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hale-kelly
Community Member

scam

Today I applied to a job posting as a data entry clerk working from home. They had me conduct an online interview via Telegram. They advised that they would be working outside of Upwork and would be paying me directly.They also wanted to send me a check so that I could purchase equipment for the job. 10 minutes after the interview, they offered me the position. I declined after reading through the safety and security on Upwork. I believe this employer is a scam. I read that I could flag something as inappropriate, but there is no link to do it in my messages or the job posting. I want to report this company, but the job posting was removed right after I had my interview. I told them I didn't want the job because I thought they were a fraud. Not sure what to do.

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Kelly,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Thanks for flagging this job to us. I've checked and it looks like the job has already been taken down because it was in violation of Upwork ToS and action has been taken on the client account. 

 

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.

~ Bojan
Upwork

View solution in original post

29 REPLIES 29
hale-kelly
Community Member

I tried to use that link and nothing on there led me to a place to report the client.

I put a job on Upwork and received a contact from this person: 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**



He provided me his skyp for a better communication (**Edited for Community Guidelines**).

My job was related to ads posting for which I paid him 30$ for 20 ads, payment was sent by btc I have transaction ID, previous upwork conversation and skyp conversation which prove that. He stopped the communication  after payment and after 3 days I successfully managed to talk with him.

He found excuses and asked for a new payment saying that the first payment was just an advance. I told him that if he can not respect our previous agreement to send me refund for 30$, he then accused me of blackmail which is not true since I just asked for my money and there is no job completed. I told him that I will report him to upword for being unprofessional freelancer.

I'm new to upwork and to freelancing area, but even that  does not mean that someone can took my money and run with them.

Please do not work with this guy, do your research before.

Sorry to upwork this is not a project is just an announcement to others.

Thank you very much.

Hi Dav,

 

I am sorry for the late response. Please know 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. I shared your report to the correct team for further investigation and they will take action as per our internal processes. I edited your post to be in line with our Community Guidelines. 

 

  • Including names of persons or companies (or other identifying information) in an accusation of misconduct, incompetence or other wrongdoing.

 

 

Thank you,

~ Nikola
Upwork
petra_r
Community Member


Kelly H wrote:

Today I applied to a job posting as a data entry clerk working from home. They had me conduct an online interview via Telegram. They advised that they would be working outside of Upwork and would be paying me directly.They also wanted to send me a check 


Check is (of course) fake. One of the oldest scams known on the Internet.

Just flag the job post as inappropriate and move on. If there is no "flag as inappropriate" link on the job post, it has already been taken down.

 

They usually vanish shortly after being posted, then new ones pop up.

 

"Data Entry" jobs are not worth your while anyway.  That is the single most overcrowded and underpaid sector on Upwork, most jobs paying $ 3 an hour or less via fixed rate contracts.

There isn't a flagging button when I view a job. ##- Please type your
reply above this line -##
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Kelly,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Thanks for flagging this job to us. I've checked and it looks like the job has already been taken down because it was in violation of Upwork ToS and action has been taken on the client account. 

 

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.

~ Bojan
Upwork
6471e3ea
Community Member

Any chance you could see my post above replying to her? I had a more recent experience with a nearly identical issue and would love to know it's been dealt with.

petra_r
Community Member


Ethan H wrote:

Any chance you could see my post above replying to her? I had a more recent experience with a nearly identical issue and would love to know it's been dealt with.


Upwork takes them down as quickly as they can.

 

In future, the second you hear "check" you'll know it's nonsense. and one of the oldest, dumbest scams on the Internet.

def6aa37
Community Member

I am in the interview process now for this exact job. **Edited for Community Guidelines** on Skype, and she sent me a picture of her holding her Kentucky ID. 


Petra R wrote:

"Data Entry" jobs are not worth your while anyway.  That is the single most overcrowded and underpaid sector on Upwork, most jobs paying $ 3 an hour or less via fixed rate contracts.


While I normally agree with you as you are an awesome resource here, I make a good amount of money (yes I know others make way more) on data entry jobs, mostly hourly.

Kelly, if you are working in the accounting field, I wouldn't suggest you apply for data entry jobs.  I'd stick to jobs in your field as I do see many jobs in that section.

hale-kelly
Community Member

I'm trying to report a client to. There are no buttons on my screen to flag as inappropriate or to report. I just keep going around in circles with the bot and the only option they give me is to say yes they have answered my question. There is no "no" button. This is seriously frustrating. It's telling me to click on buttons that lead me to nowhere. I'm trying to report a client that tried to scam me. The articles I'm given to chose from are no help at all.

8ebe144f
Community Member

I encountered the same thing today.

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Hannah,

 

Thanks for flagging this job to us and for our team. The job has already been taken down because it was in violation of Upwork ToS and action has been taken on the client account. 

 

Please check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs.

 

Thank you.

~ Bojan
Upwork
f298f979
Community Member

I had the same experience for a Data Entry position this evening. I couldn't find a way to report/flag them either. I withdrew my proposal, and gave a descriptive reason. Unfortunate that this happens.

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Elizabeth, 

It looks like the Connects you used for this job have been removed even before you had the chance to report it. I checked and can confirm that the Connects you used for this job has already been returned to your account. 


~ Avery
Upwork

Is there an way to speak with some one at upworks i wsdted more tike sending propsals that it is not woth even using this every proposal ive sent the person wants to contact ofg site. 

Hi Holly, 

 

Feel free to share more information about your report here and I will be sure to share it with our team for further review. 

Additionally, I encourage you 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 post for the freelancer resources and tips for avoiding questionable jobs that we put together to help freelancers make decisions whether to work with a client or not. 

~ Nikola
Upwork
6471e3ea
Community Member

I encountered the same situation this week. I was hired through a real German company as an English copyeditor. They did the same thing, saying they would pay me to purchase materials with a photo of the check. They have since pulled down the post and I am unable to report the post. One thing I can say, is that I directly contacted the company who supposedly hired me - they never have and never will recruit US freelancers.**edited for Community Guidelines** DOES NOT HIRE on this site. They asked me to clarify with the website I used (Upwork) that they will never post real jobs on this site, and this is not the first time their name has been used to do this exact thing. Unfortunately, this is the only way to report now as the posting and account tied to it both have been removed.

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Ethan, 

I can confirm that actions have been taken against the client you are referring to on your post. Since you are new to Upwork, you may want to read up on the "Safety First!" section of the freelancer resources we have compiled, and these tips for avoiding questionable jobs for more information about working safely through Upwork.


~ Avery
Upwork
feed_my_eyes
Community Member


Dav T wrote:

I put a job on Upwork and received a contact from this person: Muhammad U. /017f8e76ae651476f8.

He provided me his skyp for a better communication (live:.cid.c065bdeadf6a60ea).

My job was related to ads posting for which I paid him 30$ for 20 ads, payment was sent by btc I have transaction ID, previous upwork conversation and skyp conversation which prove that. He stopped the communication  after payment and after 3 days I successfully managed to talk with him.

He found excuses and asked for a new payment saying that the first payment was just an advance. I told him that if he can not respect our previous agreement to send me refund for 30$, he then accused me of blackmail which is not true since I just asked for my money and there is no job completed. I told him that I will report him to upword for being unprofessional freelancer.


You're not supposed to enter into contracts with freelancers or pay freelancers outside of the Upwork system, so both you and the freelancer have gone against Upwork's terms of service. Upwork can't help you get your money back if there was no money paid through them in the first place. However, you should definitely report this freelancer by using the "flag as inappropriate" link on his profile (click on the three dots at the top right-hand corner), along with a brief explanation of what happened. (You can't just make accusations against someone in the forum, and a moderator will soon delete the details.)

adelliott19
Community Member

Pretty sure this just happened to me. This job was not posted on upwork but appears in Google results when you search for jobs. I am thankful for your post because the details you described matched my experience almost exactly.

Some unknown number texted me and told me to sign up for Telegram. Then I would be connected with a “colleague” who conducted an interview on me. After the interview they congratulated me and basically said I had the job. Then, the Telegram account I was being interviewed by was suddenly deleted. Then a different account claiming to be from the same company told me they were going to arrange a check being mailed to me to purchase the equipment needed for the job and to report back to them at 8 am to begin training.

After I told the person, I did not want to participate any longer and will not be accepting the job the person just replied “okay”. They didn’t even try to defend the position. I most definitely probably just dodged an elaborate scam, so thanks once again for posting this! This was very frustrating because I have been meticulously looking for work and it’s not fair I just almost got scammed for simply wanting a job! Be careful out there!

Hi Ashari,

 

Thank you for flagging this for us and for helping us keep Upwork a safe and trusted marketplace!  It's recommended to keep an eye out for fraudsters out there who may try to take advantage of professionals like you. Please check our Stay Safe series and learn more on how to work safe online:

If you see a violation of the Upwork Terms of Service, we encourage you to use Report Suspicious User Activity feature.

~ Bojan
Upwork

Ashari, you HAVE to communicate with potential clients ONLY through the Upwork platform.  You can use messages and there's even a Zoom capability.  If a client doesn't know that, please politely inform them. If they insist on going off platform, report them. Communicating through Telegraph or text or email is against the Terms of Service and can get you, the freelancer, in a world of trouble.


Mary W wrote:

Ashari, you HAVE to communicate with potential clients ONLY through the Upwork platform.


She doesn't. The job was never posted on Upwork and the scammers didn't contact her on Upwork.

bankston1
Community Member

I was just offered a position through Telegram as well. I attempted to flag it but the message I had for the original invitation to interview is suddenly gone. What can I do?


Katie S wrote:
I was just offered a position through Telegram as well.

By even communicating with the client via Telegram without an Upwork contract you are violating Upwork's terms of service.

 


Katie S wrote:
 I attempted to flag it but the message I had for the original invitation to interview is suddenly gone. 

That means Upwork has already removed the job post.

 


Katie S wrote:
 What can I do?

You can and should read the terms of service from start to finish carefully. They are also for your protection. Communicating with prospective clients before a contract is in place can get your account suspended.

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Katie,

 

Thank you for flagging this for us. I’ve checked this case 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. 

 

Please check this help article for crucial information that will help you have a safe and successful journey on Upwork. 

~ Bojan
Upwork
c70fb868
Community Member

This just happened to me. Crux Content?

Hi Stephanie,

 

If any help is needed, feel free to share more details here. However, please keep in mind that it is not allowed for private details to be shared publicly in our Community. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork
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