Scam or no?

[jmsst44]

Dear Fellow Freelancers,

 I just interviewed and was hired for a position that I found on here. Problem is, they want my bank account info so they can pay me through Direct Deposit. I thought we had to be paid through UpWork in order to keep everyone safe. I am worried that this is a scam.

[prestonhunter]

Jessica:

You can't name client companies and client names like that here.

It is a violation of Community Standards.

And those names are meaningless, anyway.

We don't have a list of names of scammers.

You need to identify scammers by their behavior, not by their names.

You said they want your bank account info?

Jessica: I don't need to know the NAME of a client in order to know these are just scammers trying to steal your money.

[prestonhunter]

re: "I thought we had to be paid through UpWork in order to keep everyone safe."

Yes, you are correct

ALL payment must go through Upwork.

If you had to ask us is this is a scam... if you thought that MAYBE you should provide these strangers your bank account details...

Then is it possible that you are not quite ready to work on Upwork yet? Do you think that you could benefit from reading more about "scams" and about general safety on Upwork? Read in Upwork help files, and also read about these topics in the Community Forum by doing a search for these topics.

[jmsst44]

WOW! I came here for a second opinon but I will not make that mistake again. People here are not helpful! They are rude!

[naltorn]

Jessica,

    Same thing.  They emailed me a "check" they want me to deposit.  I just told them all transactions need to to through Upwork.  Now they are saying that they can't since the check was already issued.  I haven't given them any info yet.

Does anyone know how to upload a conversation from Google Hangouts?  

Brian

[petra_r]

---

Brian P wrote:

    Same thing.  They emailed me a "check" they want me to deposit. 

---

The check is (of course) fake

[naltorn]

I reported this to Upwork, waiting on a response.

[prestonhunter]

re: "Does anyone know how to upload a conversation from Google Hangouts?"

It is kind of you to want to do this. But unnecessary. We already know that Google Hangouts invites are scams.

re: "I reported this to Upwork, waiting on a response."

The important thing is that YOU know it is a scam.

It was kind of you to report. Upwork probably WILL take care of this.

I would advice you to NOT wait for a response, however.

Upwork may never respond.

[JoanneP]

Hi Jessica,

You're right, all payments should be done through Upwork. You can flag any job that appears to be suspicious or violating Upwork's ToS using the flagging option found on every job post or Upwork profile. This sends a notification directly to Upwork, allowing us to investigate and take the appropriate measures. You can read more on this help article and also, please check out Tips to avoid questionable jobs. If you have any questions, please let us know. Thank you!