my odesk account suspended. wtf?

just got a notice in my email. my account is suspended. i thought it was a phishing thing but logged onto odesk, and my account is suspended. tried live chat, guy says "I cant access the reason, you will have to contact our risk management team"
WTF? I have 100% feedback, havent been on there for like a month. the only thing i can think of is i asked someone to chat with my via skype. could that be the reason? maybe they thought i was trying to circumvent odesk?
WTF? i am so confused. time to get some stealth odesk account i guess?
oh and i forgot, a few months ago, I asked someone if they accept paypal and i paid them via paypal to avoid the odesk fees. but this was such a long time ago.

IF they found out about you using PayPal, yes you'd get suspended, as would the guy that you paid. Depending on how much was paid, ODesk could go after you for their cut (its in the TOS). If this is the reason for the suspension, there's no way to recover your account (says the TOS).

oDesk can be a trip sometimes.

I know for a fact they dont like urls included in jobs, nor do they like users requesting Skype/IM info in job posts.

However, once you communicate with prospects via the slow ancient oDesk system, you can share contact info. outside of the oDesk system.

If you had an issue with a worker/provider, just contact oDesk. If you live in the states I would call them (odesk)by phone after you file a dispute online. Also, copy and paste your Skype chat log , if there's anything that maybe of use to your dispute.

This usually works for me.

Hope this helps.

hi guys
does anyone know how easy it would be to get another odesk account? do i just clear cookies, get a different credit card, and i am good to go?

theseodude: Try clearing cookies & cache, if you have a dynamic ip, just restart your router (so you get a new ip), and go on and register..But if you are trying to register again, my tips would be: Don't use the same name, same account, same information, so if this was my problem, i'd probably register again but i'd use my best friends name/information.

That would really depend on what you're doing. If you get a new Credit card, you'll have to verify it because any freelancers (including myself) won't work for someone who doesn't have a verified payment method (and many employers won't hire a freelancer who isn't verified through their new system). Maybe you could put the account in someone else's name and the credit card, this way you could verify the payment method - otherwise, you might have a difficult time getting good people to hire.

theseodude said:

hi guys
does anyone know how easy it would be to get another odesk account? do i just clear cookies, get a different credit card, and i am good to go?

Click to expand...

It's probably that you asked to contact them outside of oDesk. Whenever I hire someone on a service like that, I'm very careful about the wording I use if I make a request to communicate outside of the platform.

I currently have a programmer working for me on oDesk, so I'll make sure I avoid that conversation.

theseodude said:

WTF? i am so confused. time to get some stealth odesk account i guess?

Click to expand...

By far the most hilarious thing I've ever read. Hahahaha.