authenticity

[llfitzgerald]

Is there any way to make sure a company or client is authentic other than just "going with it" to later find out you have been rooked again? I have literally been scammed on here twice, non payment and communication cut offs. It wastes so much time doing tasks just to find out they are not going to accept it, pay for it, or communicate with you.

[elisa_b]

I would suggest you apply only for jobs posted by well-established clients who hired in the past and spent a good amount of money on Upwork. 

[alexandernovikov]

Nothing prevents you from conducting due diligence and having a client sign and witness-sign a legally binding contract. It makes sense for big-ish gigs and i do so.

[feed_my_eyes]

It doesn't make sense unless you can afford the legal fees to enforce the contract.

[alexandernovikov]

Yes right, in general, a good contractor is supposed to work with clients who have less money than themselves, putting them in a good position in case of litigation. It helps in my case being a European, because i can have them sign contracts that will be enforceable according to our European laws, and here by default, legal fees are carried by the losing side so... It's very little motivation to go to court if you have less cash and you are not sure you will win.

BUT, in practice, i always refund unhappy clients because i've never encountered one who'd be truly ridiculous with their demands, and i realise that in every other occasion, it's my fault of failing to properly manage their expectations.

[feed_my_eyes]

If it's an hourly job, use the time tracker properly. If it's fixed price, ensure that the money is in escrow, then send your work using the "submit" button and your payment will be automatically released in 14 days. A client can't just fail to pay you by cutting off communication.

[alexandernovikov]

But they can charge back 🙂 that's what frustrated people frequently do.

[llfitzgerald]

I have been contacted by a client who needs an assistant asap. though he fails to agree upon a date and time to discuss details. Asks me if I will accept, but then takes days to contact me again. I set up a zoom meeting with an "accept or reschedule" reply and link. I can see when he is online..hes ghosting me? I see where he has also hired a number of people for different tasks, the amount of $$ paid out no where near matches the amount of freelancers hired. Is this a normal post for clients?

[elisa_b · Accepted solution]

What do you think? If you were a client in need of a freelancer asap, would it be "normal" to treat potential candidates like this? Regardless of the fact that this is potentially a scammer, surely this is somebody you wouldn't want to work with in any case. Be safe.

[llfitzgerald]

I declined and closed the contract. he wanted me to give him my login information to process credit card payments.