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klnelson1
Community Member

Why are there so many scammers on here??

Does Upwork do anything on their end to verify clients who are posting these jobs? It is so disheartening bidding for jobs only to get contacted by so many that are trying to scam you. I don't remember this happening as often when it was Elance. 

5 REPLIES 5
pgiambalvo
Community Member

Upwork does not verify clients in the same way they do freelancers. If they did, it would reduce the number of clients who sign up. Of course it would probably also reduce the number of scammers who sign up. So I guess it's a trade-off. But if losing 10 clients means blocking 100 scammers, that's fine by me.

the-right-writer
Community Member

No, Upwork does nothing to verify the clients, not even their email. I understand not wanting to discourage a potential client, but the policy is absurd. Where online is it possible to make any kind of transaction without some form of verification? I agree with Peter, if there are a few legitimate jobs lost in the mass of scam jobs, it is well worth it. With the filters off, things are still the same. Telegram, WhatsApp, and Gmail blatantly post links, and nothing is done about it after all these months. This is not whack-a-mole, these are the exact same scams we have been putting up with for over six months, posted on Upwork's platform. Is it for the inflated job numbers? Or to have freelancers spend even more money on the platform buying connects? Both or neither? Upwork is not talking.

All we can do is to hope Upwork keeps doing their best to keep us safe on their end, while we do the same on ours.

wwwoman
Community Member

I think the first step is stopping clients with unverified payments from posting. Those accounts are the major scammers.

This is not a good idea.

  • Many clients without a verified payment method are great clients
  • Expecting clients to verify their payment before they've even made a decision to hire creates unnecessary friction
  • Many scammers DO have a verified payment, making it a pointless excercise anyway

If you do it right and insist on a milestone then they will have to verify their payment anyway. If you don't want to work with them then fine, don't. But those clients are a good source of income for the rest of us.

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