Scam or not?

[ale_bat]

Hello everyone.

I'd like to hear what you think about this, as I am not so sure this is a real job offer.

Yesterday I received an invitation to interview for a job (I hadn't applied for it). I applied and wrote my cover letter. The client wrote in the offer that future communication would not be on Upwork, but on Whatsapp or via email, so he wanted applicants to give him their phone number and email (but I only gave him the latter).

Is this legit?

Afterwards, I searched on Google his translation agency, which appears to be temporarily closed. This is what made me very suspicious.

What are your opinions?

[colettelewis]

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Alessia B wrote:

Hello everyone.

I'd like to hear what you think about this, as I am not so sure this is a real job offer.

Yesterday I received an invitation to interview for a job (I hadn't applied for it). I applied and wrote my cover letter. The client wrote in the offer that future communication would not be on Upwork, but on Whatsapp or via email, so he wanted applicants to give him their phone number and email (but I only gave him the latter).

Is this legit?

Afterwards, I searched on Google his translation agency, which appears to be temporarily closed. This is what made me very suspicious.

What are your opinions?

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______________________________
It's a scam, or if not a scam, the client is trying to get you go off Upwork - a serious transgression. Report the client and move on. 

It is now against Upwork's ToS to provide any outside contact information until you have a contract in place. So you can tell the client this.  

[NikolaS · Accepted solution]

Hi Alessia,

Thanks for reporting this to us. We will send your report to our team for investigation and appropriate actions will be taken according to our internal processes.

Please let them know that sharing contact information before a contract has started is against Upwork’s Terms of Service and that all communications prior to the contract starting must take place on Upwork. We also 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.

[ale_bat]

Hi, I don't seem to be able to flag the job posting. Is there anyone I can send the link to, maybe?

[ale_bat]

P.S.: I even lost some connects. Is there anyway I can get them back?

[AleksandarD]

Hi Alessia,

Connects are refunded only when a client closes their job without hiring or we find a job post has violated our Terms of Service.

Could you please send me a private message with the job posts so that I can take a look?

Thank you.

[jerome-bruce]

This whole site is one huge scam.

I have applied for 6 companies, no response.

A couple of days ago I applied for position that I have 20 years experience in and the client declined without even reading my resume.

This site  just sucks money out of people without any way for them to contact the client back.

[prestonhunter]

Jerome: Upwork is not a scam site.

But I understand your perspective.

When Upwork did not charge any money for connects, there was really no excuse for thinking it was a scam site. Freelancers could use the site completely for free. When I started out here, freelancers could only (a) pay nothing or (b) earn money. So there was a certain admirable purity in the system back then.

With the advent of paid connects... yes, it can seem like a scam site even to rational people.

It is not a scam site. In fact, for established freelancers (which is a category most regular Forum participants fall into), Upwork can be immensely profitable.

For a new person... it CAN be difficult and frustrating to break though and start earning significantly.

[m_terrazas]

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Jerome B wrote:

This whole site is one huge scam.

I have applied for 6 companies, no response.

A couple of days ago I applied for position that I have 20 years experience in and the client declined without even reading my resume.

This site  just sucks money out of people without any way for them to contact the client back.

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You have only submitted 6 proposals, and you already think it is a scam because you have not received a response?
Don't you think that accusing Upwork of a scammer is something very daring?

When you present a proposal, the best thing you can do is forget about it until, hopefully, the client responds, because normally you will not hear anything from them (and no, they will not send you a message to say that they are not interested or if they have read your proposal).

6 proposals is nothing. Less now, that Upwork is saturated with freelancers.
We have all started here from scratch, and we have all had to come up with many proposals to get started. So, if you are interested, all you have to do is keep looking for jobs that suit you well and keep sending proposals.