Apr 15, 2022 09:51:31 AM Edited Apr 15, 2022 11:24:39 AM by Bojan S
I got an invitation by e-mail. It had a WhatsApp number on it.
It was this e-mail from Upwork:
**Edited for community guidelines**
I checked the invitation link on Upwork but it was deleted. So I wrote to that phone number. His name was written **Edited for community guidelines**. He wanted me to publish a house rent ad on Facebook Marketplace. He promised me to pay $500 for a week.
His offer was to high for just posting a rental house add on Facebook Marketplace. But I thought he might be a very busy businessman, so he needs help for monitoring his online adds. So I accepted his offer to see if this is a legitimate business. I thought if he doesn't make any payment next week I can suspend the add on Facebook.
But after Facebook add posting he wanted me to publish a post on Upwork on his behalf of him. I thought he was busy and wanted my help as a virtual assistant. He guide me to write a post: **Edited for community guidelines**
In the ad, he made me write a different number than the phone number we were communicating. This made me suspicious. This time he used **Edited for community guidelines** And he ordered me to invite some people on the Invite Freelancers tab. I invited people on the first page. He then ordered me to invite all the people on other pages. Since he makes me publish a job post on his behalf of him and makes me write his own phone number in the message, I rejected his order.
I did a quick research on the internet and found out that it is violation of Upwork's rules to post a phone number.
So, I wrote him that this doesn't seem right to me. And refused to invite more people to his proposal.
**Edited for community guidelines**
I am reporting this to you because;
1) He guides other people to use their accounts on Upwork and Facebook.
2) He makes other people share his phone number in the post and invitations. So he can reach directly his new victims. If any of the victims reports, they will report me instead of him.
3) I am innocent. I didn't know he was a scammer in the beginning. As soon as I realized I reject his demands. And I tried to warn people I've invited but the system don't allow to withdraw invitation or reject the people invited. System gave errors when I tried to reject them with an explanation.
4) Please inform those 10 people that the number in the message is suspicious and it is violating Upwork rules to make other people work for him for free.
Kind Regards,
Huseyin G.
Apr 15, 2022 10:11:51 AM by Petra R
Huseyin G wrote:4) Please inform those 10 people that the number in the message is suspicious and it is violating Upwork rules to make other people work for him for free.
It is also a violation of Upwork's terms of services to contact a prospective client on Whatsapp.
If you stop violating Upwork's terms of service, you are safe from the scams and also won't lose your Upwork account for violating Upwork's terms of service.
Surely you should have known right from the very start that anyone who wants to advertise property via YOUR Facebook account is only out to defraud people... And you'd be their accomplice. He'd be taking deposits from "renters" and then vanish. The property in question either does not exist, or it does exist but does not belong to the scammer. The new tenants turn up on the moving-in day and find that the people in the property don't know what they are talking about...
And guess whom the authorities would come after when it all goes terribly wrong!
Apr 15, 2022 10:34:01 AM Edited Apr 15, 2022 10:34:20 AM by Huseyin G
Thank you for your response Petra. I was suspicious about this guy but in the beginning, I couldn't think about the risks you mentioned in your message.
I wanted to report this scamming method and want to warn Upwork about this method so that maybe they can develop their algorithm to check the messages if they contain any phone numbers.
I hope this report helps to understand how scammers are using Upwork's system to reach innocent people who are trying to make money through their hard work.
Kind regards,
Huseyin
Apr 15, 2022 11:03:34 AM by Nelson R
i'd scammed with the same way, exactly. the consecuences was facebook ban my marketplace account forever. i think upwork should review the post and get out scammers or business outside of upwork.
Apr 15, 2022 12:45:06 PM by Bojan S
Hi Huseyin,
Thanks for flagging this case. I've shared it with our team for review. Please note that it is a violation of Upwork’s Terms of Service to request or share contact information before a contract starts. You can check this help article for crucial information that will help you have a safe and successful journey on Upwork.
Thank you!
Nov 23, 2022 10:34:44 AM by Sara C
Hi, this scammer is back. Same tactics as before: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~01fd31b043e0c345d8
Jul 4, 2022 05:38:42 PM by Elliot L
Hi I am also I victim of this, I just want to know the guy name? It could be the same person
Aug 26, 2023 08:09:38 PM Edited Aug 26, 2023 11:27:38 PM by Pradeep H
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
It could be a fake one he created
Jul 7, 2022 11:59:09 PM by Huseyin G
I've shared the screen captures on this post for letting Upwork to review the issue. But they've deleted the images for privacy purposes I guess.
It has been a while, I don't remember his name. But I guess these guys have more than one name and account.
Best regards,
Huseyin
Jul 8, 2022 09:16:46 AM by Peter G
Yes, they probably do have more than one account as it is very easy for scammers to create new ones even after they have been banned and removed.
Nov 23, 2022 10:34:15 AM Edited Aug 26, 2023 11:28:21 PM by Pradeep H
He's back: **Edited for Community Guidelines**
Same tactics.
Aug 26, 2023 08:08:27 PM Edited Aug 26, 2023 11:28:53 PM by Pradeep H
He's back, recently 2 weeks ago under the name **Edited for Community Guidelines** i assumed. Can't read the phone number and name in your post. He requested me to post many rental lists on Zumper and Facebook Marketplace then send him the lead's information once some one asked to rent. He offered 700$/week and the ads eventually got banned on Facebook. He disappeared, came back with another phone number 516-xxx. All the rental lists he sent me are already posted by someone else on other real estate pages.
Aug 26, 2023 11:29:27 PM by Pradeep H
Hi Hayley,
I am sorry to hear about your experience. I checked the job post you were referring to and it appears that it's already been taken down because it was in violation of Upwork TOS.
Please check out this course for more tips on staying safe on Upwork and please use the flag option found on each job post or message anytime you’d like to report a violation.
- Pradeep