Disheartened by all the scams

[3ff4f3c0]

I am new to Upwork and I have to say I am really disheartened by all the scams I have come across. Almost every single project I have applied for, they want me to contact someone else via Telegram. Some have been the same "company" but there's so way to tell until they start communicating with you. Is Upwork doing anything to help prevent this? It's using up all my connects applying for these that turn out to be scams. 

[ArjayM · Accepted solution]

Hi Michelle,

We truly appreciate you reaching out and reporting these. I'm sorry to learn about these disappointing experiences you had. You're correct! 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've shared your report with the appropriate team for further review. They will surely take a closer look at this client and take action accordingly if necessary.

Rest assured that our teams are working to address the situation around scam and spam jobs, including higher than usual volumes of scam posts, constantly changing methods of scam accounts, and gaps in user education around Upwork TOS and safety. Additionally, I assure you that we'll continue sharing your feedback with the team and providing updates to the Community about the team's initiatives.

We also 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 help article and this thread for more information on how to stay safe on Upwork. 

[feed_my_eyes]

If a job is taken down as a scam, you'll get your connects back.