This scam has been mentioned before, but I want to highlight it in this post. It has been thrown at me a few times (even recently), and I bit the hook a couple times when I was younger. Also, it’s not just on oDesk–it’s widespread across the freelancing networks and even raises its ugly head outside of them.

The Gist of It

It starts out with what appears to be a legitimate job. You apply to it and get an interview. They say that you are obviously talented, you have a great record, and they’re impressed with your work. However, they (or someone they have to convince) is still on the fence and needs more before you can be hired. Then, they ask for you to produce a tailor-fit sample to their needs. For example, if it’s a job writing press releases, they ask you to write a press release they need written right now–for free. It’s under the impression that if you do this press release well, you’ll get a long-term job. The reality of it is that you just did the work for them, and they had no intention of paying you in the first place.

Not all people requesting an on-demand sample are trying to scam you, though. There’s just a few who keep cropping up and posting bunk jobs every time they need some work done. The worst part about it is that they’re not just scamming you. Chances are, they are scamming every other provider that contacted them as well. They can take all of the work from the providers and either choose the best or mix-and-match them with a little cut-paste job.

If the scammer is really smart, they will assign different parts of the work to the qualified providers. That way, it arouses less suspicion. You may ask, “Why would someone go through all of that trouble instead of just paying for the work to be done?” You go through the same amount of trouble interviewing people, so really, this is a winning strategy for the scammer. Same amount of work, less money paid. You may ask, “Wouldn’t that ruin their reputation?” There’s no way for their reputation to be ruined through the current oDesk system as: 1) No one was hired in the process, so no ratings are left 2) oDesk providers are still unable to see the buyer’s profile to track whether or not they are a scammer or a buyer you’ve worked with previously.

How to Prevent Being Scammed

If the buyer’s profile was accessible (even in a very limited form), providers could keep track of who they have worked with before, buyers who have a solid reputation, and buyers who are known scammers. Someone can still create another account to try to cheat people, but at least it offers some level of protection with no loss to the buyer. Just list the username of the buyer on the job listing, and it would be a huge benefit to both the provider and the buyer.

Even better, allow buyers to say a little bit about themselves in their profile like a provider profile allows you to! When I was having work done through oDesk, I thought it would be great if I could have a buyer profile which would tell people more about my company. Also, by displaying my buyer name on my jobs, it would attract the talented providers. They know I’m honest, I give solid directions, etc.

Since we can’t change that part of it, let’s look at some ways to avoid and disarm scammers. One of the things I’ve noticed with these scammers is that when you take the time to send them a non-canned cover letter, they will just spit back a canned response at you demanding the same thing as in the job listing. If you give them what they want, they will spit back another canned message that demands more work before they can hire you. I’ve fallen for it a few times because I thought things would be different this time. They weren’t.

To avoid them, avoid situations like the one I described. If they start demanding things right off the bat, you should proceed warily if at all. In the case that you decide to move forward, never produce something which the buyer can actually use. In the case of the press releases, offer to produce a sample which depicts their company and some meglocorportation merging. If they say it’s no-go unless you write a press release over a specific topic, they’re trying to rip you off.

The best course of action is to just not deal with these people at all because they will waste your time.

ShareThis

• I Saw a Scam
• A New Scam
• Scams and Cheats at oDesk
• Get Your Freelance and Sub-Contracting Questions Answered
• Instant Messaging and Your Success