Scam

[paulinasicius]

I got an offer to interview for a translation job for **Edited for Community Guidelines**. The individual I interviewed with claimed to be**Edited for Community Guidelines**. I interviewed through Telegram and the individual asked me a serious of regular interview questions and other questions that seemed off, like my credit score and what bank I used. The next day, he told me I got the job and sent me a really legitimate-looking letter. He then asked me to pay him $15,000 that he said the company would reimburse me for. I called **Edited for Community Guidelines** and they told me that it  was, indeed, a scam. 

[prestonhunter]

Paulina:

thank you for your note about this.

It is interesting and informative to hear firsthand descriptions of scams.

In the future, you will of course not feel a need to call the company whose names the scammers are feeding to you.

For all others reading this:

When a scammer feeds you a company's name, please do not call the company. It just wastes their time and is annoying.

Obviously a real client does not ask YOU to pay THEM money.

[paulinasicius]

Wow, I wasn’t expecting such a rude response. The scam was really well done and I needed to confirm. I also think it behooves a company to know that a scam is using their employment materials. Additionally, the company thanked me and asked me to send them everything the scammer sent me.
But thank you for your enlightening response.

[versailles]

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Paulina S wrote:
Wow, I wasn’t expecting such a rude response. 

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What?

[prestonhunter]

Paulina:

The response you received was not rude. It was informative.

The scammers potentially use the names and information of ANY company they find on the Internet.

So this has nothing to do with one particular company.

There is really nothing a company can do to prevent scammers from using their names and info like this. The important thing to understand is that the scammers are not targeting the company. They are targeting the marks: the inexperienced freelancers who potentially can be manipulated into sending them money.

You are correct that the scam is well done. The scammers are smooth. I am glad that you were smart enough that ultimately you did not fall for this.

In the future, you and others who read this thread will quickly recognize that this sort of thing is a scam.

[danielh1979]

Don't worry Preston your response wasn't rude.**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[colettelewis]

It would be so good if this forum could be returned to some sort of logical sequence in order to avoid comments like this. 

[feed_my_eyes]

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Paulina S wrote:
Wow, I wasn’t expecting such a rude response. The scam was really well done and I needed to confirm. I also think it behooves a company to know that a scam is using their employment materials. Additionally, the company thanked me and asked me to send them everything the scammer sent me.
But thank you for your enlightening response.

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I don't see anything rude in Preston's response, and his post is informative because this won't be the last time that you'll be targetted by this scam. It's worth remembering that you can only be hired via Upwork and paid via Upwork; any official-looking letters of employment or contracts that the client sends you are worthless, and you could have had your account banned for agreeing to accept a cheque, even if it had been the real Barnes & Noble.

[martina_plaschka]

Darn. Zombie thread again. 

[pgiambalvo]

Yet more relevant now than when it first began.

[martina_plaschka]

Maybe, maybe not. But the forum is a mess today, old posts popping up for NO REASON at all. Couldn't help to write this in all caps, since this seems to be the usual format. 😉 

[ashleighpowers]

Want to flag that this scam is happening again. They reached out to me and sent me a PDF asking for me to reach out to HR on Telegram app.

**Edited for community guidelines**

[bstojadinovic]

Hi Ashleigh,

Thank you for reporting this to us. I'll be sure to escalate this to the correct team for further investigation and appropriate actions will be taken according to our internal processes. 

Please check this help article for more information on how to use the flag option found on each job post or message to report any suspicious or inappropriate content. Also, check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs.

[045ad4eb]

So, I got an interview with someone two days ago and I spent some time answering the questions, which seem legitimate. Nothing seemed fishy until yesterday that the person interviewing me told me to wait for a check to arrive home, which wasn’t said in the interview. I actually signed something two days ago but I didn’t provide anything such as SSN.

What measures can I take to avoid anyone using my info? I guess they will be sending me a check expecting me to cash it out, as they said yesterday, but I’m not gonna deposit it.

[g_vasilevski]

Hi A V,

Just to confirm, did the communication was on Upwork? If yes, are you referring to another account? I checked your account but was not able to locate any communication regarding this. Thank you.

[sparkesusan]

Yeah, that happened to me too.  I thought it was interesting to read it.  There were errors all over it!  Tells you that it's not a legitimate offer at all.  A real company wouldn't have near the amount of grammatical errors this one had.  I also won't download another link like Telegram.  If they want to interview me, do it here on Upwork or not at all.  I don't worry about them being pi**ed.  I don't know them and I don't care.  I'm protecting my safety and my bank account.  

[heathflowers]

Seems to still be out there... I just recieved one asking to move to telegram 

You are to set up a screen name on Telegram and add up the company HIRING MANAGER **Edited for community guidelines**and Send him a message to commence with the

interview or you can also add him up on his Telegram username (.....).

[bstojadinovic]

Hi Heath,

Thank you for flagging this for us. I’ve checked your report and this project has already been taken down because it was in violation of Upwork TOS and action has been taken on the client account. Please check this help article for crucial information that will help you have a safe and successful journey on Upwork.

[researchediting]

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Ashleigh P wrote:

Want to flag that this scam is happening again. They reached out to me and sent me a PDF asking for me to reach out to HR on Telegram app.

**Edited for community guidelines**

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Apart from the fact that we can't communicate with prospective clients off-platform, references to "HR" and "hiring managers" are generally red flags for a scam.

[aidasalehi]

I just got an offer by someone named Jerry Fischer and the interview was via telegram with someone named Albert Edward. I looked up both of them and no where to be found. I called Barnes and Nobles and they don't exist. 

[tinker_bell3]

Hi Aida, 

I checked, and I was able to locate the contract you are referring to. I can confirm that our team has already removed the job and taken action against the client following our internal process. You can read more on this help article and also, please check out Tips to avoid questionable jobs. 

[wendy_writes]

It seems that all mention of Telegram is as much as a red flag for SCAM as Google Hangout.

[0290e756]

Just wanted to let you know that I was contacted with a job from **Edited for community guidelines** and an interview through Telegram, so it might still be out there.

[bstojadinovic]

Hi Carly,

Thanks for flagging this job to us. I've checked and confirmed that the job has already been taken down because it was in violation of Upwork TOS and action has been taken on the client account. 

Please check this help article for more information on how to use the flag option found on each job post or message to report any suspicious or inappropriate content. Also, check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs.

[dd0c9d25]

Hi Pauline,
Just responding here so everyone knows this person is still doing this! This happened to me, I thought it seemed off so I started doing some research and found your post! So glad I did!

[prestonhunter]

re: "Just responding here so everyone knows this person is still doing this!"

Thank you for your report. But just to clarify:

This is not a "person."

This is a script or scam package used by many, many people. There is a whole bank of scam scripts which arterial circulated in the scam industry. These are used by solo practitioners as well as by organized scam businesses and gangs.

[hkkelley7]

Thanks for this posting. I was just targeted by a similar scam for a proofreader/copy editor job at Barnes & Noble. The initial contact said they found my resumé on ZipRecruiter.

[bstojadinovic]

Hi Helen,

Could you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about your report? I’ll check it and escalate accordingly. 

Make sure to check our Stay Safe series and learn more on how to work safe online:

• Stay Safe Online: Preventing Fraud
• Stay Safe Online: what you need to know
• Stay Safe Online: How circumvention hurts the marketplace and your business
• Stay Safe Online: Paid and Leased Account Fraud

If you see a violation of the Upwork Terms of Service, we encourage you to use Report Suspicious User Activity feature.

Thank you!

[f232f9c3]

I fell victim to the scam.  Online translation job.  Was contacted by **Edited for community guidelines** to use WhatsApp to continue.  Everything looked legit.  Interview was all done by text.  Welcome letter came the next day.  Signed and sent copies of my drivers license.  Then they sent my a checkfor $3400 to purchase equipment.  Deposited into my account and my bank told me go ahead and spend it, even though it was still pending (value was credited to my balance).  I was asked to send $1000 to a middle person by **Edited for community guidelines** in order to purchase equipment.  I was hesitant in sending any money, but I was desparate and my  bank said ok to spend the deposited money.  So I took the chance and sent by **Edited for community guidelines**.  Was told to send another $1000.  I stopped there and started searching online for possible scam.  Found out it could be a scam and called **Edited for community guidelines**  HR rep said the person I was communicating with does not exist. Expensive lesson learned.  Please be careful out there.

[bstojadinovic]

Hi Mas,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Could you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about your report? I’ll check that for you and assist you accordingly.

Thank you.

[jr-translation]

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Mas W wrote:

I fell victim to the scam.  Online translation job.  Was contacted by **Edited for community guidelines** to use WhatsApp to continue.  Everything looked legit.  Interview was all done by text.  Welcome letter came the next day.  Signed and sent copies of my drivers license.  Then they sent my a checkfor $3400 to purchase equipment.  Deposited into my account and my bank told me go ahead and spend it, even though it was still pending (value was credited to my balance).  I was asked to send $1000 to a middle person by **Edited for community guidelines** in order to purchase equipment.  I was hesitant in sending any money, but I was desparate and my  bank said ok to spend the deposited money.  So I took the chance and sent by **Edited for community guidelines**.  Was told to send another $1000.  I stopped there and started searching online for possible scam.  Found out it could be a scam and called **Edited for community guidelines**  HR rep said the person I was communicating with does not exist. Expensive lesson learned.  Please be careful out there.

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If there should ever be a second chance for you, follow the ToS.

[a_lipsey]

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Mas W wrote:

I fell victim to the scam.  Online translation job.  Was contacted by **Edited for community guidelines** to use WhatsApp to continue.  Everything looked legit.  Interview was all done by text.  Welcome letter came the next day.  Signed and sent copies of my drivers license.  Then they sent my a checkfor $3400 to purchase equipment.  Deposited into my account and my bank told me go ahead and spend it, even though it was still pending (value was credited to my balance).  I was asked to send $1000 to a middle person by **Edited for community guidelines** in order to purchase equipment.  I was hesitant in sending any money, but I was desparate and my  bank said ok to spend the deposited money.  So I took the chance and sent by **Edited for community guidelines**.  Was told to send another $1000.  I stopped there and started searching online for possible scam.  Found out it could be a scam and called **Edited for community guidelines**  HR rep said the person I was communicating with does not exist. Expensive lesson learned.  Please be careful out there.

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Let this be a lesson to other newbies that they need to read the TOS and learn how Upwork works before taking a job. If you had followed the rules and TOS you wouldn't be out this money. It is an expensive lesson, and so it doesn't happen again you should read about how to use what you signed up for with Upwork. 

[junechae]

I think I'm talking to this person right now haha they are asking for rapid response and would even wait untill 10pm until I send the signed contract, so they can send me a check or external money transfer for me to buy all the equipments. They are sending me all the information about the company along with their website, but it's in another launguage which I cannot understand. 

[tinker_bell3]

Hi GeeYun,

Please know that all communications should be done Upwork before a contract is placed. All payments should also be done through Upwork. Not doing so is a violation of Upwork TOS. If you see a job or a profile that seems suspicious, you can report it to us using the flagging option. You can read more on this help article and also, please check out Tips to avoid questionable jobs. You might also want to check out the information here to learn more about staying safe on Upwork.