Possible Scam

[#1]

Hello,

Last Friday I received an offer only to realize after a series of interactions that it is possibly a scam.

I hope this note gets the attention of Upwork.

The client: **Edited for Community Guidelines**

Website used: **Edited for Community Guidelines**

The client send a few files which wanted me to exe or run software that would be able to view my computer screen. He started with wetransfer, then asked me to install Anydesk and send my code - when I refused and asked him to send his code he sent a Nowtransfer with files. The Nowtransfer contained files for a clothing company.

The entire dialogue was just very questionable but I went along to see where it would lead.

Be safe in this space guys! The scammers are everywhere.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Hi Annette, 

Thank you for reaching out to us and bringing this to our attention. I shared your report with our team so they can look into this further and take appropriate actions. I would aslo 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.

Additionally, I would recommend you check this help article and available learning paths in the Academy section to help you stay safe on Upwork.

[#3]

Hello! Nicola! I got the same message. I prefer to keep conversations in Upwork **Edited for Community Guidelines** asks for email to send a file. Keep asking so I thought maybe it's easier. I got a zip file with application inside(???) it should be campaign files but I got jeans pictures instead. Also website he sent is real and I text to their instagram to make sure it's real offer but nobody give an answer. Another thing that client is from USA but tells me he is business manager which located in Ireland. 

[#4]

Hello Mrs P,

Thank you for reaching out. I am sorry to hear about your experience with this client. I’d like to assure you that action has already been taken. For more tips on staying safe on Upwork, you can check out this helpful article.

[#5]

Stay alert Mrs. P, they'll try again using a different name.

[#6]

Thank you so much! They haven't given up just yet. This morning I received a file from datatransfer making it the fourth bulk file transfer app they used. Of course I've ignored it as no Offer came in from **Edited for Community Guidelines**. From previous interactions I realize it's the same people.

[#7]

Nikola - How do I remove/end that job? The offer was for a 3 month duration

[#8]

Hi Annette,

This is Ronna, stepping in for Nikola. Upon checking, the contract has been closed and not visible in your profile's Work History. I would like to share that only contracts with at least $1.00 payment are displayed in Work History. Contracts not meeting this minimum are hidden from the freelancer's Work History. You can learn more by visiting this helpful page. 

[#9]

Once a client hires you, it's almost impossible to report these scams. And if we don't fall for the scam, they give us a bad review and upwork continued to let them stay on the platform to scam other people. 

I was hired to run Facebook ads, They sent me a fake invite from a fake email to look like a real Facebook invite. I verified with Facebook it was all indeed a phishing scam. The link clicked or viewed is not a meta-and it was a way to gather my info so that they can hack my meta-advertising account and steal peoples credit cards. They are trying to charge advertising their clients to other clients credit cards. It's a known scam and there's no way to report it to UpWork once you accept the offer. Ive been trying to get this addressed going on 10 days now. 

oh and UpWork, thanks for keeping my star review up from this scammer company because I'm not stupid enough to fall for their scam. 

I'm very disappointed. UpWork used to be amazing and now it's getting very dangerous. 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[#10]

Hello Upwork moderators,

I'd like to report that this scammer had changed its identity to a certain someone named **Edited for Community Guidelines** from USA. I grew suspicious with our conversation so I googled the email she used **Edited for Community Guidelines** to transfer the files via WeTransfer. To much disappointment, It got a hit on this thread where the **Edited for Community Guidelines** name was used. Reading over the first two complaints by my fellow freelancers, I can hereby attest that the same tactic was used on me but fortunately for me, I was able to catch it before engaging further. I bet the scammers behind this so called **Edited for Community Guidelines** are the same individuals behind this **Edited for Community Guidelines** in my case. Please take notice and resolve the matter before some poor freelancer gets scammed. All the best and more power!

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[#11]

Hi Lordan,

Thank you for sharing your concern. I shared your report with our team to investigate and take action based on our internal processes. I would also like to let you know that you can use ‘Flag as Inappropriate’ option throughout the site to report any suspicious activity at any time. Should you also need to report a message, you can do so by hovering over the message that you need to report then select the (…) options menu and choose Report message. You can learn more by visiting this helpful page.

Additionally, I highly recommend checking this help article and available learning paths in the Academy section to help you stay safe on Upwork.