Contact information outside Upwork , suspicions

[hermansen-kassie]

I have a client who asked the best way to contact me outside of Upwork? Is that allowed?

also this contact told me " To make sure you are paid, you and I sign a legally binding and enforced contract that states that I must pay you the amount deserved that is agreed upon. This is also done by a third party called an escrow company meaning you get your pay regardless of how I feel because we have a legally binding and enforced contract" 

it sounds like an awesome opportunity, but I worry it's a scam?

[159aeba3]

It is a "scam".

[aaronph]

Hi,
You should stick with Upwork. 
1. It's against the platform's terms and service, so there is a huge chance you will get dropped from UW permanently. In this case, you have already posted it here. So don't. 
2. UW provides all the means to ensure that you will get paid if you do a proper job. There is no reason for risking switching to something else. It's a high chance that this is a scam. 
3. I hate this, but there are scammers, and people who look for free works on Upwork. You just have to learn how to spot one out and how to protect your time and pocket. In this case, it is best to go ahead and do some good deed by scaling your case to a UW agent, so this "client" can be sorted out. 

Best of lucks. 

[AndreaG]

Hi Kassie,

I would like to confirm that it is against Upwork's TOS for clients to request your contact information and communicate outside of the platform before a contract is in place. Making payments outside of Upwork is also against the TOS, this is called Circumvention. I'll go ahead and flag the job you're referring to to the team for a review and they will take appropriate action according to our processes.

I'm sorry you encountered this kind of behaviour in the marketplace. Please check out this help article for some advice on Staying Safe on Upwork.

Thanks!

[66ecf5bc · Accepted solution]

Spoiler

Hi Kassie,

You took a  good step that you shared this scam like offer here on this forum.  You are already knowledgeable enough about the TO's of Upwork that you did share your information with the buyer outside this platform and didn't contact him. 
Whether your order is going on with or not, it will be against the rules to contact any person outside this platform. 
If the buyer insists, you should seek help from  Customer Support. They will better decide about such a scam offer.
Hope it will be helpful.
Thanks