Got scammed by client

[66941cf7]

I submitted a proposal and the client contacted me on telegram. After completing the project, i mailed them. At first they aaked me to pay 3000 inr as "milestone award". And offered me to pay 672 rs per page. After mailing them the completed project, they blocked me on telegram. I lost my money and didnt receive my payment as well .

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

Thank you for reporting this.

You are providing a service to other Upwork freelancers by doing so.

I am sorry to hear that you participated in a scam. But the good thing is that you have learned from your mistakes and will never make those same mistakes again in the future. Making mistakes is a powerful way to learn. Some freelancers learn by reading documentation. Other freelancers learn by diving right in and taking their lumps.

Of course, as you move forward, you will:

- not communicate off-platform before being officially hired

- not agree to send money to a client (such as a "milestone award")

- not agree to work for free

- not work without a contract

If you have any remaining questions about what you did wrong in this situation, please don't hesitate to ask.

[pgiambalvo]

It is beyond clear that many new freelancers do not know that they are not supposed to communicate off of Upwork until after a contract is in place. What's more, they assume that if a job is on Upwork that asks them to do that, it must be okay, otherwise the job wouldn't have been allowed to be posted. It is not unreasonable to explicity tell them that rule when they sign up, even though it is in the ToS. Something that simple would go a long way to helping people avoid being scammed.

[prestonhunter]

re: "It is beyond clear that many new freelancers do not know that they are not supposed to communicate off of Upwork until after a contract is in place."

There is nothing we can do about that.

They will dive in and learn by doing, and take their lumps while doing so.

It would be my preference that such freelancers be suspended from using the platform. Perhaps for 3 months. Or six months.

But I'm not in charge. It's not my call.

[pgiambalvo]

Of course there's something we can do about it -- tell them when they are signing up. And banning someone for being ignorant after they've lost money just seems cruel to me. "Hey, sorry you were robbed, but maybe throwing you into jail for few months so that you can't get any more work here will help."

[prestonhunter]

Peter:
I am not saying that we should ban these freelancers permanently.

I am proposing a suspension, such as 3 months or 6 months.

During that time, the freelancer will not be able to applly to jobs.

This would give the freelancers time to further study how to use Upwork properly.

I don't regard it as "cruel."

These freelancers are not ready to use the Upwork system yet.

[pgiambalvo]

Then Upwok should do more to make them ready, or at least warn them of the potential hazards of using their system. To me, letting them join without doing that is like selling someone a car and not telling them that the airbags don't work because they're sure to discover that on their own AFTER an accident.

[sofia2008]

---

Peter G wrote:

Then Upwok should do more to make them ready, or at least warn them of the potential hazards of using their system. 

---

While freelancing comes with more control over some aspects of one's work, it also comes with responsabilities. Being ready to use a 3rd-party system is one of those responsabilities.

About the "potential hazards of using their system", the warning should be about what could happen when they are using the system "inappropriately". 

[petra_r]

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Peter G wrote:

Then Upwok should do more to make them ready,

---

Upwork isn't a Kindergarten for people who are not yet fit to use the Internet unsupervised.

[pgiambalvo]

And while we're at it, when freelancers see "Payment Verified," they actually think that means Upwork has verified the client can pay. But why in the world would they think that and therefore trust the client? They only find out it means nothing after they've been cheated.

[petra_r]

That's irrelevant in this cotext. The OP's scammer wasn't payment method verified and she wasn't even hired.

[bundie702]

" It is not unreasonable to explicity tell them that rule when they sign up, even though it is in the ToS. Something that simple would go a long way to helping people avoid being scammed."

----------

The other day, when I suggested that Upwork link the sign-up page to the excellent, in-depth piece someone wrote about how to recognize scams, I was told this has actually been done. Now, if the newbies choose not to read the article, that's on them...

[pgiambalvo]

Has it actually been done? Hope so.

[petra_r]

---

Bettye U wrote:

The other day, when I suggested that Upwork link the sign-up page to the excellent, in-depth piece someone wrote about how to recognize scams, I was told this has actually been done.

---

It wasn't... I totally agree that it should be but here we are.

[bundie702]

Disappointing...someone stated this on one of these threads, a person who responds knowledgeably to other questions and who I believed to be a reputable source. Oh, well...

[66941cf7]

Is there by any chance a way to get my money back? 

[petra_r]

---

Rohini C wrote:

Is there by any chance a way to get my money back? 

---

No, none at all unless you can get it back via whatever method you used to pay.

[martina_plaschka]

This wasn't a real job, this was a scam to get your money. 

[NikolaS]

Hi Rohini,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I shared your report with our team for further review. Please know that 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.

Never get paid or pay someone outside of Upwork. You may open yourself up to scams or fraud, and lose Upwork Payment Protection. A real client will never ask you to give them money to start working, cash a check for them, work for free, or provide your personal information.

I 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.

Feel free to check this thread and this help article for more information on how to stay safe on Upwork. 

[luce-neidert]

Nikola,

I've been flagging tons of jobs for the last 2 weeks now. The reason is always the same, "Job post contains contact information". Hours later, the jobs are still there.

So I really don't understand why you are advising to flag job posts. I think I'm not going to anymore, as it seems to be a waste of time.

[bundie702]

"So I really don't understand why you are advising to flag job posts. I think I'm not going to anymore, as it seems to be a waste of time."

----------

I don't do this anymore, either, or only rarely.

[pgiambalvo]

I understand. But if everyone stopped flagging, a real scam/spam problem might arise here on the platform.

[bundie702]

I've done my share, Peter. I was told by someone reputable that a link for newbies for how to avoid scams has been posted on the signup page. If people choose to ignore it, that's on them. Like that old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink." And if I allow myself to fall behind on my obligations to my clients because I'm spending so much time trying to protect others, that's on me!

P.S. A real scam problem already exists on the platform! And, frankly, it's affecting Upwork's reputation. I've had several people tell me they gave up on the platform because the only responses they received were from were scammers.

[getpowerday]

Never pay any client to get work on Upwork or any other freelancer website. I have seen many projects posted on the Upwork that looks like they ar fake projects in at many instances, I have seen the same tasks are posted again and again. Always check the client history, projected posted in the past and the reviews. In this way, you will be on the safer side and also always communicate over the Upwork and take money through Upwork.

[7c524c6a]

i got scammed exactly the same way you were, i didn`t receive the payment ,  i worked hard on 200 pages they are not replying me back.