Is the acorn affiliate link job a scam?

[5ec4f1ad]

Hi, 

I just recently signed up for upwork, and the first responce I got back was for a client wanting me to open an Acorns account through the link they sent, and add $5 dollars to my account and send them confermation of this. I have seen other people say this is at worset a scam, and sketchy at best, but I didn't realize that before I accepted the contract.

Can I end the contract now without a negative impact to my JSS score, especally cause this would have been my first client? I don't want to go forward if this is a scam, but I don't know if they could still write a bad review for me canceling on them. 

Any help would be super appreceated

[3b4a8fd1]

First off, handle all payment issues ON Upwork. If a client wants to go off Upwork even before a contract is up and accepted, it's against Upwork rules. 

I think what has happened to you, in fact, is a scam. Jobs can be reported/flagged. Report/flag the job, immediately.  If the "client" insists on going off Upwork, inform them that it is against the rules to do so, for any reason, before a contract is accepted.

Finally: Don't pay a single penny to work! If you do the work, you should get paid. Not the other way around. Even if a "fee" sounds plausible, it's not! 

[926bd9d2]

Hey, I think this is a scam, and I had a similar experience! I'm brand-new to Upwork, and received an invitation to interview despite not having sent proposals or browsed jobs yet. A good rule of thumb is that if it seems too good to be true, it is. Luckily, I love watching videos that rout out and bust scammers for fun, so I'm pretty much a scammer's worst nightmare. Any money whatsoever outside of Upwork is a huge red flag (in my case, they wanted to bring PayPal money into the picture). Report it by clicking on the three dots by their last message, and look for the option to block them by clicking on their profile picture. Stay safe!