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Upwork is large, very large. And there is a lot of money that is moving around. And lot of money that can
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be made.
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So, when there is money, there is always bad actors, that are trying to rip people off.
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So, here are some tips on not to get scammed on Upwork.
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Never do free or trial work on Upwork.
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There is this scam going around, where some jackasses ask you to do trial work, that you have to perform
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some free work, before they can award you a job. So they have to, you know, test you on your skill or something like
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that. And what they do is, they ask many different freelancers to do that free work, and then they kind
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of gather this free work, and then they use that free work to, for some other client. And kinda get
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paid for it, then without themselves doing any job.
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Here is a video by one of the Upwork freelancers who has recorded one such scam.
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The link is in the resources, if you are interested.
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This is a repeated tip, but this time for different reason.
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Because not just because you can get banned by Upwork, but also you could get scammed if you take
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things outside of Upwork.
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If a new client, who hasn't paid you yet and you haven't had any work relationship, asks you
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to take things outside of platform, to save money or, you know, kind of get rid of the commission, then
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warning bells should go in your head instantly. Because real clients don't care if they pay you on Upwork
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or outside of it. Because they're not the ones paying the commission. For them, the price is exactly
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the same.
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You're the one who gets the commission deducted out of your pay.
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So, for them it's all the same.
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So there is no reason for them to initiate, to ask you to,
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"Hey, why don't we take this outside? Because we're gonna save money out of it".
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They don't even, most of the time, they don't even know that you are how much you're paying in commissions.
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Obviously, for the clients it's safer to keep things on Upwork because they have some guarantees
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from the Upwork, Right?
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If things go wrong, then at least Upwork can kind of intervene and mediate the situation.
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So when they're asking you take things from outside.
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It might be shoddy. And if something looks shoddy, then it probably is.
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Having video call with prospective clients has two great benefits.
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First, bad players and scammers, they don't want to show their face.
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They would like, they like to stay anonymous.
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So, if somebody is refusing to have a video chat, then you should be a little suspicious.
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A video call with a client
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sets a very good start for a good relationship.
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When you have this sort of face to face connection with a client, they will be more likely to honor you,
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more likely to respect you, more likely to give you a better review than a worse review. And if
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something goes wrong, they will be more likely to pay you rather than kind of dispute the payment with
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Upwork or something like that.
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They will also trust you more and they will trust your work more, so whatever designs you produce, they
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will take it a bit more seriously if they saw you,
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if they know that who you are and who is the face and person behind the work. And not just some sort
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of name and profile photo and that's it.