Why some people ask email address and location and redirect to Telegram?

[becc4f1b]

I has summited two propposal  today and  two both ask me for perssonal data in Telegram. One of then send me a document where say tah pay directly to my bank acount after I finish such work (diferent that the post in Up Work, by the way about write Spanish articles about cats). I just  figure out is a scam. Somebody has experienced something like tha?

Thank in adavance!

[the3dguru]

They are almost certainly going to try to rip you off. If you go through Upwork and they decide they don't want to pay you, they will have put their case to Upwork. That gives you protection.

If you go out of Upwork then they can wait for you to do the work and then not pay, or only pay for part, or insist that they work isn't complete and refuse to pay unless you do more. You have no way to force them to pay and Upwork has no way to warn you about them, thats almost certainly why they don't want to use Upwork.

Good clients usually prefer to go through Upwork. Besides, they have no problem cheating Upwork out of its commission, so they will certainly have no problem cheating you.

[becc4f1b]

I guessed as much. When I told them that Up Work had cancelled their post they replied that they had already reached the quota of employees they were looking for. (They have good anti-objection responses, so you have to be careful). This is the second time this has happened to me. Out of curiosity I asked them for a contract and they sent me one with no names on that side. Thank you.

[sbelay]

Just make it a habit to check who you're talking to. Google helps.

[feed_my_eyes · Accepted solution]

No, Google doesn't help. There's nothing to stop a scammer from pretending to be a real employee who works for a real company. 

[cccamikaze]

I had clients like that before Upwork, I always asked for 50% and sometimes 100% in advance. Sometimes they paid 50% sometimes they run away xD

[e73adc3b]

Hi Said,

It's important to stay on Upwork for communication and payment transactions as redirecting to other platforms or accepting payment outside of Upwork is against Upwork's terms of service. It's possible that the requests for personal data on Telegram and direct bank payments are scams. Please be careful and ensure that you are communicating with legitimate buyers. Checking the buyer's reviews and account creation date can help you identify potential scams and protect yourself from fraudulent activities.

As a community, let's all work together to maintain the integrity of the Upwork platform and report any suspicious activity to Upwork support. By doing so, we can protect ourselves and our fellow freelancers from potential scams.

Best of luck with your proposals!

Sincerely,

Sanaullah Khan

[williamtcooper]

Said,

It's against Upwork's Terms of Service to go off site with a prospect. It's also for your own protection. In my experience, I have never seen a real Telegram offer in my Skill category. Have a great day!

[e2cce891]

Don't fall for it. They are fraud!

Take some time and go through Upwork Terms of Sevice, it's like a manual for Upwork freelancer. You will learn so much about Upwork and rules.

[ArjayM]

Hi Said,

We truly appreciate you reaching out and reporting this. I've checked and I can't seem to find any communications with clients via Upwork Messages. Could you please click on my name above this post and send me a private message with more information about the job you're referring to? The link to the job post would be extremely helpful.

I want to reiterate Sanaullah's response here that sharing contact information before a contract has started is against Upwork's Terms of Service and that all communications prior to the contract starting must take place on Upwork.

We also encourage all members to let us know if a TOS violation has happened by using the Flag as Inappropriate option throughout the platform. You can learn more about user reporting here. You may want to check this help article and this thread for more information on how to stay safe on Upwork. 

[missrosaly]

Rule number 1: Do not communicate outside Upwork and if they insist to be outside the platform, it's a scam.