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maitengm
Community Member

Why are there so many scams posted on Upwork?

I've applied to more than 10 freelance jobs on Upwork and they all ended up to be a scam. Wanting to send me a check to buy work equipment, interviewing over Google hangouts, using fake profile pictures, etc.. I'm tired of this stuff. Nothing seem to be real these days. 

 

Also I need to know how to revise my profile up a little bit to prevent getting declined from clients. Anything helps. Thank you.

10 REPLIES 10
martina_plaschka
Community Member


Maiteng M wrote:

I've applied to more than 10 freelance jobs on Upwork and they all ended up to be a scam. Wanting to send me a check to buy work equipment, interviewing over Google hangouts, using fake profile pictures, etc.. I'm tired of this stuff. Nothing seem to be real these days. 

 

Also I need to know how to revise my profile up a little bit to prevent getting declined from clients. Anything helps. Thank you.


No, not all jobs are scams, but newbies are the prime target. 

You need to set your profile to public for it to be seen here. 

gilbert-phyllis
Community Member

Because there are so many newly registered freelancers who have no experience and are completely unprepared to recognize and avoid the scams. UW is not a controlled environment. They let most anybody in who can fog a mirror, on both the client and the freelancer sides. Scammers abound here, just like they do outside the platform. It's a grand mishmash of the lazy, the clueless, the expert, the professional, the crooked, the straight, the dabbler, the full-timer supporting a family, the less experienced, the greybeards. Clowns to the left of you, jokers to the right.

 

Learn the ToS, so you'll know what is and is not permitted. If you haven't freelanced before, read all you can about it, there's much to know that is independent of UW. Get familiar with the information offered in the Help and Support section and the helpful articles pinned to the tops of these discussion boards. Browse the discussions and learn from others' mistakes and experiences. And always, be prepared and inclined to learn from your own mistakes because you will make some. We all do. The goal is not to make the same mistake twice.

 

goriyaz
Community Member

- Send me your Skype ID and we'll send you a secret brief. It's to protect our very valuable client !!!
- You just have to order on Jeff Bezos's world of wonders our new hammock, leave a comment and then, send us back our product. Good pay and 5 stars are guaranteed!!!
- First, we will do a test and if it does not fit our standard, you will not be paid...
- Please send us 3-4 articles to see if you can meet our high expectancies
- Thank you but 0.01$ per word is too expensive. Would you considered another option?
- We're on a budget here but you can expect fast turnaround and long term relationship
- PERFECT FOR BEGINNERS!

(...)

The first two weeks, I was like "wow, scammers are everywhere." and I've lost some connects too. There is still plenty of them but now I don't use anymore connects for them.

But there is also many good offers (and also lot of competition but that's another story...)

prestonhunter
Community Member

re: "Why are there so many scams posted on Upwork?"

 

Because Upwork is the industry leader. It is the best freelancer work platform, and thus it attracts the most freelancers. Unfortunately, that means it also attracts the most scammers.

 

The good news is that experienced freelancers are not targeted by scammers. I never encounter scammers in my own work. I only read about them in the Community Forum. Scammers want money. They know that targeting somebody who is experienced in using Upwork is a waste of their time.

@Preston
The problem is that often, the job post seems legit. Previous comments from freelancers are generally good (I’d love to work again with Lord Scamendish...) and therefore, freelancers are likely to submit a proposal. And then comes the scam... But the wasted time and the connects won’t come back.


Yazid M wrote:

@Preston
The problem is that often, the job post seems legit. Previous comments from freelancers are generally good (I’d love to work again with Lord Scamendish...) and therefore, freelancers are likely to submit a proposal. And then comes the scam... But the wasted time and the connects won’t come back.


I think (but can't verify) that most scammers come in the form of invitations, which newbies should be very cautious with. It is just unreasonable to expect an invitation to be legit if you don't have a history and a not very serious looking profile. 


Martina P wrote:

 

I think (but can't verify) that most scammers come in the form of invitations, which newbies should be very cautious with. It is just unreasonable to expect an invitation to be legit if you don't have a history and a not very serious looking profile. 


The invitation ones are the most obvious and I decline the most of it. My « bad experiences » come from jobs which were listed on my feed. Each time, my doubts came from nice  comments about the client and a good overall evaluation.

jeff4227
Community Member

Newbie here..  Yep, I just wasted all my connects on what is turning out to be all scams.


Jeff L wrote:

Newbie here..  Yep, I just wasted all my connects on what is turning out to be all scams.


Report the job posts and when they are taken down you get your connects back. In the meantime spend some time reading the ToS and the forum to learn how other people got scammed.


Jeff L wrote:

Newbie here..  Yep, I just wasted all my connects on what is turning out to be all scams.


Jeff, just a warning: putting in your profile that you're new to Upwork is going to make you a target for scammers. I'd delete that. It's also a turnoff for real clients. You don't want to draw attention to being new to Upwork. They can see that you have no previous Upwork jobs or very few Upwork jobs. You want to minimize the weaknesses and maximize the strengths. 

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