Solved: Sketchy companies / Scams?

3c13b37b · ‎11-23-2021

Hi,

I just started on upwork, and I applied for three separate positions. One lady asked for my phone number and said she would pay me via credit card or direct deposit. I declined. The next one asked me to skype. When I did, there was no picture and she asked weird questions like, "Where do you live? and "What sex are you?" The last one said I needed to skype immediately and there were a lot of misspellings in the communication. Is upwork a reputable place to find employment? My first three applications seemed like scams!

marc_compte · ‎11-24-2021

Kelly O wrote:
Hi,
I just started on upwork, and I applied for three separate positions. One lady asked for my phone number and said she would pay me via credit card or direct deposit. I declined. The next one asked me to skype. When I did, there was no picture and she asked weird questions like, "Where do you live? and "What sex are you?" The last one said I needed to skype immediately and there were a lot of misspellings in the communication. Is upwork a reputable place to find employment? My first three applications seemed like scams!

Not in those words (employment), but it is a place where you can find freelancing jobs (good and bad). I have been here for about half a year now and I exchanged messages with about 50 potential clients. I had maybe a couple like the ones you described, who were flagged and immediately forgotten. I think you may have been unlucky. There's good clients and bad clients, just like there's good freelancers and bad freelancers. Upwork does not own clients nor freelancers, so anybody around the world (good & bad) can join.

If you want to give Upwork a try, do not give up after 3 proposals. Send 100 and then you have more data to evaluate the platform. Pick your proposals carefully. If the job posting is complete and detailed there's higher chances the client will be a good client. If the job poting only says "I need X, contact me" there's higher chances of not being a good client (communication, at least, is definitely not a strong skill). If you talk to a client and don't like what you see, forget about that client and keep looking at the job feed to send more proposals.

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data_divas · ‎11-23-2021

There are a LOT of scams that are posted daily, but it is a great place to find work. Never communicate outside of Upwork until you have a contract, this should keep you safe from most of them.

Check out these tips as well:

https://community.upwork.com/t5/New-to-Upwork/Tips-to-Avoid-Questionable-Jobs/m-p/240833#U240833

martina_plaschka · ‎11-23-2021

Kelly O wrote:
Hi,
I just started on upwork, and I applied for three separate positions. One lady asked for my phone number and said she would pay me via credit card or direct deposit. I declined. The next one asked me to skype. When I did, there was no picture and she asked weird questions like, "Where do you live? and "What sex are you?" The last one said I needed to skype immediately and there were a lot of misspellings in the communication. Is upwork a reputable place to find employment? My first three applications seemed like scams!

Is upwork a reputable place to find employment?

No, it's a freelancer platform, it's not a job site.

They were all scams. You need to know that communicating outside of upwork before hire (Skype etc.) is not allowed. It is unlucky that all the jobs you apply to were scams. What made you apply to those? Were they encouraging newcomers? What was it?

marc_compte · ‎11-24-2021

Kelly O wrote:
Hi,
I just started on upwork, and I applied for three separate positions. One lady asked for my phone number and said she would pay me via credit card or direct deposit. I declined. The next one asked me to skype. When I did, there was no picture and she asked weird questions like, "Where do you live? and "What sex are you?" The last one said I needed to skype immediately and there were a lot of misspellings in the communication. Is upwork a reputable place to find employment? My first three applications seemed like scams!

Not in those words (employment), but it is a place where you can find freelancing jobs (good and bad). I have been here for about half a year now and I exchanged messages with about 50 potential clients. I had maybe a couple like the ones you described, who were flagged and immediately forgotten. I think you may have been unlucky. There's good clients and bad clients, just like there's good freelancers and bad freelancers. Upwork does not own clients nor freelancers, so anybody around the world (good & bad) can join.

If you want to give Upwork a try, do not give up after 3 proposals. Send 100 and then you have more data to evaluate the platform. Pick your proposals carefully. If the job posting is complete and detailed there's higher chances the client will be a good client. If the job poting only says "I need X, contact me" there's higher chances of not being a good client (communication, at least, is definitely not a strong skill). If you talk to a client and don't like what you see, forget about that client and keep looking at the job feed to send more proposals.

3c13b37b · ‎11-26-2021

Thank you for the advice. Maybe it was just bad luck as you said. I will keep trying!

colettelewis · ‎11-26-2021

Kelly O wrote:
Thank you for the advice. Maybe it was just bad luck as you said. I will keep trying!

_____________________________

If only new freelancers would read Upwork's ToS and help pages before diving into the deep end, there would be fewer scammers, who rely on inexperienced newcomers with only the sketchiest knowledge of how this site works.

Kelly, you could start with the link Julie posted.

moonraker · ‎11-24-2021

Kelly O wrote:
Is upwork a reputable place to find employment?

It's a reputable place for freelancers to find clients.

However, it becomes harder for Upwork to deal with scammers when freelancers don't follow the TOS. Such as communicating off platform before they have a contract, for example...