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Shafiq's avatar
Shafiq Q Community Member

client asks for security fee in advance to start a project for freelancer.

Hy, if client asks for security fee to pan in advance to start project than do I need to pay or deposit any fee regarding securty fee. 

83 REPLIES 83
Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

That is not a real client. That is just a scammer who wants to steal your money. Click on "Flag as inappropriate" to report him and get your connects back.

 

There is no such thing as a "security fee" paid to clients.

 

Clients pay money to freelancers.

Freelancers don't pay clients.

Khaoula's avatar
Khaoula L Community Member

He ask me in email
Bojan's avatar
Bojan S Community Manager

Hi Khaoula,

 

Could you please send me a PM with more information about your report? I’ll check it and escalate accordingly.

 

Thank you.

~ Bojan
Upwork
Khaoula's avatar
Khaoula L Community Member

Hello . Where i could send you pic
Joanne's avatar
Joanne P Retired Team Member

Hi Khaoula,

 

You can click on my name to send me a PM. 

~ Joanne
Upwork
Talha's avatar
Talha Z Community Member

Hi Joanne
i had a client message to to conatct him on telegram 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

also he asked for a security fee

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

can u look into it

-Talha Zulfiqar(member)

Annie Jane's avatar
Annie Jane B Retired Team Member

Hi Talha,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. I checked this for you and shared your report with our team. Please note that we discourage communicating outside Upwork when a contract hasn't started yet to protect you from possible scams. Kindly check our Community member, Wes's post about top red flags for scams to get insights on what to avoid. Also if you encounter any suspicious activities, you can report them to us so we can investigate.


~ AJ
Upwork
Roshna's avatar
Roshna R Community Member

One person just messaged me in telegram and when I asked if we could make any contracts in upwork, he replied "we work independent"

Mary's avatar
Mary M Community Member

Hello, Am Mary and i have the same problem l of a client who contacted me on telegram and asking for the security fee before i proceed to work for them.

 

Would you mind helping?

Annie Jane's avatar
Annie Jane B Retired Team Member

Hi Mary,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. Please know that communicating outside Upwork prior to a contract starting is a violation of our Terms of Service and your account could get suspended for this.

 

Please utilize our Message Center in order to protect yourself from scams. Additionally, you can send us a flag if you encounter any suspicious user activity so we can investigate.


~ AJ
Upwork
Sophie's avatar
Sophie A Community Member

Communicating outside of Upwork before having a contract in place is a violation of Terms of Service you agreed to when you signed up. Following that basic rule can prevent you from falling for most common scams.

Shinsoji's avatar
Shinsoji T Community Member

Hi, can I also send you a message regarding this security fee? I am doubting about this scheme.

Nichola's avatar
Nichola L Community Member

Report this person. It's a scam, not a job.  

Deepak's avatar
Deepak A Community Member

Dear Team,

 

The mentioned screenshot is of the same people who are doing frauds on UPWORKS.

This people are asking for securuty fees. Seems fraud...

**Edited for community guidelines**

 

Please take strict action against them.

 

Jennifer's avatar
Jennifer R Community Member

Did you contact Mr Lee?

Bojan's avatar
Bojan S Community Manager

Thank you for flagging this for us, Deepak.

 

I’ve escalated this report to the correct team for their review and the project has already been taken down because it was in violation of Upwork TOS and action has been taken on the client account. If you see a violation of the Upwork Terms of Service, we encourage you to use the Report Suspicious User Activity feature.

~ Bojan
Upwork
Joyce's avatar
Joyce C Community Member

Hi Bojan,

 

I received one just now too **Edited for Community Guidelines**

 

They asked me to reach out to them via Telegram where they gave me a PDF file "contract". The job description on the contract says it's for a logo design/photoshop editor even though their job posting is for typing. On the contract, they are also asking for security fee before they give you the project which they will reimburse after the project is done. They say the fee is "to ensure data security".

 

They have similar job postings about typing documents too.

Maria's avatar
Maria T Community Member


Joyce C wrote:

Hi Bojan,

 

I received one just now too:   **Edited for Community Guidelines**

 

They asked me to reach out to them via Telegram where they gave me a PDF file "contract". The job description on the contract says it's for a logo design/photoshop editor even though their job posting is for typing. On the contract, they are also asking for security fee before they give you the project which they will reimburse after the project is done. They say the fee is "to ensure data security".

 

They have similar job postings about typing documents too.


One more time. If you follow the TOS and do not communicate outside of Upwork (Telegram, mail, Whatsapp, etc...) BEFORE you have an established contract with Upwork, you will be safe in most cases.
Read the TOS you claimed to have read and information about scams in the forums.

Restu Sulistiyoko's avatar
Restu Sulistiyoko U Community Member

I almost got scammed like this, luckily I found out more information before transferring the money to him.
he asked a lot of things via telegram that ended up asking for a security fee before doing work.

Pradeep's avatar
Pradeep H Retired Team Member

Hi Restu,

 

Thank you for your message. I am sorry to hear about your experience with the client. Please check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs and please use the flag option found on each job post or message anytime you’d like to report a violation.

 

Thank you

Pradeep

 
Krizia's avatar
Krizia B Community Member

Hello, Maria.

I also experienced the same situation as yours. They asked me to message them on Telegram if I'm interested in the job they posted. I messaged them and even sent them my CV. After some discussions, he send a pdf file with project details which I saw that the freelancer needs to pay a certain amount as an "Insurance Fee" and will be refunded after the completion of the first project. 

Sophie's avatar
Sophie A Community Member

Communicating outside Upwork before a contract is in place is a violation of Terms of Services you agreed to when you signed up. Please review here Upwork Legal Center

Peter's avatar
Peter G Community Member

Clients asking you to contact them off of Upwork before a contract has been set up is a violation of the ToS, but largely unenforceable by Upwork.

 

Sophie's avatar
Sophie A Community Member

This is true, but clients like that don't care about their account on Upwork.

 

Any freelancer who cares about its account still has to comply to ToS.