Upwork is large, very large. And there is a lot of money that is moving around. And lot of money that can 1
be made. 2
So, when there is money, there is always bad actors, that are trying to rip people off. 3
So, here are some tips on not to get scammed on Upwork. 4
Never do free or trial work on Upwork. 5
There is this scam going around, where some jackasses ask you to do trial work, that you have to perform 6
some free work, before they can award you a job. So they have to, you know, test you on your skill or something like 7
that. And what they do is, they ask many different freelancers to do that free work, and then they kind 8
of gather this free work, and then they use that free work to, for some other client. And kinda get 9
paid for it, then without themselves doing any job. 10
Here is a video by one of the Upwork freelancers who has recorded one such scam. 11
The link is in the resources, if you are interested. 12
This is a repeated tip, but this time for different reason. 13
Because not just because you can get banned by Upwork, but also you could get scammed if you take 14
things outside of Upwork. 15
If a new client, who hasn't paid you yet and you haven't had any work relationship, asks you 16
to take things outside of platform, to save money or, you know, kind of get rid of the commission, then 17
warning bells should go in your head instantly. Because real clients don't care if they pay you on Upwork 18
or outside of it. Because they're not the ones paying the commission. For them, the price is exactly 19
the same. 20
You're the one who gets the commission deducted out of your pay. 21
So, for them it's all the same. 22
So there is no reason for them to initiate, to ask you to, 23
"Hey, why don't we take this outside? Because we're gonna save money out of it". 24
They don't even, most of the time, they don't even know that you are how much you're paying in commissions. 25
Obviously, for the clients it's safer to keep things on Upwork because they have some guarantees 26
from the Upwork, Right? 27
If things go wrong, then at least Upwork can kind of intervene and mediate the situation. 28
So when they're asking you take things from outside. 29
It might be shoddy. And if something looks shoddy, then it probably is. 30
Having video call with prospective clients has two great benefits. 31
First, bad players and scammers, they don't want to show their face. 32
They would like, they like to stay anonymous. 33
So, if somebody is refusing to have a video chat, then you should be a little suspicious. 34
A video call with a client 35
sets a very good start for a good relationship. 36
When you have this sort of face to face connection with a client, they will be more likely to honor you, 37
more likely to respect you, more likely to give you a better review than a worse review. And if 38
something goes wrong, they will be more likely to pay you rather than kind of dispute the payment with 39
Upwork or something like that. 40
They will also trust you more and they will trust your work more, so whatever designs you produce, they 41
will take it a bit more seriously if they saw you, 42
if they know that who you are and who is the face and person behind the work. And not just some sort 43
of name and profile photo and that's it.