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Upwork is the bridge between businesses and independent professionals, making it a massive virtual international marketplace for freelancers, where they can find a large number of clients. Upwork is an open marketplace for all sorts of skilled freelancers and clients across the globe. Everything takes place virtually, including the work and payments.
How do you identify a safe virtual marketplace?
As a beginner in freelancing, one can be hounded by questions and anticipation. Is the virtual marketplace safe to work in? Is it legit, or is it a scam? Are the clients genuine? Are the freelancers authentic in their work? A few questions run through a person’s mind when in a market structure like this, where everything is anonymous.
Here are a few things to work on as a freelancer on a virtual marketplace, like Upwork, and make money safely:
- Never be in a hurry: When working on a portal like Upwork, it is imperative to be patient and verify the client’s details. It is never advisable to be in a rush a begin work once hired, as the client could be scamming you.
- Research on your Client: Before you begin your project with the client, take a thorough run through his profile, noting all the details. Always ensure you read the reviews and understand the policy, payment method, work hours, etc. Genuine clients almost always make things clear before signing up someone for a project.
- Check the transparency of your Client: You can check the client’s rating and feedback from other freelancers. A good and genuine client will always have great feedback.
- Please do not accept any Tests or Free Samples: On Portals like Upwork, it is strictly against their policy to allow any client to demand a free sample to test the freelancer’s skills. It is advisable to stay clear of such clients as they are almost always scammers who tend to get their job done for free and not hire you further.
- Practice Secured payment methods: When dealing with a fixed price or hourly contract, ensure you adopt a secured payment system. This prevents any form of dispute, discrepancy, and loss of money. Upwork recommends an Escrow system on its network that ensures safe and secured payments.
- Always Report Scams: It is imperative that, as a community, we help each other. If you suspect someone scamming, do report it and save the other freelancers from falling into the trap of a scammed job.
Are all virtual marketplaces scam-free for the clients?
The answer is NO. How do clients manage to fool the freelancers? Similarly, there are a few mischievous freelancers who scam clients. A client must verify the identity of the freelancers, as a few of them use a fake identity to scam people. The clients experience losses in the form of work and money both. Since Upwork has an hourly payment policy, it becomes vital for the client to pay the money on those terms. However, a freelancer willing to scam will vanish without providing work or submitting plagiarized work. This leaves the client back to square one with no job done and money lost.
“It is imperative to beware the scammers in every form.”
Why is Upwork considered a Scam?
There are two sides to a coin; similarly, plenty of people get scammed, just as some people make money on this virtual portal. However, it is not wise to consider the website a scam, as it is the people who are misusing the portal to their advantage, leaving the freelancers or the clients miserable. Scamming or cheating is not only done by clients; freelancers pursue it too.
How are people scammed on Upwork?
Let’s throw light on this with an example. Today, as a beginner freelancer on Upwork, you start bidding on projects. You may soon get hired for a project, but the client vanishes without making any payment when you submit your work.
On the flip side, you may be scammed with plagiarized work as a new client. Also, since you hire the freelancer hourly as per Upwork law, you may have made the payment, and the scammer will vanish without submitting any work, leaving you at a loss of money.
Upwork is not a scam. The people with ill motives are scamming Upwork and other virtual marketplaces.
Is Upwork Legitimate?
We may hear countless stories and experiences doing rounds, while each may be genuine and may have suffered a significant loss. However, this does not make Upwork a scam. It is a legitimate portal working towards protecting the rights of freelancers and clients. Upwork has framed laws like hourly payment, secure payment network channel, and Copyscape to verify the authenticity of work submitted by freelancers. All you need to do is take conscious steps and earn money safely. Upwork is always forthcoming and helpful for both the freelancers and the clients.
Upwork is an excellent channel to connect clients and freelancers for any job. Wise use of the account, attention to detail, and following the protocol can improve the chances of well-paying safe opportunities and getting a great job done.
“A few bad fishes do not make the ocean bad.”
Wrapping it up!
Long story short, Upwork is genuine and not a scam. It provides a broad scope of opportunities for everyone using the platform. Ensure following instructions while using Upwork to maximize gains. Scammers are everywhere, all we need to do is take conscious measures to keep away from the trap, and you are good to go!
Check if Upwork is good for begineers.
