Client not paying?

[Ty K]

Hi there,

I'm really new to UpWork so I may have gone about this in the wrong way. A client reached out to me to do a job for them reviewing their website and application process for a couple of brokerage firms. He offered a fixed pay price of just $5 and that was fine with me because as I said, I'm fairly new to UpWork.

So I looked through the website and the application process and then put the notes into a .PDF file and sent it as a message to my client. He replied asking me to finalize my application and submit it for the brokerage firm, but I told him that I got as far as I could without actually submitting the application because the job was obviously for me to simply review the website/application process, not actually sign up for this. After I explained this, he seemed fine with it. 

I've sent him messages twice in the past two days asking about the payment for my work. Instead, he took away my "active candidacy" status for the job... What should I do? Should I report this client? I'm very confused and I'm not sure if I did something wrong in the process of this job. I want to make sure this doesn't happen again. 

[Petra R]

You weren't hired. NEVER work without being hired and that job was probably a scam anyway, were you supposed to open a brokerage account?

Here's a quick guide as to how to identify most scams

[Vladimir G]

Hi Ty,

I'm sorry to hear you worked on a job without being hired. In addition to the correct information and advice Petra shared, I'd like to ask you to review these freelancer resources before submitting new proposals. Feel free to follow up afterwards if you have any questions.

[Preston H]

re: "I'm very confused and I'm not sure if I did something wrong in the process of this job. I want to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Yes, you did something wrong.

You worked for free. You were never actually hired. There was no contract in place. That means you worked without any way to get paid.

[Petra R]

Oops like this is the same scam job reported by someone else earlier, where people are expected to open brokerage accounts with a $ 500 deposit.....

[Jennifer M]

hahahahaha there is another person complaining about this. Looks like a new group of scammers have found their way to Upwork. ha

[Preston H]

Yes... it is a total scam, but it has the virtue of being new. So it provides us with some entertainment.

It strikes me that it is kind of a clever scam. They're basically just posting "job openings" on every platform they can think of to attract writers or newbie freelancers desperate for work... The work is simple enough that just about anybody would feel qualified to do it... Write your review or notes about your experience signing up for a brokerage account.

At this point I'm assuming the entire website that is being "evaluated" is a scam... a phishing attempt intended to collect personal contact and/or banking data, or maybe an actual way to collect the $500 users are being asked to submit.

But I'm pretty disappointed in any freelancer who actually goes all the way with "the brokerage scam" and provides their real banking information or (worse) sends these people $500.00.

Paying $500 to a brokerage firm (whether real or fraudulent) in order to earn $5.00 for writing about the experience means that any freelancer who does this has really poor math skills. And on top of that, you don't ACTUALLY get the $5.00.

[Ty K]

I was not asked to deposit any money and if I did, I would have obviously known it was a scam. It was for the website "brokerage firm"

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

. I googled it to see if it was a scam and if others had experienced any sort of scam or fraud from using this website and they hadn't. 

[Jennifer M]

I like the idea that this is an affiliate gone rogue. Clever. The other lady was pushed to deposit $500. They probably get more if there is a conversion.

[John K]

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@Jennifer M wrote:

hahahahaha there is another person complaining about this. Looks like a new group of scammers have found their way to Upwork. ha

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Tips to avoid questionable jobs needs an update perhaps?