Hi Justin,
Thank you for reaching out. I checked the message on the invite that you got and found no indicator that it is a scam aside from one violation that might actually put your account at risk.
Please know that communicating outside Upwork prior to a contract starting is against ToS. Scammers will want to take the conversation off-platform because once any of their messages raise a red flag, their account will get banned and the freelancer will know they've been dealing with a scammer. Whereas if the conversation is outside Upwork, they can say anything and it won't raise any issues.
We highly suggest reviewing our ToS, reading these tips on how to avoid questionable jobs, and this post from our Community member, Wes, about top red flags for scams for you to keep yourself safe in the marketplace. Should you also encounter any suspicious user activity again in the future, please send us a flag so the dedicated team can review it and take action as soon as possible.
~ AJ
