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» Forums » New to Upwork » Re: Think I'm being scammed?
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aparsons92
Community Member

Think I'm being scammed?

I received a notification to talk offline on Telegram and went through a series of questions that were vague. After they decided to "move forward" they asked for my name address and number. I gave some fake info minus my email and they sent me a check to deposit right away. I refused and said I needed more information and paperwokr which they refused to give. Has this been happening to anyone else? 

2 REPLIES 2
gilbert-phyllis
Community Member

This is one of the oldest scams going and you can avoid it by learning and complying with Upwork's ToS, starting with the proscription against communicating with prospective clients via any means other than UW's message platform. The rest of us are constantly inconvenienced by that policy which is supposedly meant to protect newbies like you. When you don't take the time to learn how the platform works, then it's all for nothing.

 

Seriously, take some time to learn how this works. UW is not an app you can figure out as you go along. It's a complex platform where you can waste a lot of time and potentially lose money if you don't know what you're doing. If you invest that time and attention, and bring other things (marketable skills, business savvy, perseverence and a thick skin), you can succeed here. Good luck!

 

AndreaG
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Amanda,

 

I'm sorry to hear you encountered this kind of activity in the marketplace. I went ahead and sent the job post you're referring to for the team to review and take action as appropriate.
I can confirm it is against the Terms of Service to communicate outside of Upwork before a contract has started. We find that when users communicate outside of Upwork there is an increased risk of fraud, scam, and other harmful behaviors. When communications (and work) stay on our platform we can better track, verify, and help address any issues that emerge, and as a result the potential for these behaviors to cause harm decreases dramatically. For example, the vast majority of scammers that successfully take advantage of talent do so by going off the platform. To learn more about staying safe on Upwork, click here.
 
~Andrea
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