Increasing number of scammer freelancers

[sprezzatura]

I've been an Upword/Odesk client since 2010. I used to get great service from the freelancers I contracted. Lately, I've had too many scammers and phonies reply to my Job Posts.

One guy did nothing more than skim Stack Overlfow and copy & paste canned responses. Ran up an $800 bill in 24 hrs., which fortunately was refunded.

Yesyterday I was contacted by four applicants with suspiciously similar AI-generated cover letters. Three of them were all from a small town in Finland with 48 people. The one I met with immediately wanted me to hire her through her account at IThire.com.

Upwork needs to do something about these frauds and misrepresentations, or it will no longer be a viable supplier of freelance talent.

I suggest requiring freelancers to post a refundable bond when first signing up.

[helgamfsilva]

It's frustrating when you're looking for quality freelancers and end up with phonies instead. Your idea of having freelancers post a refundable bond upfront could help weed out the bad apples. Upwork definitely needs to step up its game to ensure a better experience for all of us.

[spectralua]

No more clients here (you already know why) so professional freelancers also gone. You can waste an couple of hours to dig for someone reliable. With first look you will faced only with bots\scammers. Proposals from real freelancers is hidden from you.

It is not a 2010-2021 upwork anymore.

ps Freelancers already paid a bond but unrefundable. It is gambling, introduced it 2022.

[40a90838]

I'm a freelancer who just joined today. It sounds like Upwork has some work to do, but I'm hopeful that those of us who are legit and want to work will find success. 

[217f348a]

It's happened to me the other way around. I'm new to Upwork, and looking for a chance for personal growth. They contacted me to do a translation, I worked 6 days on 60 pages, I sent the work and they asked me to pay 85 dollars so that they could enable the payment. If you look for a job here it is to grow. But you can see there is everything

[fred-derf]

Hello,

I have made the suggestion to require the job proposers to pay a fee of some sort. On the freelancer end, I see identical proposals over and over. 

I do video post-production and some of these offer 'generous' payouts of $15 to edit an 8-minute video; over 30 per week! Yeah, that is why the 'expert' pay is $500.

Flagging these do no good, since NopeWork requires 16 conncects to submit a proposal.

I would like to be positive about this site but it is almost impossible. Having a long-term contract for over two years kept me away from any serious searching on this site. Upon returing nine months ago it was plain to see, this site is swirling down the drain. In 2021 I had responses on a regular basis, with four long-term jobs. Since July...just two replies,--one quickie job.

I'm not aware of the field of interest you are in, but if you are needing a very dependable freelancer in my area of expertise, feel free to drop me a line.

Thanks.

[6c6796bb]

I empathize with your frustration regarding the recent influx of scammers on Upwork/Odesk. It's disheartening to see the platform's integrity compromised by such fraudulent activities. Your proposal of requiring freelancers to post a refundable bond upon signup is an intriguing idea, but it may have some drawbacks in practical implementation.

[c474a892]

freelancers already pay a montly fee to be able to bid for jobs but some clients never anwer and that bid gets wasted. also there is a great number of fake clients that offer jobs directly to inbox, bit anoying but from time to time you can get a nice proyect 

[williamtcooper]

View freelancer's profiles to make sure that they have dozens of current great 5-Star Reviews and have been using Upwork actively for a period of time. Don't be afraid to pay for quality.