How to Know a Job is Legit?

[dmfoltz]

I'm very, very new. Like, this week new. 

I've put out several proposals and received one invitation, but it includes a PDF download to view the interview notes. After reading through the articles available, I'm a little sketchy about clicking that download. Especially given that Upwork has a warning note attached saying if I click the link they're not responsible. I suppose I was assuming messages sent through Upwork's message center would/should be safe? 

Thoughts? Helpful tips? 

[martina_plaschka]

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Danielle F wrote:

I'm very, very new. Like, this week new. 

I've put out several proposals and received one invitation, but it includes a PDF download to view the interview notes. After reading through the articles available, I'm a little sketchy about clicking that download. Especially given that Upwork has a warning note attached saying if I click the link they're not responsible. I suppose I was assuming messages sent through Upwork's message center would/should be safe? 

Thoughts? Helpful tips? 

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They might be perfectly safe to open, but then you might click on a link contained in the file that leads to you something unsafe. Upwork can't guarantee that everything you encounter on the platform is safe (this is impossible) hence the multiple warnings, posts, terms of service, and so on. 

If you don't know or trust the source, don't open it. Plus that sounds like a scam anyway. What interview notes? Refuse any communication outside of upwork and you should be safe. And no checks, ever. 

[836408d7 · Accepted solution]

Generally speaking, verified payments and previous hires are a good indicator of legit clients. But still, even then I would want to speak with the client about the job first before opening random attachments.

Can never be too careful!

[dmfoltz]

It is a project invitation linked from a Google Drive account, it appears. 

[prestonhunter]

re: "It is a project invitation linked from a Google Drive account, it appears."

That sounds incredibly goofy.

If you wanted to hire a freelancer, wouldn't you simply describe what it is that you want them to do and post the text in the body of a job posting? Or - worst case scenario - attach a file to the job posting?

Why send people to another site entirely just to read the invitation or job description?

I see something like that.... I definitely think someone is up to no good.

[rinabale]

Soooo very glad you asked this. I've had the same issue. Since I haven't experienced the whole [legitimate] process yet, I didn't know if it was normal. They had me get on Skype and sent me a questionaire I had to send back. Then he asked for some personal info (i.e. Name, Address, Phone#, etc. NOT banking info). The job was removed from Upwork and when I told him I didn't want to accept the position if it wasn't through Upwork, he replied: "Yes this contract is through upwork, we’re only hosting the interview and processing of equipment here, once we’re done we start the project on upwork" 

[BojanS]

Hi Rina,

Thanks for flagging this for us. I'll be sure to look into your report and escale it to the correct team for their review. 

Please check this thread for more information on how to use the flag option found on each job post or message to report any suspicious or inappropriate content. Also, check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs.

Thank you!

[rinabale]

Thanks for the links! I'm learning and it was good info to have to protect myself.