stepdub
Supreme Member
- Dec 25, 2016
- 1,308
- 1,417
Yesterday I bid on an Upwork project titled "Looking for crypto help". The client replied immediately and said he's looking for someone who can purchase XRP on his behalf and send it to his wallet address. So he'd hire me on Upwork over a random project, release the payment, and then I had to send him the crypto. I thought it's safe because I'd get the money first.
He was willing to pay the 20% Upwork fee + another 20% premium for helping him out. He said that the total annual amount will be $1 Million+. That would mean $200,000 for me
I was excited
He wanted to start with a trial of $420. Created a project and hired me, and released the payment immediately. All of this was so quick, it made me suspicious of this easy money I was going to make lol.
He kept pressing me to send him the XRP asap. I then remembered that when we receive payment after submitting our work, Upwork keeps the money as "Pending" and it is released to our Upwork balance after a few days (I guess 5 days).
I told him that I can only send his XRP after I get the money in my Upwork balance first. He was annoyed but said he'll wait.
After an hour, I got a message from Upwork:
"We have noticed some possible issues with your contract with XXXXX. Please hold off on working on this contract through Upwork until we give you the all-clear."
Upwork suspended the contract. This usually happens when they notice some problem with the clients' payment method (fraudulent card or something). Had I not waited and sent him his crypto immediately, I'd been screwed.
Another way I see how they could scam with this method even with a legit payment method is - after I sent him the crypto, he could have applied for a refund stating any reason. And Upwork arbitration wouldn't be helpful for me in this case since there was no legit work involved that I could prove completion of
He was willing to pay the 20% Upwork fee + another 20% premium for helping him out. He said that the total annual amount will be $1 Million+. That would mean $200,000 for me
I was excited He wanted to start with a trial of $420. Created a project and hired me, and released the payment immediately. All of this was so quick, it made me suspicious of this easy money I was going to make lol.
He kept pressing me to send him the XRP asap. I then remembered that when we receive payment after submitting our work, Upwork keeps the money as "Pending" and it is released to our Upwork balance after a few days (I guess 5 days).
I told him that I can only send his XRP after I get the money in my Upwork balance first. He was annoyed but said he'll wait.
After an hour, I got a message from Upwork:
"We have noticed some possible issues with your contract with XXXXX. Please hold off on working on this contract through Upwork until we give you the all-clear."
Upwork suspended the contract. This usually happens when they notice some problem with the clients' payment method (fraudulent card or something). Had I not waited and sent him his crypto immediately, I'd been screwed.
Another way I see how they could scam with this method even with a legit payment method is - after I sent him the crypto, he could have applied for a refund stating any reason. And Upwork arbitration wouldn't be helpful for me in this case since there was no legit work involved that I could prove completion of
