Newbie please help

[stephaniemarie01]

Hi, I am new to Upwork and I just received an email saying that a job had been closed bc it didn’t meet terms of service. I also have gotten this and I could tell :hundred_points: it was a scam. My question is - I was contacted by this person via Upwork messaging and then she reviewed my resume etc and she sent me over paperwork to sign for work etc and it seems legit, I didn’t fill out any personal info that wasn’t already on my resume. Anyways,how do I find out why it doesn’t meet terms? How do I go about this now? I’m so confused. Thanks!

[browersr]

You won't find out the reason but it's very odd that you would be asked to fill out paperwork. This is a major red flag as it appears to be someone trying to get personal or financial information. Whatever the job posting was, chances are that UW figured out they were up to no good and shut it down. Good job by UW. You really should not be filling out paperwork to sign for "work". You are a freelancer not an employee. UW facilitates payments and so there is no reason to engage in that directly with any client.  I don't know what the paperwork they asked you to sign was, but overall it smells bad. Be thankful UW shut this down before they could really scam you.

[mwiggenhorn]

And to add - you don't need ever to send your resume to an Upwork client.  Your whole work history should be on your profile.  And in the off chance that you do need to send one, remove all personal information except your name.

[stephaniemarie01]

I wondered about that also, I was thinking I thought they got sent my resume already on Upwork? Upwork is very hard to follow as a newbie, I have tried to do ALOT of research but it is very confusing!!

So if I got a legit person what would their next steps be on Upwork? Would they be the ones to select contract etc?

[stephaniemarie01]

Thank you for ur response! I thought the same thing. Weird thing is, I clicked on the website contact and used another email I have to ask more information on their services (as a client stand point) and got a wonderful response back from the same ladies name that is trying to hire on Upwork. So unless someones using her personal info to try and scam. The paperwork was just article of agreement more or less, with the job description, duties expected, pay rate agreed upon etc. It did not ask for anything phishy like SSN, bank info etc. I wouldn’t never give that out. At least I know that much! Asked general info that is found on my resume. Well I guess lesson learned, if she writes back I will tell her she needs to do anything else through Upwork. I’m clueless, it’s hard being new.

[browersr]

There is no reason for such paperwork. All of those details should be part of the job posting and in the message center. The rate is locked when the job starts here. The person was "wonderful" because that's how they disarm you. They want you to feel safe. They may start with asking for some info that seems harmless but then it can escalate. You'll want to keep the job given the time you have taken. You will be so close to payment, etc., that it could not hurt to just give them this one additional piece of data.... You got lucky here but you cannot rely on UW to always get these people. Spend some time to learn how UW and freelancing in general works. You got a second chance with this one. Take advantage of that. 

[stephaniemarie01]

I have been a freelancer for only a little over a year, but just new to Upwork. I have not had this kind of problem with the company I’ve been working with the past year, luckily! I just wanted to try out Upwork to get alittle better pay, but lesson learned big time. In the meantime, as I posted this and waited for replies I had already emailed the direct company at the email on their website and she confirmed that it is not her, so I was on high alert already and I would have NOT ever had given out any important details, just needed someone to talk to on here about the issue so I could get an understanding on Upwork, which I highly doubt I will continue. I will prob just stay with my current source.

Appreciate your response. Thank you!

[martina_plaschka]

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Stephanie B wrote:
Thank you for ur response! I thought the same thing. Weird thing is, I clicked on the website contact and used another email I have to ask more information on their services (as a client stand point) and got a wonderful response back from the same ladies name that is trying to hire on Upwork. So unless someones using her personal info to try and scam. The paperwork was just article of agreement more or less, with the job description, duties expected, pay rate agreed upon etc. It did not ask for anything phishy like SSN, bank info etc. I wouldn’t never give that out. At least I know that much! Asked general info that is found on my resume. Well I guess lesson learned, if she writes back I will tell her she needs to do anything else through Upwork. I’m clueless, it’s hard being new.

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Of course they are nice and friendly. So nice, in fact, that the next step would have been to send you a check for office equipment, which you cash and order something from a large website with your credit card for them. In short, this is a scam.

[stephaniemarie01]

Fortunately, I had read about this particular scam you mention previously so i would not have done that. I have everything I need for my jobs, so I wouldn’t have fallen for that part at least.

Thanks.

[kat303]

Since you don't know anything about this site, how it works, it's procedures etc, I strongly suggest that you go through all the links under the section Popular topics and then read all the information available there.

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us

[JoanneP]

Hi Stephanie,

Welcome to Upwork! Sorry to hear about your experience. Please check out this thread to help you get started and make sure to go through the safety first section. Thank you!