I will keep this short and simple (kindly ignore any errors, this is urgent).
There are certain bogus clients on oDesk. You know you can identify them by the payment method not verified, no reviews, bad reviews but there are some that will have positive reviews and with a verified payment method. Firstly, oDesk does not allow you to post the names of any client or agency, so my mouth has to remain shut. Therefore, I shall set out comprehensive guidelines that if you stick to, you will not get scammed.
Like I said, even if the payment method is verified and reviews are good, take 5 minutes to carry out these tests to see if your client is the real deal or not as some clients may have actually "invested" by paying people for small jobs, getting feedback and then exploiting contractors to recover their investment and profit:
1. When you receive an offer, check the overall value of the job. Be it long term work or not, this has to be more than dollar. This is an indicator of how much you can expect to be paid. If the value is above one dollar then it will somewhat act as a deterrent. That way you can leave feedback and the client cannot simply cut you out of the picture.
2. Check out the other applications that the client has posted. They usually have more, but if the title and description have had minor alterations to them (as the oe you are checking) then you can see that they are essentially farming for clients on oDesk. 2 job applications are fairly common, but should make you cautious. If these applications are more than 2, then you can be sure that this client is looking to exploit contractors unfamiliar with oDesk. You should be on red alert if they are inviting Newbies. (hence inexperienced and easiest to farm)
3. Make sure that the payment day is fixed. If it is monthly, then always demand an upfront payment. For weekly payments, see how far you are away from the payment day and decide. If it is 6 or 7 days, demand compensation for the first few batches of work, to assure yourself that the client is real. If the payment day is Saturday or Sunday, demand an exact day. You will end up doing Saturday's work too thinking you will get paid on Sunday. Do not work if the payment date is prolonged.
4. Do a search for them on Google. Yes, often names are commons but this works in 2 cases. One the client has a unique name (worked for me). Two (refer to number 6)
5. Do return to the Google Search in the end. If you have think that the client has been posting articles on your behalf without agreeing this with you (they are delaying payment day, being dodgy about the website if the articles will be posted there), then they will certainly plagiarise. The text remains the same. Since they are farming, search for their names along with text from the article (titles work best) on Google. If the client turns out to be an author on another blog and is posting your articles on your behalf then you, my friend, are being cheated. They basically get paid from the blog, pay you a mere fraction of that and make money by doing pretty much nothing.
Nothing can be done about fixed price contracts to get the money. Try to focus on hourly contracts. However, by following these steps you can identify the bogus clients and then end the contract before you do too much work for them. I personally did 15 articles, more than 5500 words only to find that the client wasn't going to pay me. It was one of my first jobs. The payment day was Saturday or Sunday. I should have guessed but I didn't and ended up paying the price. Now my client is on oDesk farming again and I have taken to the forums to raise my voice against this. injustice.
