Opt-Out Fee

[leighmardovich]

Hello!

I am very new to Upwork (as a freelancer), and I am curious about the Opt-Out fee. Do I have to receive proof from a client that they have paid this? I don't want to violate Upwork's Terms and Conditions, but a client told me that they paid the fee, and how can I verify this before proceeding with the position? 

Thanks for any help!

[petra_r]

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Leigh M wrote:

I am very new to Upwork (as a freelancer), and I am curious about the Opt-Out fee. Do I have to receive proof from a client that they have paid this? I don't want to violate Upwork's Terms and Conditions, but a client told me that they paid the fee, and how can I verify this before proceeding with the position? 

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The client is a scammer and wants to send you a fake check which will leave you out thousands of Dollars, possibly with a closed bank account. 

There is no job. It's the ancient fake check scam. (Most likely, but there are a few more that work along the same lines)

If you check, you will see that the client does not have a verified payment method (and hence could not have paid Upwork anything)

[leighmardovich]

How can you be sure about this though? Upwork does state in their user agreement that people can pay an opt-out fee? 

[petra_r]

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Leigh M wrote:

How can you be sure about this though? Upwork does state in their user agreement that people can pay an opt-out fee? 

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Let's take a look...

On the client's job post, does it show the client as having a verified payment method?

Have you seen how much the opt out fee is? Do you REALLY think any genuine client would pay $ 3500 +++ to Upwork to opt out a proofreader with no experience and whose work they have never seen, whom they have never tried and who has no track record? What sense would that make? 

Were you told that a check would be sent to buy a home office / Apple Macbook etc? (If not, you will be)

It's one of the oldest, dumbest scams on the Internet, on average people lose between 3k and 4 k if they are dumb enough to bank the check.

[leighmardovich]

No, no verified payment method. I checked the company and the interviewer's name, and both seemed legit, but I guess this could be a "Catfish" thing. Thanks for your response. How frustrating. It was my first interview.

[prestonhunter]

re: "I checked the company and the interviewer's name"

That is what the scammer WANTED you to do.

Yes, it is a "catfish" thing.

The fact that you googled these names exactly as the scammer hoped you would do is part of the reason you got hooked so deep into this.

If it was a real client, then it would be MORE likely that you would not have found anything when you googled the company and/or employee name.

[leighmardovich]

Thank you! 

[petra_r]

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Leigh M wrote:

No, no verified payment method. 

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Right. So.... even if we did for one second believe that they are who they say they are and suddenly decided out of the blue to come to Upwork and offer someone with your type of profile (new, no experience, no portfolio, no samples, no related background) a well paying job sight unseen, (we don't believe in that any more than we believe in Father Christmas and Magical Unicorns...) - then without a payment method, how exactly would they have paid Upwork their thousands of Dollars opt out fee? The opt out fee is the greater of $ 3500 or a quarter of the annual salary. Those scammers tend to claim they'll pay in the region of $ 30+ an hour, so based on that a quarter of the annual salary would be around $ 15k.... Do you still think that's remotely likely to have happened?

(Upwork don't accept payment by fake checks....)

As a newbie, you have to tread carefully and ask yourself every step of the way "Does this even make sense?"

Someone sending you a real check for a home office after stumbling across your profile does not make sense, so that check can't be anything other than fake. Even if a client wanted to buy you a home office (they don't, that's not how it works) they would not send a check, they'd just buy it and have it shipped to you.

Those people go only (or almost exclusively) after US based newbies who are so keen to start their first job that they don't use critical thinking to figure out whether something may just be a scam. 

[leighmardovich]

I was skeptical once he said he would pay outside of Upwork and would like to think I did use "critical thinking" by coming here and searching for suggestions. I never performed any work for the person.

Thanks for your assistance. 

[prestonhunter]

Leigh, you did not do any free work. You did not lose any money.

You did the right thing, and you won out against the scammer.

You were not one of MANY freelancers or clients who don't come to the  forum and ask for advice until AFTER they have lost a lot of time and/or money.

[leighmardovich]

Thanks Preston!

[e3399535]

What happens after the fake check is deposited ?? 

[prestonhunter]

re: “a friend of mine just told me about this! she just deposited a check but haven't done any work yet. What should she do??”

Go to the bank and apologize.

[38d5308c]

Aw, crud. I have a feeling this is the case for me... I haven't sent anything, but just had an interview and thought I'd come here to feel it out. I did have my hopes up, should have known it was too good to be true! Thanks for your replies.