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**

[24c0cb74]

of course upwork is a scam now, charging freelancers (who come here for earning money) for applying, tell us to buy connects to apply (that not always be hired), and then after we get the $ , it cuts 10% . when withdrawal, it cuts again for some percent. while the scam job poster is can post by free.

i see the reason why upwork using "connects" so we are "looks like serious" , man we here for earning money , not to be looks like serious by paying you all money we have.
why dont you charge the job poster higher so they cannot spamming / scamming

[spectralua]

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Another "job" example. Some funny guy created an application where he asks to hack the upwork server and give him a lot of connects. He thinks it's fun. Ok.

I'm not having fun because:

The work was illegal to begin with and should not have been allowed.

No one will be hired because it's a joke.

Payment verified, client verified.

Job taking position in Feed, like other fakes flooded there as well.

Upwork wants 16 connects for this fake illegal job and enjoyning with.

Upwork, what are you doing? Your 9 out of 10 works are fake. This has crossed all boundaries! What services am I paying you money for?!

[LuiggiR]

Hi Mykola,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience, and I understand it can be frustrating having to come across this. I tried searching for the job you shared on the screenshot but couldn't find it. Can you send me a private message with the link to the job post in question? I'll have it escalated for review. 

[spectralua]

Deleted already. Job was alive within an 2 hours.

My concern is that Upwork takes money (4 dollars in this case) for the opportunity to apply for a obviously fake job. This is fraud in its purest form. I understand that service costs money. But I don't want to pay for a fake service.

[marjan22]

Of course you will get generated response answer seen milion times.
Also I think this is another  major issue that i think that maybe law firms will want to hear about. 
If Upwork is responsible for its own platform,  by allowing illegal activities on their platform like fake jobs and charging, does that means that UW  scams people for money by profiting from it?  

[spectralua]

You're asking the right question. 🙂

[LuiggiR]

I understand where you're coming from, Mykola. That's why in cases where a job is taken down for a Terms of Service violation, Connects that freelancers have spent applying to such jobs are returned. More information can be found under the "Returned Connects" section of this article. 

[spectralua]

Someone can stop the scammer? It is annoying because no real jobs posted, only this bot posting again and again within hours.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[LuiggiR]

Thank you for sharing this, Mykola. I've forwarded your report to the team and can confirm that the jobs have been taken down for Terms of Service violations. 

[spectralua]

Exchange Money: This fraud posting hourly within 2 weeks. Scanner changing nothing: same tittle, same description. Why this is allowed?

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Old copies removing, new posting, but an 5 copies alive always.

[LuiggiR]

Thank you for flagging this, Mykola. I've forwarded your report to the team and can confirm that the job post has been taken down for violating the Terms of Service. 

[spectralua]

Yep, it is great but some action should be taken to repeated posts like this. Maybe adding to automatic filter or so.

I dont posting here single scam but regulary going within long time.

[nav_designer]

After losing my faith, I have stopped applying to jobs as I feel that there are no good clients left. Usually, I used to get hired five times a month, but now it has decreased to 3 times a year.  I have only recurring clients and most of them I got from LinkedIn so Soon I will move them 

[adrian29630]

And it gets worse. UpWork now asking 19 connects for some jobs!!!

[dsgndm]

I've lost my faith, too. I've stopped applying for design jobs because it's quite obvious that most of the jobs are just fake, they look like AI generated, same structure, same 4 o 5 stars but with only 1 job posted...

It's just ridiculous. From the moment that I realised that we have to PAY for proposals plus the benefits of each job, then the money for the platform comes from us, not from the clients or the jibs. That's the reality, and c'mon… jobs every 5 minutes? Really? I just give up on this platform.

[328ecd20]

U r absolutely right fake job 

0 proposal accepted

0 profile view 

0 Client interested 

Is not possible your good profile not a single person can't view 

See this is very inelegant apps 

All his employee your person posted fake.job for connects 

Not trust this upwork 

90% jobs fake own person posted job 

[spectralua]

Bot posting same job from newly generated accounts. Little AI randomized. An 24 fakes daily. Within week more. Noone from Upwork care about. Or this is Upwork's bot?

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

^^^ It was screensot shown that fakes alive within 24 hrs and collecting connects. Noone deleted them. But screenshot was deleted within few seconds. 😸

[fred-derf]

If only the same diligence used to quickly delete comments were used in deleting scams and repetitious fake jobs, credibility may return to the level it had around 2021, and when it was eLance.

[spectralua]

Someone able to stop that bot? It is very anoying. Fakes posted hourly within 2 weeks!

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[LuiggiR]

Thank you for flagging this, Mykola. I shared your report with our team to investigate and take action based on our internal processes.

[spectralua]

I want to celebrate a small anniversary 🤡 : ​​I reported a specific problem 3 weeks ago and it is successfully ignoring. The bot is still working. Here are the links for three fakes in 15 minutes:

https://www.upwork.com/jobs/Network-Engineer_~01f1d04024751ffcab

https://www.upwork.com/jobs/Systems-Network-Engineer_~0194ef4a8a71ed49c4

https://www.upwork.com/jobs/Network-Engineer_~0120f55d16ac71bd5b

[PradeepH]

Thank you for bringing this to our notice. I have shared your report with our team to investigate and take action based on our internal processes. 

- Pradeep

[mcgooligan]

@LuiggiR you are deliberately avoiding the issue in this post - of course you are, you are a 'moderator' and therefore work for upwork. You think that someone other than upwork has an advantage in posting fake jobs? Why? For information? The point is (and you know it) that upwork themselves are generating these fake jobs in order to get money from the freelancers by way of 'connects'. Most of us here believe that this is true, and by using 'bots', upwork can wash their hands of their guilt. Why don't you just admit it LuiggiR and be on our side? Spill the beans and expose this deliberate upwork scam.

[dsgndm]

It's a total waste of time. We already know who is the only true winner with the current situation, and it's Upwork.
They win money for each proposal, they win money for every job post, they win a percentage for every job and for EVERYTHING.

Any sign of trust? Nope, None, Zero, Niet, No.

[24c0cb74]

that luiggi dude was just a bot too lmao, replying any report with same templates words.

[the-right-writer]

The moderator is not a bot.

[tjmisny]

To add to Craig's post:

If this is NOT true, and if there isn't an internal effort at Upwork to post dead end jobs, to harvest Connects money and to create the impression of a bustling marketplace for the Shareholders... then what is the explanation for how few jobs on Upwork actually hire?  Why did only 19% of the last 306 jobs I applied to hire anyone?  

It's so interesting that despite these theories being posted rampantly across Upwork Community for the last 6 months, there has not been a denial, as far as I can see!

[spectralua]

Can you be sure that someone was actually hired there? Or you can simply see the number: hired 1? Yes, when you communicated and the client wanted the low price, then several interviews and hired - look real. But when there was no activity at all, proposals never read and the job was closed with hired?

[khushbu_gohil]

Ohkay...one question how scammer will get benefits if they post repeated with no interview? If they are actual scammer they will definitely interact with few atleast 1-2 because they want to scams human right? If they talk and share their other platforms link to register or contact them only they can get money and scam occur which is how scammer work in that pattern, but repeating post with number proposal and no interview how scam will occur? So obviously this pattern of post helping someone else 

[yofazza]

At the very least...

Have you ever received spam emails that "have no purpose" because they don't sell anything nor have any links in them?

To create bots is easy to some people. Those botted spam, and some of Upwork's botted job posts, are probably an excess of their tests or something. Upwork is their sandbox/playground, and also the actual target at the same time.

There was someone who complained about a client he sent a proposal to, telling him that there were multiple proposals coming from "accounts with his name and photograph".

Quite funny if we think about it, and that's another example of how this place has become a playground because some bot creators must have copied his account and sent proposals from all of them to a same job post.

--

And btw, I just checked the guy's name, and it seems like all the cloned accounts are now removed. But I also checked it at the time he made that post and saw his real account sorted at the bottom, under the fake/clones. In here we can see the notorious Upwork rotation in effect. I bet the client also saw proposals from the fakes, sorted above the real one.