SCAMMER ALERT

[dungojerica]

Hi! I am just new to this community. It was my first time trying Upwork, and I don't know if I will try this platform again.
So someone messaged me that they had already hired me, but they did not approve my proposal on this platform. They just asked me to message them on Telegram. I already knew there was something wrong with that, so I already set the expectations. Whatever they ask me to do, I will do it, scammer or not. It's just a matter of whether I will get paid or if they ask for money from me after submitting a project. The only thing they will get from me is my free time. So I am willing to risk that.
So they told me to retype everything from the PDF file they provided into a Word document with some instructions to follow. They gave me 100 pages, and the deadline is only 24 hours. I didn't finish on time, so I asked for an extension, which they allowed.

Then the weekend came, and I submitted my Word file. They approved it and told me to contact their manager to get my payment.

I did, and that person asked for my details, which I have provided. Then the next thing I knew, they were asking for 100 USD for a company premium ID in order for me to get the payment. So I just confirmed my theory before: they are scammers.

But you know, I still played it cool and just told them to just pay what they owe me. And then the next reply is, "You must be very stupid.".

And that's it; I no longer replied and removed all my details. I just left them my name.

Anyway, their "company name" is **Edited for Community Guidelines**

[lucasmosquera]

There's a reason UpWork asks you to not contact people outside the app.

[dungojerica]

I am new to Upwork. Well I had this account since 2020, but I never use it 'til now. I already set the expectations. I just tried it. Scammers or not, all they can get is my free time.

What I don't understand is why there are a lot of scammers on the platform. Aren't they filtering the employers?

I saw this post of a mother telling the story of what happened to her kid(a student). She fell for the scam. She paid multiple times thinking that she will get paid after "complying" to the rules.

Some people sense these things, but since some of us really need some extra cash, they risk their time thinking "maybe it's not a scammer, maybe it's legit". That's why some people risk accepting offers outside Upwork. 

Imagine getting rejected from a lot of job applications, then tried Upwork for the first time and received an "offer". Because of being desperate, people will fall for it even if they already sense that it is a scam.