What to do if a scammer has my CV? what can they do with my info?

[#1]

Ok, before calling me an idiot for believing I would get paid $800 for "converting a word to pdf", allow me to explain: (EDIT: this was a joke, this wasn't the offer)

I got an invitation a few weeks ago. I checked the post and it was written in clear English, it wasn't vague, the budget was realistic and it's within my field of expertise. So I sent a proposal, and I asked a couple of questions just because after reading the post I thought it would be beneficial to know a few extra details, and asking them might give me an advantage.

One or two days later, the client contacted me, asking me to send her my CV to her e-mail address. I felt uneasy because whatever she needs to know about me in relation to my habilities of capacities for this project it's already on my Upwork profile. I wasn't sure my CV was needed, but since I wanted the job and I know that there is possible that a legit client wants to see my CV for whatever reason, I sent it. By the way, the client didn't answer the questions I had asked in my previous message, she said they would clarify later in the process.

So far, I still had no concrete reason to think this was a scam, I just didn't like the fact that I sent her my CV, but as I said, the post itself and her language skills were good. Also, the client seems to be located in the same country as me (France). 

After a week, I simply thought that somebody else had been selected, however, I do not like to be ghosted, so I sent her a message asking her for an update. She replied after 3 or 4 days asking me:

Full Name:

E-mail:

Country and city:

and told me to send her this info and "the project manager" would contact me. 

What?

What nonsense is this? Name and email? like, she doesn't know my name?? and, country and city?? not only she can see this on my profile and she definitely has it on my CV, but the job post specifically said they needed the applicant to be in France, and I did mention it on my proposal that I was located in 'X' city.

And .. a manager will contact me? (s)he can contact me right now if (s)he wants, why hasn't (s)he?

Anyway, now I am convinced this is fake and I'm just going to ignore her I guess, but I'd like to know if they can do anything with my info. I regret not trusting my own instinct, I should have said no. Also, has any of you gotten similar messages? if so, how far did you go and what happened?

[#2]

Was there a contract in place before you went off-platform emailing the "client"? Yes it's fake. 

[#3]

You broke the TOS by communicating (sending CV by email) outside of Upwork BEFORE you had a contract.
It is a known scam. Read this before moving on:
https://community.upwork.com/t5/Community-Blog/Top-Red-Flags-for-Scams-From-Community-Member-Wes-C/b...

[#4]

I was going to say that, but I'm tired saying it all the time. We need a shortcut key for "YOU BROKE TOS BY COMMUNICATING OFF THE PLATFORM!"

[#5]

There's nothing you can do except read and follow Upwork's policies and be more cautious next time. 

"One or two days later, the client contacted me, asking me to send her my CV to her e-mail address"

Never reveal contact info until you are hired.

[#6]

Be more cautious how?

I now understand I broke the TOS, however, this could have happened even following the rules and communicating via Upwork. If the client had asked me for my CV through Upwork, I would have sent it too, and they'd still be scammers. 

[#7]

Most of the scammers never start a contract, however. They "hire" the freelancer without registering their payment method, but first they convince them they have to pay a "security fee" before they start work. Once they get that, they disappear. 

Even scammers who want people's personal information for the purpose of identity theft nearly always get it without starting a contract. 

[#8 · Accepted solution]

They won't do anything with your personal details. This was just play-acting to pretend they're a legitimate client. But be aware that no genuine client needs to know these things about you. The personal information on your profile is enough.

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[#9]

Thanks for actually addressing my concerns. I guess what I'll do differently from now on is that I won't send my CV to anyone, no matter how genuine the job post looks.

[#10]

The client also broke the TOS by asking you to communicate outside of Upwork before you had a contract.

[#11]

Why were you unaware that you're not supposed to communicate off platform until after a contract is in place?

[#12]

First, because I hadn't been very active during 2020-2021, and I understand this policy is in place since June of 2020. But to be honest, if she had asked to interview me on skype or zoom or other than Upwork I would have declined, however, sending a file to an email address didn't feel the same way. 

[#13]

Some people have paid the stupid banking/ID card fees, so at least you didn't do that. 

From your account you got suspicious when they asked for information they already had. 

Yes, that's a little late. 

In any case, you know what to look out for now. And no, clients are not stupid and don't pay hundreds of $$$ for something that can be done in a second. That didn't raise a red flag to you? That kind of job does not exist. In short, you should have known when you read the job post that it wasn't legit. 

[#14]

Uhm, I think you misunderstood something. They didn't offer $$$ for something that could be done in a second. I specifically said that the budget they set was realistic (that was actually a green flag: in no way was the payment too good to be true).

Maybe my line about being paid 800$ for converting a word to pdf was confusing, but I meant it as a joke since there have been a lot scams like that.

[#15]

Ok, maybe I misunderstood. 

The goal of these scams is to get people to pay them a pretend fee of some kind. It's a confidence scam - hence conmen - it requires to keep the freelancer busy for some time, letting them do some pretend job. Usually something extremely easy, but overpaid. This is the psychologically damaging part - being strung along, until the realisation sets in. 

We also see scammers playing on cultural stereotypes - make believe that people in some countries are rich, but stupid, and pay crazy money for nothing. 

It's really terrible and hopefully upwork will do something against them real soon. 

[#16]

The latest trick is to make you think they're searching exclusively for someone from your country. "Hey, I'm so lucky they need for someone from Chile/Brazil/Thailand", etc.

https://www.upwork.com/nx/jobs/search/?q=Please%20don%E2%80%99t%20apply%20if%20you%E2%80%99re%20not%...

[#17]

Yeah, maybe that's it. Although joke's on them because I'm not french and I'm broke, lol. 😉

[#18]

You can still come up with $50 for their premium ID card.... 

The scammers pretend to be rich and stupid, unfortunately going for people from poorer countries. Your case is not really typical of their procedure.