Bank Account Information to Upwork Client

[d3205d92]

The client has given me a contract doc to sign and in there, I am asked for my bank account information so that they can send my fee there. Their payment is verified, yet, should I give the information to them? 

[prestonhunter]

Mohsinat:
The person you are talking to is not a real client.

He is a scammer who is trying to steal your money.

ALSO:
It is a serious violation of Upwork ToS for a freelancer to receive or exchange funds OUTSIDE of the Upwork platform.

The BEST CASE SCENARIO for you is that this is a scammer.

What would be WORSE for you is that this is NOT a scammer, and that he REALLY IS TRYING to send you money directly to your bank account. If you get caught doing something like that, or even DISCUSSING doing that, then your Upwork account is likely to be suspended or terminated.

[prestonhunter]

Mohsinat:

One choice you have is to immediately stop talking to this person. Go to the job posting page, click on the "Three Dots" icon, and choose the "Flag as inappropriate" option to report this person.

But:

You don't HAVE to do that immediately.

If you believe that this client is not a scammer, but sincerely wants to hire you and did not know about Upwork's rules, then you can do this instead:

Tell him:

"Frank, thank you for your interest in hiring me. You don't need to pay me directly. Actually, Upwork doesn't allow that. All you need to do is click on the green Hire button. That way an official Upwork contract will be created. All payments will go through Upwork. If you have not already done so, you can use the client-side interface to enter your PayPal or credit card information so that you are payment-verified."

THEN:
If the client HIRES you officially, you can work for him and earn money.

If he does NOT hire you, then you know he is a scammer, and you can report him.