This seems like a shady contract—what should I do?

[acaylor]

Hi!

I am new to Upwork, and I applied for **Edited for community guidelines**. I got a message asking for my email address, which I provided, I received this email on May 30th:

**Edited for community guidelines**

The email came with a contract that seems shady to me. (The file is attached.) It would make me agree to work for them without knowing what work I am agreeing to do. The job posting was about editing but if I signed the contract I would agree to both write and edit. There was no mention of how much I would be paid or a way to end the contract. It also said, "The Editor agrees not to circulate, discuss or disclose any information about the Work to any third party, or any websites (including Upwork), or to any persons or use it for any commercial purposes." which sounds like it could be used to get around Upwork's Terms of Service. I couldn't find their company online, and they didn't give an actual address—just the city. 

All of this, and the email's mention that those who respond first would be given priority and it's attempt to get me to not share the email despite the fact I never agreed or signed anything, makes me think that this user is trying to get new freelancers to work for them for free. (The job post was targeted at entry level freelancers.) I wanted to report them, but the job posting has gone down and I can't find a "flag as inappropriate" button in my proposal section. The Upwork help bot directed me here.

What can I do? Should I report them? What do I need to do to do that?

[prestonhunter]

This is just boilerplate. They people who sent you this probably didn't even read it.

Why do you think it is shady?

And on what basis would you report this to Upwork?

[joansands]

If the job posting has gone down, then something must have been wrong, and you should probably just go on with your life.

[acaylor]

All right! Thank you for your help.

[feed_my_eyes]

I think you should at least try to report them by forwarding the email to Upwork's customer service.

[nyrrielatienza]

Hi Amy,

I'm sorry to learn about your experience with this client. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention, we’ll share your post for a review with the team and they will take action if any violations are found. In the future, you may flag job posts as inappropriate right away, if they seem to be a red flag for you. And the team will review and take actions as they see fit. Let me know if anything comes up.

[colettelewis]

---

Amy C wrote:

Hi!

I am new to Upwork, and I applied for **Edited for community guidelines**. I got a message asking for my email address, which I provided, I received this email on May 30th:

**Edited for community guidelines**

The email came with a contract that seems shady to me. (The file is attached.) It would make me agree to work for them without knowing what work I am agreeing to do. The job posting was about editing but if I signed the contract I would agree to both write and edit. There was no mention of how much I would be paid or a way to end the contract. It also said, "The Editor agrees not to circulate, discuss or disclose any information about the Work to any third party, or any websites (including Upwork), or to any persons or use it for any commercial purposes." which sounds like it could be used to get around Upwork's Terms of Service. I couldn't find their company online, and they didn't give an actual address—just the city. 

All of this, and the email's mention that those who respond first would be given priority and it's attempt to get me to not share the email despite the fact I never agreed or signed anything, makes me think that this user is trying to get new freelancers to work for them for free. (The job post was targeted at entry level freelancers.) I wanted to report them, but the job posting has gone down and I can't find a "flag as inappropriate" button in my proposal section. The Upwork help bot directed me here.

What can I do? Should I report them? What do I need to do to do that?

---

______________________________

Amy,

You would never take on a job in the B&M world, without knowing what you are letting yourself in for. And it is the same when you freelance.

Newcomers to Upwork are often targeted by scammers, and since you can no longer find the job posting, it is likely that someone else reported the "client" and the job was delisted. So I don't think you need to worry about reporting it. 

Although there is nothing against giving your email address to clients (we all do it at some point), when you are new, stick only to the message rooms on Upwork. Everything you have said about this person screams "scam".  Before you bid on any more jobs do read (if you haven't already) this thread about Upwork and the things to watch out for - particularly "Tips to avoid questionable jobs". https://community.upwork.com/t5/New-to-Upwork/Getting-Started-on-Upwork/m-p/264214#M2460

If you are contacted by any client through Upwork, the only "contracts" you should agree to (or refuse) are those made officially on Upwork, and all payments must be made through this site. 

So forget the person who has emailed you - your sixth sense was absolutely correct! 

[miller_natassia]

Hi, I'm new to Upwork as well, and I received the same offer. I reported it as well, because none of it seemed to be within Upwork's guidelines. 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[nyrrielatienza]

Hi Natassia,

Thank you for replying here. I'll merge this together with Amy's and would send this for our team's review. Please, also check this post for more information about how to recognize and avoid scam jobs.