After enduring a two-month shadowban on Upwork, the third invitation I received turned out to be from a scammer. These fraudsters are rampant on the platform, exploiting the e-commerce space to prey on unsuspecting freelancers.

A moment of distraction is all it takes to fall victim to their schemes. What makes it worse is that the Upwork app provides minimal information about clients when they reach out via inbox, leaving freelancers vulnerable.

I reported this particular scammer early this morning, yet he remains active on the platform, having already swindled people out of $26,000. (When he first contacted me, his account showed only $6.) How is Upwork not complicit in enabling these scammers!

Theyโ€™re aware of the issue, but their lack of action speaks volumes. If it were up to me, Upwork would be facing legal consequences.

I reached out to Upworkโ€™s customer service to clarify what "Payment Method Verified" actually means (see attached screenshot), yet these verified accounts are the same ones scamming freelancers.

Some people here might downplay being scammed, comparing it to email spam, while others might blame freelancers for lacking common sense. But until it happens to you, you wonโ€™t understand the frustration. (When it comes to handling scammers, Fiverr is doing a far better job than the so-called "almighty" Upwork)

Without morals, what's stopping the scammed from joining in!


TopRatedTroll Not in 3 days, less than 12 hours. I reported that scammer right from the get go and Upwork did nothing. (Yes, payment testing - QA testers and project managers are now under attack)

    In another scam posted in this forum, the "client" was trying to pose as Upwork themselves. So their name was actually "Upwork S". In what world could such a profile be created? They don't even have a simple filter that would prevent someone from using the name of the platform as their own? This isn't like Angie's or Craig's List where someone can obviously be named Angie or Craig. No one's name is Upwork. They don't even do the bare minimum. It's just about being able to say how many clients/freelancers are on the platform, whether legit or not.

      EpiqEDEM ๐Ÿ˜Ž I was going by the client account creation date, but 12 hours, 3 days. Same thing lol

      Is the account still active? I've been invited a couple times now to the "verify your payment" scam using projects, but they kill the account pretty quick.

        TopRatedTroll Not this one, he hired himself via another account and paid $6, then after three days, he started scamming.
        After12 hours or so, his account got restricted. Upwork came in to save the day as always restricting accounts and scrapping details here and there.
        This scammer went ahead to use someone's picture he got on Instagram, its a mess. I feel sorry for those who got scammed, such huge amount.

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