Scammed by *edited*

[horsttyler7]

Hey I’m new to upwork and believe I’m trying to be scammed. The employers profile picture on upwork is **edited for Community Guidelines** and through text messages they told me that they need me to take care of their business while they go through cancer treatment.

[yitwail]

Tyler, clients aren't required to provide photos of themselves. I've worked for any number of clients who had no photo, or used a logo instead of a photo. While none of them had **edited for Community Guidelines** photo, I'm guessing that's permitted, and if she's undergoing cancer treatment, she might have reason for not wanting to upload her own photo.

[horsttyler7]

I don’t know something was off about her. She gave me her phone number and told me to call her and when I did she did not answer and texted me that she just in the hospital because she was not feeling well and then gave me the cancer story. She also used terrible grammar and about 10 min ago texted me saying **edited for Community Guidelines** which is her name, giving me a red flag and so I asked about her profile picture and she claimed she loves **edited for Community Guidelines** movies and I asked if this was a scam and I’ve gotten no response and her profile picture on upwork is now an old woman but it looks like the picture came off of an advertisement

[yitwail]

Well, if she's a new client, and she doesn't have verified payment, you may be correct. It would be strange to make up a cancer story, unless she wants your sympathy, but there's no lack of strange people in the world.

[mtngigi]

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John K wrote:

Well, if she's a new client, and she doesn't have verified payment, you may be correct. It would be strange to make up a cancer story, unless she wants your sympathy, but there's no lack of strange people in the world.

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And ... there's no lack of strange people on Upwork. 

[AveryO]

Hi Tyler, 

If this raises a red flag, or if you feel uncomfortable pushing through with this client, you have the option not to continue communicating with the client. You may also flag the job post as inappropriate so that it goes to the team's queue, and they can review and take the necessary actions against it. 

Since you are new, I highly recommend that you read up on the "Safety First!" section of the freelancer resources we have compiled, and these tips for avoiding questionable jobs for more information about working safely through Upwork.