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voiceovervandeen
Community Member

Why would a Client cut & paste post the exact same job 9 times over the past 2 weeks?

Re.  Why would a Client cut & paste post the exact same job 9 times over the past 2 weeks?

I've noticed this happen several times now, & I can't understand what the advantage would be beyond keeping the job at the top of the list for those FL who choose to sort by "recent first".


Is there not an option for a client to "spend credits" to promote their jobs, something similar to what we can do if we want to promote our proposals?

Most of the times it has been posted there is someone selected for interview, which is good as it's 6 credits to apply.

It does mention that it requires the actor to be "OK with nudity" & states that "Audition needed online before start" but there are non of the typical "scam" warning flags.

 

All of the jobs are still open, customer certainly looks genuine & has hired for other "project related" roles recently.  
         Am I missing something?

18 REPLIES 18
yofazza
Community Member

That's no client. They're scammers. This place is currently s scammer's paradise.

 

Here're some other threads:

 

https://community.upwork.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?filter=location&q=scam&noSynonym=false...

I think they are potentially missleading people, but not by being "scammers" in the usual way.

I would assume that they are playing a long game, with a deffinite goal in mind.
+ it looks like they were prepared to spend a little money to "establish legitamacy" as a client to acheive what they want.

 

 

christopherbudde
Community Member

"OK with nudity" & states that "Audition needed online before start

 

Sounds legit to me...😂

There are a number of people applying for the role every time it is posted........

Good luck with your audition BTW 😉

My thoughts exactly....😆

petra_r
Community Member


Garry Vandeen S wrote:

It does mention that it requires the actor to be "OK with nudity" & states that "Audition needed online before start" but there are non of the typical "scam" warning flags.


"Nudity" = Not allowed.

"Audition" in combination with "nudity" and I guess most of use know where this is going to go...

 


Garry Vandeen S wrote:

         Am I missing something?


Seriously?

> "Nudity" = Not allowed.

Even when it is being required within the premise of the "art of film"?

Advice to artists re nudes in their portfolio that I've seen previously posted by the community manager ran along the lines of "as long as it wasn't obscene and was only showcased as artwork"

> "Audition" in combination with "nudity" and I guess most of use know where this is going to go...

What? 😮 You think someone would be advertising on here just to view lots of naked auditions & then hire the best of the bunch & pay them.... (see completed jobs in my reply above).

 

>> Am I missing something?
> Seriously?

I can put you in touch with an excelent practitioner Re. irony claibration if required 😉


Garry Vandeen S wrote:

> "Audition" in combination with "nudity" and I guess most of use know where this is going to go...

What? 😮 You think someone would be advertising on here just to view lots of naked auditions & then hire the best of the bunch & pay them.... (see completed jobs in my reply above).


You think that's outside the realm of possibility? And how recently did this client hire other freelancers? There have been quite a few scammers lately who have paid people via bonuses, which have been reversed after a few days - but initially it looked like they had hired and paid several freelancers. They even received good reviews before the freelancers figured out that they'd been scammed. There have also been incidents where clients have hired freelancers (or hired themselves through a fake account) to provide them with good fake reviews, in order to establish credibility. You really can't imagine the depths to which both clients and freelancers are willing to sink, it seems.

Hi Christine,

 

Their most recent hire was last month, their first paid hire that I can see was in January.

The January contract was with an established actor who has been active on Upwork since 2015 & with 166 completed jobs on his profile & earnings in excess of $90k.

If there was anything untoward in the way of "monetary scams" or any other type of impropriety I'd think someone of his standing would have reached out and informed Upwork, and the client account would have been shut down.

I'm still seeking to understand what possible advantage there is in a client repeatedly posting the same job; regardless of whether it is legitimate/dodgy/within Upwork T&C's, or anything else.


I just can't see why they'd do it beyond staying at the top of the "most recently posted" job list.

I don't think it's a monetary scam necessarily, but somebody who gathers up loads of unpaid nude auditions and only hires a few of the freelancers - you don't think that sounds like a scam in and of itself? I'm sure that they can sell most or all of those "auditions".

 

And from your other post: "The later two of these job posts were identical & were an expansion of the initial posting with a new sentence requesting the writer to be comfortable with human anatomy, body fluids, language, violence, and nudity."

 

Yeah, that sounds like porn rather than "art", wouldn't you say? No projects with adult content are allowed on the site, not even ghostwriting an erotic novel.

> I don't think it's a monetary scam necessarily, but somebody who gathers up loads of unpaid nude auditions and only hires a few of the freelancers - you don't think that sounds like a scam in and of itself? I'm sure that they can sell most or all of those "auditions".

 

Neither do I, but that is one of the risks when trading in an "artistic field" & why I have a note at the foot of my profile stating:-
" Please note that I retain full copyright of all submissions, including auditions, until terms have been agreed and settled. Additionally I reserve the right to decline any script which may result in a conflict of interests, &/or requests for audio that is inappropriate/misleading/or could damage my professional standing."

If a "client" on the other side of the world fraudulently decides to use a section of my audition & sells it commercially, bar me approaching the end user & highlighting breach of my copyright there isn't really a lot I can do. The UW client could just say he sent the auditions to the client for approval, & UW aren't going to be able to help me take it any further either.

NB Nowhere does it state the auditions must be performed nude, only that the actor must be comfortable with nudity.

e.g. Say the film is a comedy, with a scene to be set in a bedroom/bathroom, all of that information "could" be relevant in a completely innocent way, and so it is only right that it is declared to the actor up front.

Scene:-
Man jumps out of bed runs towards bathroom, camera follows head/torso only (= Nudity)
Cuts to him sitting down with an upset stomach, + sound effects - (=Nudity & body fluids)
Looks to find there is no loo roll....... (anger, + language,)
Launches the empty toilet roll holder through the open bathroom door at his boyfriend who is still sleeping and tells him in no uncertain terms what he's going to do with it once he's done (= violence, language, & anatomy)


You’re probably laughing, thinking of being in that same situation yourself, & remembering what you what you felt like doing to the person who’d used the last piece and not replaced it.

That's why the content of the job post isn’t a problem to me, every actors has their own boundaries & it’s down to them to establish with the client/director/agent what they’re happy with doing & that includes for auditions.

I just want to understand the reason or advantage of it being re-posted so many times.

martina_plaschka
Community Member

No matter what the content, these are scams. No serious client would post his serious job posting 9 times. It would make freelancer selection a complete nightmare for him. 

Why the scammers do it? Hard to say. Maybe they want to crowd the job feeds to appear more legit, maybe they think it increases their chances to scam people, as their jobs get deleted quickly. 

Is the the same client account of different ones with the same text?

Scammers are not loners sitting in their mother's basement. They are working in large groups in a call-center like setting. They are getting a script to work off. There's not much originality or cleverness to be found there. 

Hi Martina,

Yes it's deffinitely the same client account, & I've done further digging.

The account was opened in Dec. 2021, & it is payment verified.

Previous activity shows, 12 hires, & a $600+ spend showing with Upwork.


Upwork reports the Clients recent history as (8)
They currently have 7 jobs showing in progress with 8 hires (dating back to Jan 22).
4 FL have left feedback varying between 3 & 5 stars the client has never left verbal feedback, only 4/5 stars.
These jobs all appear to be related to a "short film" project (same as current), they break down into :-

3 x Roleplay Writing.  The applicant numbers were 10-15, 5-10, 10-15 repectively. 4 hires made $122 billed.

     The later two of these job posts were identical & were an expansion of the initial posting with a new sentence requesting the writer to be comfortable with human anatomy, body fluids, language, violence, and nudity.


2 x Short Story Scene writing 20-50 & 20-50 apllicants both times. 2 Hires made, @ $100 Fixed price each.

The later post is an expansion on the first including again now including the sentence that the writer should be comfortable with science, anatomy, etc etc as above

2 x Actor needed  5-10, & 5-10 applicants, 13 interviews & 2 hires made @ $60 & $80.
These again called for comfort with nudity, and stipulated a requirement for an online audition before start.

Then there is the current raft of 17 identical open job posts for an actor, which I don't feel like counting up the applicants for, but the few I clicked on show 5-10 applicants.

 

The first shows as being made 26 days ago, the latest being made yesterday.

These are all exactly the same cut and paste text & all have deffinitely been made on the same account.
All require comfort with nudity & the carrying out of an online audion prior to start.

I just can't see the advantage of their repeated posting apart from staying at the top of the list.


Hi Garry,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. Could you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about the job posts and the client you are referring to?

 

I will be sure to look into your report and escalate it accordingly.

~ Nikola
Upwork

Hi Nikola, That's great, thanks for your interest in me helping you with this project.

A Detailed Quote breaking down my services has been sent by PM, including a link to my FL profile.  I'm available to start immediately.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

 

Best Regards,
- Garry

Hi Nikola,

Just following up on this, as I'm not sure if you received my quote by DM? 
I've included an extract below.

N.B. The same client has posted the exact same job a further 2 times since we last spoke.


**Edited for Community Guidelines**

 

Garry, you misunderstood something entirely... Upwork isn't offering to hire you, let alone pay you for reporting job posts or freelancers.

NikolaS
Moderator
Moderator

Hi All,

 

Thank you all for participating in this discussion. We were able to locate the jobs referenced here and forwarded them to the team for review. Please note that because of security and privacy concerns, we will not be able to share the results or findings of our investigations with you. 

 

~ Nikola
Upwork
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