Freelance works are different across industries and the skills vary, but no matter the industry, there are scammers everywhere ready to take advantage of honest workers. As a newcomer, you celebrate nailing a contract because your application made it through the competition. However, newcomers in the freelancing market are victims of scammers because they are lured into contracts that they end up being ripped away. Click To Tweet There are honest websites which freelancers can engage in, such as the WriteZillas among others. Freelance companies deal with scam cases every now and then while some never get to be reported. There are some red flags that a freelancer can use to calculate if a gig is a scam or real.
Read through the application attentively
Most scammers tend to use vague descriptions when putting a job listing. If the potential client does not easily answer questions on the deadline of the job or how much work they have this might be a red flag. If you are going to accept a contract you need to see clear, definite descriptions of the work to be assigned.
Verify the client or company
If you receive a contract from a company or client research about them to determine their works. If the information on the company’s website or on social media does not match the job description this is a definite red flag. If their freelance accounts look like spam, you can pass it might be a scam.
If you search and see others call them a scam do not engage with them. Be careful when dealing with clients who have blank profiles and in some cases, their payment method should be verified. Check the reviews and ratings given by other freelancers who have worked with the client.
Avoid free samples
Scammers most of the time will ask for written free samples where you will be given a topic to write on. Some freelance marketplaces don’t accept such, but providing a sample of work done by the freelance is important for the client to evaluate the applicants. Most scammers pick newbie’s with the promise of giving them a good rating and if they need 10 articles written they will pick at least 10 who can work at no cost in the name of a free sample. If a client is not satisfied with the samples the freelancer has provided there is no need to ask for another written sample.
Security in payments
Freelancers should be worried when working with clients outside freelancing marketplaces. Most marketplaces have set secured payment methods so avoid other unsecured methods such as giving your PayPal email address directly to the client. If the client is new one can demand a down payment from them. There are also set systems to deal with disputes about payments.
Report scammers
If a client engages you and demands that you work outside the marketplace, you have the right to report them. Once you report them you will be saving other freelancers from being scammed.
Freelancing marketplaces grow by the day and it is a continuously growing trend. If a freelancer takes precautionary measures before engaging in contracts they will be safe from losing money. Scammers are morally deficient people out to exploit others.
You can use job scraping software. Job scraping is to gather job posting information online in a programmatic manner.