Skype Interviews

[Liz B]

I'm new to Upwork and I received a message back on a proposal. The message states:"Your portfolio published on UPWORK has been reviewed by our HR Department and we are pleased to invite you to an online interview and kindly click the link below here." Then there is a link to an image on instructions to add someone on Skype to schedule an interview. On my Upwork proposal section the listing is under "Active Proposals" NOT Invitations to Interview. Is this normal? I am uneasy because right out of the gate I'm being asked to leave the Upwork platform and I thought that this was an all inclusive system for contract work. 

[Preston H]

Liv: those people are scammers. Looks like the standard fake check scam. Freelancers lose between $2200 and $3000 from their bank account if they continue.

Just block them.

[Martina P · Accepted solution]

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Liz B wrote:

I'm new to Upwork and I received a message back on a proposal. The message states:"Your portfolio published on UPWORK has been reviewed by our HR Department and we are pleased to invite you to an online interview and kindly click the link below here." Then there is a link to an image on instructions to add someone on Skype to schedule an interview. On my Upwork proposal section the listing is under "Active Proposals" NOT Invitations to Interview. Is this normal? I am uneasy because right out of the gate I'm being asked to leave the Upwork platform and I thought that this was an all inclusive system for contract work. 

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What gives them away as scammers is NOT that they want a skype interview, but this sentence: "Your portfolio published on UPWORK has been reviewed by our HR Department and we are pleased to invite you to an online interview and kindly click the link below here." No serious client will ever say something like that, nobody has an HR department to review your profile. This is not about employment in a permanent position, this is freelancing. You will learn to recognize these scams very quickly. 

This month upwork is implementing a new policy forbidding contact outside of the platform BEFORE hiring anyway to protect people from these scams, but of course these people will have no problem hiring an unsuspecting freelancer and rope them in. They of course never intend to pay anybody, just steal your money. 

[Bojan S]

Hi Liz,

Thanks for flagging this report. I've checked and it looks like the job has already been taken down because it was in violation of the Upwork TOS and action has been taken on the client's 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.

Thank you!

[Lena K]

Hi there!

I'm also new in this community and I have a small issue. Is it ok if I share it here please? I'm still trying to find out what to do, where!

I submited a proposal and I got directions to login to Slack for work related istructions. I was told that "All contracts and payments will be sent on Upwork." but I got directions from Slack platform to act steps in Facebook as "a first task". Is this suspicious or not? No contract is set yet...

thanks a lot for your support!

Lena

[Martina P]

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Lena K wrote:

Hi there!

I'm also new in this community and I have a small issue. Is it ok if I share it here please? I'm still trying to find out what to do, where!

I submited a proposal and I got directions to login to Slack for work related istructions. I was told that "All contracts and payments will be sent on Upwork." but I got directions from Slack platform to act steps in Facebook as "a first task". Is this suspicious or not? No contract is set yet...

thanks a lot for your support!

Lena

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Very soon a new upwork policy will be implemented forbidding any communication outside of upwork before hire. So you can always tell the client you prefer to stay on the platform. And yes, it is suspicious. Seems like they don't intend to pay you.