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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 9, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: freelancing ( 2 ), job scam ( 79 ), Scams ( 1,367 ), upwork   

  Companies are being scammed by phony freelancers 

  

  By Greg Collier

  If your company has a crucial but temporary role that needs to be filled, many employers will turn to freelancers to fulfil that need. With the way’s today’s demand economy is, many of these freelancers advertise their services on a platform like Upwork. Outlets like Upwork allow companies to review and compare the work and rates of freelancers before signing them on. Unfortunately, Upwork and other freelancer marketplaces are not immune to scams. In a previous scam, scammers were posing as employers and sending fraudulent checks to freelancers. Now, at least one scam is targeting the employers.

  The Better Business Bureau is stating that they’ve seen an uptick in phony freelancers on Upwork and other platforms. The scammers are essentially stealing the online identities of actual freelancers and posing as them. Much like in many scams, the scammers are said to be offering rates that are just too good to pass up. The scammers are asking for a deposit up front and then disappearing with the employer’s money.

  The BBB Is recommending that employers shouldn’t be lured in by freelancer rates that are too good to be true because they often are. It’s also recommended that employers have a video conference with the freelancer before hiring them to make sure they are who they say they are. Another suggestion is to look the freelancer up on a professional site like LinkedIn and do a web search for their personal portfolio.

  However, you should be careful when communicating with the freelancer and not to do it outside of Upwork before hiring them. Past scammers have tricked freelancers by communicating with them outside of Upwork’s virtual walls. Scammers and other cyber-criminals often try to communicate with their victims outside of usual channels.

   

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  Geebo 8:00 am on June 10, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Cash App ( 42 ), check scam ( 79 ), cryptocurrency ( 51 ), customer service ( 50 ), customer support ( 23 ), extortion ( 14 ), gift cards ( 101 ), job scam ( 79 ), Scams ( 1,367 ), upwork, venmo ( 28 )   

  A new series of scams to look out for 

  

  Here are some new scams that we’ve found out about that are going on around the country. Please keep in mind that just because they are not currently happening in your area doesn’t mean that they can’t.

  Another victim has been scammed through the freelancer platform Upwork. In Pennsylvania, a woman had accepted an editing position that she had found on Upwork. She was sent a check for $2000 by her ’employer’ in order to buy equipment for her position. She was then instructed to send what wasn’t spent back to her employer through Venmo and gift cards. The $2000 check later turned out to be fraudulent. Upwork has said that you should not communicate with a client outside of the Upwork platform. If you receive a check in the mail and are asked to send a balance back through untraceable means like Venmo or gift cards, it’s almost a guarantee that the job is a scam.

  In Northern California, at least one resident has reported a new scam that had happened to them. They say they received a text message where a cybercriminal claimed that they had total control of the victim’s cell phone including the microphone and camera. The scammer then tried to extort $1500 in cryptocurrency out of the person they texted. The odds are very slim that your phone will be hijacked in this way. That’s also not taking into account that when you pay a purported blackmailer like this, they will continue to try and squeeze as much money out of you as possible. If you receive a text like this you are asked to report it to the Federal Trade Commission.

  Lastly, in Tulsa, Oklahoma man fell for a customer service scam that left him out of $1500. The man was having issues with his Cash App account. He called what he thought was Cash App’s customer service department but was actually a scammer. Before it was all over, the man’s Cash App account had been drained by the scammers. In this day and age of everything being online, not every company has a customer service number you can call. Often scammers take advantage of this by advertising phony customer service numbers. If you need to contact a company for customer service, go directly to that company’s website and look for a link that either says ‘contact us’ or ‘support’. Don’t just do a web search for ‘company x’s customer service number’ as there’s a good chance that number could be fake.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on June 3, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: check scam ( 79 ), freelancing ( 2 ), job scam ( 79 ), Scams ( 1,367 ), upwork   

  Freelance gig platform targeted in check scam 

  

  Upwork is one of many platforms that allow companies to connect with freelancers to fulfill temporary but crucial assignments. Many professionals have turned to services like Upwork to make money during the current unemployment crisis. This has not gone unnoticed by scammers and they are said to be using platforms like Upwork to commit one of their oldest scams.

  According to a report from NBC News, scammers are posing as real companies on these services to commit the phony check scam. Phony or fraudulent checks are used in a variety of scams from everything to selling an item online to intricate employment scams. The goal of the fake check scam is always the same. The scammer wants you to deposit the check into your bank account, then send them most or all of the money before your bank realizes the check is a fake. By that time, the scammer is long gone with your money and the bank is holding you responsible for the amount of the fake check.

  A California man went to Upwork and applied for an opportunity that he assumed was legitimate. He was interviewed over Skype and even received an offer letter on what appeared to be legitimate company letterhead from a legitimate global corporation. The man also received a check for $3000 that he was told was for his home office supplies. He deposited the check and bought equipment from suppliers that his new ’employer’ recommended. These supposed suppliers were more than likely in league with the phony job scammer. Before it was all over, the man found himself without a job and out $3000 on top of it.

  Upwork themselves have said that users should not use any communication with prospective employers outside of Upwork itself. That is a great tip as scammers and other cyber-criminals often try to communicate with their victims outside of usual channels.

  While many people realize that the checks they receive are fake, there are enough people who fall for this scam that they keep the scammers in business. Billions of dollars in fraudulent checks are deposited into bank accounts each year. You can protect yourself by avoiding these situations. If a deal feels like it’s wrong, it probably is.