Client Abruptly End Contract Without Notifying

[ce1e3f16]

I feel lost. I was offered a contract to complete language work for a company called **Edited for Community Guidelines**. Yesterday, I kindly confronted my hirer that the website I was asked to work on was paying based on the number of tasks, not hours(I was asked to not log my hours on Upwork since the website automatically logs it), which is different then what the contract was agreed on. Today, when I opened Upwork, I realized that the contract ended. I do not know why and I feel very lost. I've been trying to find work and I need to pay my bills somehow. I thought this job will be able to help me. Did I just got scammed? Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

[28ff5e93]

Hi, I think it's a scam but Im not sure. I search the company and there are reviews that some of them doesn't get paid by the hours and the company is not responding. I think we should be careful next time before applying to a certain job.

[the-right-writer]

Upwork may have ended the job if the client was discovered to be scamming, or the client may have closed the job. If you had an Upwork hourly contract, but you didn't use the automatic hourly tracker, you will not receive any money.

Yes, you have been scammed. Take this as a hard lesson, and learn. Read this post and follow every link. It will take you to Upwork and community information that will teach you how to use the platform safely. Pay special attention to the Terms of Service and the Red Scams on Flags. You must act as though everyone is a scammer until proven otherwise. Learn about vetting the client and the job.

The best way to deter scammers is to have and use the knowledge. The next step is to have a professional profile. You have too many, varying skills in your title. Virtual assistant and data entry are in one category, translation another, and music producer, singer, songwriter, playing piano, guitar, violin, etc. are in yet another category. Honestly assess your skills and decide what will go best with this type of freelancing platform. Data entry and virtual assistant are flooded with people and pay little compared to other fields.

You have to protect yourself, because no one, including Upwork, will do it for you. Be safe.

[NikolaS]

Hi Kate, 

Thank you for reaching out to us. You should always use Upwork Time Tracker when working on hourly contracts. Hourly contracts may be covered by Upwork Hourly Protection. For all of your hourly contracts, your clients are automatically invoiced and billed for the hours you log according to the weekly billing cycle. I encourage you to check this help article to help you stay safe on Upwork. You can also find more information about getting paid for hourly contracts here. 

Additionally, I also shared your post with our team for further review.