One of the real case studies of a Top Rated freelancer.
Being a Top Rated Upwork freelancer, I have been making my career as a provider of quality 3D rendering and visualization projects. I have been relying on the platform over the years, however, recently, I have been experiencing a worrying trend that must be known by all freelancers:
deceptive or fraudulent job advertisements wasting our contacts and our time.
It is not merely a rant but a case study of the patterns being repeated over and over again that seem to be legitimate on the face of it but in reality cost actual money and opportunity.
Case Study 1: The Trend of the Fake or Duplicate Job Posts.
One of the new postings, which was posted recently called Birds-Eye Rendering Artist in Industrial Project sounded real to me, as it contained verbal payment, description, reasonable budget. The further I peered the more I could see that something was amiss.
The hire rate was approximately 39% but the client continued to post almost similar jobs on a regular basis say after every few days.
They used a different freelancer every time, nothing like a repeat or a long relationship.
Every job had 1 interview, 1 invitation sent, yet hundreds of freelancers had used 14-40 connects trying to obtain an opportunity.
The comparison of screenshots allowed me to see that the same position was posted twice in days with the same description, the same place, and the same budget.
It is an indication that hundreds of connects were used by freelancers on a post that was not really open to fair competition. It is either deliberate or not, but this cycle is like connect exploitation; a systemic defect that silently devours the income of freelancers.
Case Study 2: The Change of Mind Scam.
The other incident came up through a client by the name (Confidential) He advertised an illustration position that was the best fit to me. We spent hours conversing, sharing elaborate project ideas and all that appeared professional until I looked at the project activity.
On my disbelief, the client had already employed another person, yet was still talking to me as though I was being seriously considered. Many hours later he just stated, I changed my mind.
The whole transaction was deceptive and the connects were not refunded even after there was no record of job cancellation. To lose a project to a competitor is one thing, to lose it to lies is another.
Upwork is built on freelancers and we should know. But these recurring patterns are becoming deadly problems:
Connections are also squandered in the process of trying to connect with jobs that are not real or which have ulterior motives.
False job ads pervert the competition and put the genuine ones off the radar.
The booster system increases the losses, as freelancers will invest more to be noticed in the listings that do not always lead to actual employment.
At some point, Upwork did not have boosted proposals, and jobs were given on merit and quality basis only. It now tends to seem like bribing to compete, and non-real or non-active clients do not help the situation.
What Upwork Needs to Do
In case Upwork does appreciate its freelancers, there are a number of things that need to be done immediately:
Identify and remove duplicate job advert placements with the same descriptions or patterns of activity.
Refund will automatically be connected in case of a job removal, job closure, or job duplication.
Mark clients who have low hire records and habits.
Enhance openness in processes of interview and invitation.
Such measures would not only safeguard the reputation and credibility of individual freelancers, but also of the entire platform.
Connex is not gratis to many of us. We buy them using our income, real money that is hard earned. When the scams or replicas of the job advertisements eat tens of connects, the effect is not small, but it is costly.
Think about having to spend 40 connects on a job and then it gets closed down, reposted, or given to a ghost hire. Calculate that by hundreds of freelancers and the amount of waste is enormous.
Concluding Ideas: Upwork needs to Listen.
This problem is not in isolation but it is systemic.
Freelancers are losing confidence within the Upwork platform as counterfeit, duplicate, or false job advertisements are still making it through the filter.
I am telling it frankly, as it does no good to keep quiet. We should create awareness, record suspicious trends and ensure that Upwork pays attention to these signals. It is transparency and fairness that made the platform successful in the first place and it is time to defend that basis once again.
The only thing freelancers can do until something significant changes is to remain vigilant, do a background check on the clients and talk about their experiences in the public so that they can protect each other.
