Most popularly freelancers are registered on websites like freelancer.com LinkedIn, upwork.com. This gives a chance to the freelance scammers to log in to the website and make a fake bid. The fake freelancer never provides complete information about himself.
The freelancer platform doesn't tell you whether the client is trustworthy enough to pay for the completed task. There is also no way to tell whether the freelancer is not just phishing and trying to steal details from applicants. You can find out the freelancer scammer easily by exercising some tips and tricks.
It is not normal to make offline payments for a freelancing job.The freelancer cannot ask you to send money through online platforms like PayPal, Google Pay, and Bit coin. It is mandatory to make transaction with the freelancer through the website only and not allowed to transfer money offline or through any other means.
Your freelancer accepted the payment for the project and begins work on the bid. But after completion of the project, the freelancer delays the submission and demands more money. In such cases, avoid starting any further milestones. This is blackmail and is a breach of your original agreed payment.
Freelance might bid on your project to get admin access to your website. As a client verify more before allowing freelancers to access your dashboard. Do not provide any form of ID or documentation to a freelancer before verification even if they are asking for it. The default freelancer KYC confirms customer identity through documentation collection to prevent fraud and money laundering.
If your client asks you to submit more than one sample, then he/she will not be an authorized person. You can reduce the submission of samples by demonstrating your ability to a potential client. Avoid agreeing to too many free samples.
If you have registered and working on a freelance platform, you are allowed to use only the official communication channels. Once you have developed a strong relationship with your client, you can go with external communication channels. Using the official chat systems can help protect both you and the client from potential abuse.
After beginning a strong and trusted relationship with your client, you can create separate chat systems. The better way is to create a separate e-mail account and contact number for official purposes. You don't want to use different mobile phones to handle personal and business contact.
Instead, you can use Google Voice to create a VoIP number that disconnects from your personal number. You may also create a separate Skype account for official purposes.In all circumstances, avoid giving clients access to your social media accounts.
The only exception might be a LinkedIn account, where adding your clients to the platform may help increase your business opportunities and give you a chance to investigate the trustworthiness of a client.
If a freelancer or client maintains a good profile with high skills, and attempts to get you to share your work and experience on the freelance platform accounts are more common. This will be not only for success but also to have a good record of solid work profiles. As you maintain a good relationship, you will need to be diligent but, you mustnot reveal your income or personal details.
Anyone asking to share your account is likely to hack your account. Sharing a freelance platform or PayPal account with the client is also a huge privacy risk. If you are not sure whether a site or service is legitimate, thenthe finest way to find is to do a quick Google search. If a website contains bad reviews or multiple sources state, then definitely it's a scam. If such a state of affairshappens, you can move forward for better opportunities.