for Americans to do blatant scam like that. If they do, somebody there must have a "different opinion", leak it, and somebody will go to jail. Like Theranos, etc.

[spectralua]

I'm sure there will be a class action lawsuit soon. There are millions of complaints about upwork scams at communities. But the site may close earlier. As you can see, even the moderators have already been fired, no one has erased my links to vacancies.

I am also collecting all the evidence and will participate then.

[yofazza]

I can agree with job post links are no longer removed on all occasions. The mod group are running out of 'energy'. 😅

[spectralua]

Maybe chatgpt banned upwork or want money. Thats why all moderators stuck. 😁

[luce-neidert]

The scammers are not Americans. When you look at the time zone, you can see that they might be from an African country famous for scam farms.

Sometimes, they pretend to be from European countries, sometimes from the States or Canada, sometimes from Australia... Once in a while, they forget to use the VPN and say they are from the above mentioned country.

[yofazza]

Yes, I was responding to the post above it, about "Upwork is a Scam Company".

Let's say it's a lot easier and safer to establish a scamming company in my country than in the US. Our openness has improved significantly over the past decades, people has becoming less-afraid on voicing their concerns, but I'll say that the law enforcement still has plenty of rooms for improvement.

There's actually quite a few scam/fraud companies here, where some of them can get arrested, but some don't.

[luce-neidert]

To tell you the truth, I feel sorry for those who need to work in a scamming company, it really shows that there's something terribly wrong with their country.

Now, I can compare Upwork to another european freelance platform I know well. For a few months, I would get "invitations" to scam jobs. Suddenly, this stopped. One of my usual clients there told me he had sent a job offer, but it was taking a long time for it to be cleared. By a long time, I mean hours. Upwork could probably do the same if they meant to fight scammers.

[spectralua]

But i didnt say that "Upwork is a Scam Company", have no evidences a while. Working on it.

I say that the "duck test" passed. 🙂