Okay—now I'm worried. Am I protected?

[4671f15d]

Howdy, Friends!

Maybe I've been reading too many messages here about scam attempts. Or maybe it's just that it's 4:00 in the morning and my brain is betraying me.

I've just started the first work on my second contract last night.  It's an hourly contract.  I've got the identity verification in place and my account seems to be in good standing. It's letting me do things, anyway. I'm using the Upwork time tracker and it's capturing screen grabs of the work and all that is going great.  I've put in just about two-and-a-half hours into the project and shared my preliminary work (through Upwork messages) with the client. The initial response is positive. But… I noticed a bit ago that the client is pretty new to Upwork. Their payment method has been verified, and the work looks legitimate.  It's a ten-slide powerpoint outlining work done on an IT project for a very specific job. I don't think there's any way this could be a way to get free work. It's too specific and wouldn't be of use to anyone other than the company the information is about. I feel good about the contribution I've made in these initial steps, too. 

So all is…okay? But I remember something about the ToS saying that to qualify for Hourly Payment Protection, both the client and the freelancer must have agreed to use the Upwork time tracking system.  I can't see anything on the client profile saying whether they did.  I certainly did. It seemed implied by the contract I was offered. 

And now I see that, although the client's payment method has been verified and I've checked I've done everything to be covered by Hourly Payment Protection, the client is new to Upwork, too.  No previous hires on file, no reviews from freelancers.  

So now I'm wondering. Is there a way this is a scam that I don't know about?  Is there something in this PowerPoint that they've sent me to work on that could be a trojan horse? We haven't traded any contact information outside of Upwork.

Is there a way I can confirm I'm going to get paid? Or check that I'm safe?

Paranoically yours,

Ross

[2a05aa63]

Houlrly contracts are rarely a scam if you track your work with the upwork tracker. The client only chooses how many hours you can track. It's you who needs to use the tracker.

[4671f15d]

Hello, Viacheslav!  Thanks for the reply.  

It's good to hear that hourly contracts are less likely to be a scam. That helps some.  And yes—I'm using the tracker, no problem.

I think it's just feeling strange to me that after a lot of very hard work, things feel like they're going too well for it to be true. Or maybe that's hard work finally paying off.  It's hard to be sure.

[luqman_mak]

Hello Panaroicall Ross
"So all is…okay? But I remember something about the ToS saying that to qualify for Hourly Payment Protection, both the client and the freelancer must have agreed to use the Upwork time tracking system. "

^The client and freelancer must have an hourly contract in place and the freelancer should track their time with the time tracker, with enough activity levels, screenshots showing that they were actually doing the work and updated memos.
The freelancer and client profiles must be in good standing - means you dont have any 'contract on hold' or 'verification request' or such and that the client has a verified payment method

From what you have said, sounds like you are protected.
In the ToS, the section that covers hourly payment protection further breaks down how the amount is calculated - you should have a read on that as you gain more contracts