An appeal to upwork

[elias-mwanza]

I want to appeal to the management and my appeal is please come up with a system that will verify if the job opening that is posted if it is real because a lot of them are fake, they will tell you to contact them on telegram which I don't because I don't want to go against the terms and conditions of your system, please look fast into this matter because a lot of jobs are fake however since I joined your platform I'm unable to find a real client.

[pgiambalvo]

Good suggestion.

[feed_my_eyes]

I think the main reason that you're unable to find a client is because your hourly rate is too high. Clients can hire experienced data entry people for $3/hour, so it's unlikely that they'll hire an unproven freelancer who charges $25/hour.

[pgiambalvo]

True, but what about the "I want to appeal to the management and my appeal is please come up with a system that will verify if the job opening that is posted if it is real because a lot of them are fake, they will tell you to contact them on telegram which I don't because I don't want to go against the terms and conditions of your system, please look fast into this matter because a lot of jobs are fake..." part?

[feed_my_eyes]

The OP is suggesting that he can't find a client because there are so many fake jobs, so I was giving him practical advice. But if you and the OP want Upwork to raise your fees in order to vet every client, feel free to donate as much of your own money as you'd like to this cause.

[pgiambalvo]

No, that's not what the intent of the OP was at all. And I don't get why you think better vetting would automatically mean higher fees for us. Something as simple as having clients have to submit a photo ID would help a lot. Since freelancers already have to do that, the mechanisms for verifying those already exist.

[feed_my_eyes]

It does cost a lot to verify freelancers, that's why Upwork only requires it if someone actually starts to earn money (so freelancers can and do also scam clients when they're brand new). And since the OP actually says "because a lot of jobs are fake I'm unable to find real clients", how do you figure that my advice about how to find a real client is irrelevant?

[pgiambalvo]

I didn't say it was irrelevent. I asked why you didn't address what was the bulk of their post, not just the last few words.. And like I said, they already have the tools in place to verify freelancers, so adding clients to that process is not like reinventing the wheel, or even adding another one. But I thought the freelancer verification process was initiated upon sign up, not only after they started to earn. Thank you for clarifying. Is there anything that you would have Upwork do to reduce the number of scam posts in addition to what they already do if was guaranteed to not cost them or us anything?

[martina_plaschka]

The thing is, you, Christine, myself and countless others can spot a scam within a fraction of a second. One part is knowing the ToS, which pretty much ensures that a freelancer can't be scammed. Other parts is recognizing the scripts that scammers use, which are very similar and not very original, or the fact that a massive amount of money is offered for an unskilled task. 

If we can do it, others can too. It's a skill that is easily aquired. What would having a client picture do? Not much. It would add a layer of trust for the unaware, which would make it actually more dangerous for them. Plus scammers would not use real pictures, as many freelancers do, and not even they get caught automatically. 

[pgiambalvo]

Yeah, I suppose it's easy enough to fake an ID. I don;t really know how Upwork verifies those for freelancers. But what gets me is like you said, we can spot scams almost instantly and just scroll past them. I still don't think it would cost Upwork a fortune for somene on their end to do the same thing but with the power to actually immediately remove them for further review, whereas all we can do is flag them.

[feed_my_eyes]

Yes, as I've said many times, I would support a mandatory readiness test for freelancers. It's evident from the questions in the forum that new freelancers aren't bothering to read anything at all about how to use Upwork. 

[pgiambalvo · Accepted solution]

I totally agree about the mandatory readiness test for freelancers. That would really help freelancers, clients, and Upwork itself to make this an even better and safer platform for us all.