One of the most frustrating things that happens regularly to freelancers is that they take the time to apply for a job and then find out that it was a scam. In bad cases, this can lead to both money and time lost. And even when it doesn’t get that bad, it does make you feel like you wasted a lot of energy on an application for nothing. Plus it just leaves a bitter taste in the mouth when the people in your chosen freelance field are scamming you and your peers in the industry.
Following you’ll find ten signs that indicate that a freelance job offer that you’re looking at might be a scam. This doesn’t mean that every job post that meets one of these qualifications is indeed a scam but rather that you should proceed with caution when applying for any job that seems like it falls into one of these categories. There are certainly good jobs out there that might fall prey to one of the mistakes outlined here so don’t dismiss them immediately but definitely protect yourself when you’re applying for these jobs.
The top ten signs that a freelance job might be a scam are:
1. It sounds too good to be true. This is the biggest indicator that a freelance job isn’t going to turn into a true, steady, lucrative opportunity for you. If the rate being offered is ridiculously high, if they’re saying that they’re going to give you all sorts of benefits for what seems like very little work or if something else causes you to leap at the opportunity then there’s a good chance that something is a little “off” about the job. Great freelance jobs do come along but they usually require hard work for fair or above-average pay.
2. The ad contains a link to an outside site where the additional information can be obtained. This is one that primarily refers to freelance gigs placed on Craigslist and it’s one that doesn’t always hold true. People sometimes do link out to their professionally websites where they have posted more details on the work. However, scammers also frequently link to “more details” which turns out to be a job bidding board or a site that you have to pay to apply through. The main warning sign to look out for is that scams will normally hyperlink within the text (as in This is a Great Freelance Job) whereas legitimate links will be posted outright (as in visit us at www.ourbusiness.com).
3. The ad or initial email from the business requests a highly specific writing sample. Most places should be content with your existing writing samples if they are relevant to the job. Some legitimate places do have writing tests which you’ll have to decide whether or not you want to invest time in. However, these tests should always be fairly basic (“write 500 words on a topic related to fashion”). When a company requests writing samples that have a very specific format, use of specific keywords a certain number of times or links to specific business, there’s a good chance that they are trying to get you to unwittingly do free work for them that they’re going to make money off of without ever hiring you. One thing that I’ve found useful in cases such as these is that you can offer to write the first paragraph of the piece with the specifications required and explain that you don’t want to give away more work than that for free. A legitimate company will take you up on that in most cases.
4. The ad says it’s great for “students”, “work at home moms”, “SAHMs”, or “new writers”. That may be true. It may be a job that’s willing to offer you pay that’s fair compensation for your experience when you don’t have a lot of writing experience yet. But it could also mean that they want you to do a whole lot of work for not much money at all so you should proceed with caution.
5. The ad exaggerates how great the company or publication is. Any ad that says “we are going to be bigger than Rolling Stone” or “you could make thousands of dollars in revenue because our site is so awesome” or anything like that is probably a site that’s not going to be great for you. Sure, there are emerging sites that are eventually going to be big names. But a truly good company advertises for the writers it needs right now (and may say “potential for growth”) not for the expectations the company has for down the line. In most cases, these aren’t scams in the traditional sense but instead reflect businesses that don’t have a realistic approach to their development – and that can mean that you might not get paid.
6. Misspellings and typos in the ad. One does happen now and then but if you’re looking at an ad from someone who obviously didn’t proofread and who has a lot of spelling or grammar errors, you may want to think twice. It just speaks to the professionalism of the business which can also speak to the likelihood that you’re going to get paid on time and at a good rate.
7. You’ve seen the ad a dozen times before. Chances are that you look at the same job boards and job links sites again and again. (Hopefully one of those is the weekend job links that are provided here on Real Words every Saturday and Sunday!) If you do, you’ve probably noticed that there are one or two jobs that seem to be posted all of the time. Maybe the wording changes a little bit you’ve come to recognize the ad. Even though it’s well-written and seems fair, this could be a warning sign that it’s really a scam.
8. Information in the ad is minimal and the company doesn’t have a website. Not all businesses or clients that are going to hire you will have a website. However, the combination of a non-informative ad and a lack of website info could indicate that you’re looking at a scam. Make sure that you get detailed information and a contract before signing up to work with a company in this kind of situation,
9. Requirement that you sign up for a website. Sometimes you’ll apply for a job that seems totally legitimate and then you’ll be told that you need to sign up for a website that they operate in order to continue being considered for the job. In many cases, this will be a site with a forum which they’ll ask you to leave comments on, supposedly as a form of writing sample. Usually, this turns out to be a case in which the company is really looking to boost activity on its site and forums and doesn’t turn into a paying job. There are some legitimate jobs that ask you to sign up for a free account on their sites but you should be wary of any sites that require you to create extensive profiles or post comments anywhere.
10. You have to pay for anything. There are a myriad of different versions of this scam but in the end the warning is the same: don’t do it. You should never have to pay someone to get yourself a paying writing job.
As noted before, a job that has one or two of these problems isn’t necessarily a scam. It’s just a warning sign to really think carefully when applying for these jobs. Don’t let yourself get swept away by the need for money or the appeal of what sounds like a job that is too good to be true. Proceed with caution and protect your own work so that these scammers can’t continue to invade the industry.
Question of the Day: What has been the worst freelance scam you got caught in?
[Tags] writing, freelance, scam, tips, jobs, gigs [/Tags]
March 6th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Mungbeans of love. I created a free website for tuchis lekkers only to discover that the founders of this program were only dilettante tuchis lekkers and not the pros they claimed to be.
March 6th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
[...] 10 Signs That Freelance Job Might be a Scam [...]
March 8th, 2008 at 7:18 am
[...] here are some of the ones that are available today. Make sure to read my recent article called 10 Signs That Freelance Job Might be a Scam to protect yourself while making these [...]
March 9th, 2008 at 5:05 am
[...] 10 Signs That Freelance Job Might be a Scam [...]
March 19th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Oh.. was that a loaded question.. I have something that can be termed as the mother of all scams. And no, I am not here for spamming your site, it’s just that the text is so much, I don’t know whether the comment box will work or not.. however, I am pasting the text here. If it doesn’t come full, you can always visit the blog:
The Biggest Cheat There Ever Was, Is And Will Be - Elliott Leee
I am sure what I am going to say now will shake off the socks of every content writer present in the world. This is the bitterest experience anyone can ever have, so be warned.
I have been mightily cheated by Elliott Leee, and I call upon everyone to be very vigilant about this person. Here’s my story.
I am a freelance writer and this Elliott Leee contacted me through one of them. His username is richuser2008 there (later I found out he has one more username richuser2009 also, on the same site). Okay, he contracted me to do 100 articles in 2 days for him. The articles were of 500 words each, and on various topics. The payment decided for them was $600. Normally, freelance sites allow for escrow, and I prefer that mode, but this Elliott Leee said he will not escrow because he didn’t have funds. Still, I needed the money, so I accepted the work. I have a kid aged 1.5 years and parents aged 61 and 73 years to look after. So I accepted. That was my mistake number one.
I put all my other work on the backburner and started his articles. It was unreal work, but I knew I would do it. He was bombarding me with emails. He wanted 10 articles every hour. I employed my wife and brother on the job too, and between us, we did the 10 articles in the
first hour. I mailed him those. He accepted, said they were good, and said he wanted the next 10 within the next hour. I kept on sending, and with every mail he only said ‘Send me the next 10 asap’. There was no thanks, no decency in this person, he was only swallowing the articles without a burp.
After 50 articles were done, I indicated about the payment. I asked him to pay at least $300, which was the amount for the work completed. He refused outright. He said he would pay as soon as the 100th article was submitted. I had no option but to plow on.
Anyways, I will get to the end now. I finished the 100 articles in the stipulated 2 days. This guy was awake day and night, and didn’t allow me to sleep either. He wanted articles every hour, and would allow only a few hours sleep. But, he refused to give me any chat ids. Email was our only conversation.
So, 2 days, 40+ emails and 100 articles later, I asked him for the payment. His emails suddenly stopped. After about eight hours, he emailed me about a problem. He said that some other writer had fallen sick or something and could not complete her articles. He said her 29 articles were pending. And since those were completed, he could not send the articles to his client and his client would not pay. I told him this was unfair. He was almost like a dictator in his reply - do
these 29 more, or there can be no payment. Really, he was so brutal. I had to do those 29 more articles.
I took one more day to finish, not a whole day though. And I sent him those 29 also. The dues were now $780 and I was waiting for them.
After a few repeated reminders from my side, I got an email from him. He said he has paid on PayPal. I got a confirmation email from “PayPal” too. But the money did not show on PayPal. I waited four hours, thinking it might take time or something. But the money never came. And then I minutely scrutinized the “confirmation email”. It was a carefully planned out hoax. The email was a spoof. I reported it to PayPal immediately.
And then Elliott Leee stopped responding. No further communication occurred. In my last mail, I only told him how he was a criminal, and how I will expose him. He never replied to that.
Three days later, I was checking my freelance account where I first found this fellow. I was shocked to see the site had deducted $30 from my account for this project with Elliott Leee. I opened a dispute ticket with them.
Let me tell you also what PayPal and the freelance site did (or rather, did not do).
PayPal never replied to my report on the spoof mail. How can they not even be concerned about someone spoofing their emails? What’s the security for us then, when the biggest online bank of the world is so laidback about such crime? A couple of days later, I only got an email from PayPal saying that there’s no transaction of $780 on the said date. And they gave me a litany of preaching on what I must do to avoid phishing. Fat help!
The freelance site obviously did not help. There was no escrow, and that was their excuse to wash their hands of the whole affair. No escrow, no help - that’s the brutal dictum of these freelance sites. They replied about the deduction of $30 in 3 words - Project was canceled. Yes, you guessed it right - after making me slog like an aboriginal slave, after killing my sleep and appetite for two days running, this Elliott Leee took all the articles and canceled the project.
I got no justice in all this, and the infrastructure of the Internet is such that I will never get any justice. People like Elliott Leee will rule. And we honest hard workers will always lose.
Long live the phishers and scammers! The world’s online banks and freelance sites are there to help you do your thing.
PS: There is much, much more coming up on Elliott Leee as I am discovering more stuff from him. I have recently found out (without proof) that Elliott Leee is an alias - he has some other name. In fact, he has many other names.
If anyone of you wants to discuss Elliott Leee with me, and even take a look at our email convos and things like that, get in touch with me. I won’t take you at your face value though.
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:23 am
[...] presents <a href=”http://kathrynvercillo.com/blog/2008/03/06/10-signs-that-freelance-job-might-be-a-scam/” >10 Signs That Freelance Job Might be a Scam | Real Words</a> posted at <a [...]
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Famous remarks are very seldom quoted correctly.
May 25th, 2008 at 12:37 am
To do anything truly worth doing, I must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in with gusto and scramble through as well as I can.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:32 am
It’s a shame freelancers have to be so wary of scamming employers. I don’t mean to toot my own horn… but toot toot, I work with a new high paying freelance job site which focuses exactly on this issue of trust and accountability.
We screen and verifiy the identity of our workers. If you’re interested you can find your way to the website through my blog (I just don’t want to be “That Guy” that puts URL’s everywhere.)
Happy freelancing!
August 18th, 2008 at 11:42 am
[...] scam. Here’s advice from Kathryn Vercillo, a freelance writer who blogs at Real Words, on the top 10 signs a freelance writing gig might be a scam. No. 1 - when a gig sounds too good to be true it usually [...]
September 27th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Another sign that suggests the freelance job might be a SCAM is that they tell you that you have only 24hrs or 48 hrs to claim the job or otherwise they will fill-in someone else. Like this one I got today:
Hello,
We would like to know if you would be interested in working from home in your spare time writing short articles for us. You will be paid $25.00 - $45.00 per hour writing these articles.
We will also pay you $12.00 - $50.00 per hour for posing in blogs, and up to $450 for each fiction or non fiction story we ask you to write.
Press here if you are interested:
http://extenti.com/tr.php?56565+bylaw@yahoo.com
You have a 48-hour window to claim a position before we fill it.
Press here to begin and learn more:
http://extenti.com/tr.php?56565+bylaw@yahoo.com
All my best,
Freelance Home Writers Network
—–
To not receive future emails use this link:
http://extenti.com/tr.php?56566+bylaw@yahoo.com
To be removed via U.S. Mail please send all inquiries to:
20816 S Dixie Highway
Suite #135
Miami FL 33189
————————————————–
The truth is as soon as you click on ANY of those links, even on the link which supposedly should remove you from their list, you actually proved to them that you are using that email address. They will give out your email address to all other partner spam-senders. I’m not sure if you exactly know what this is all about, but the fact is many of the SPAMS are just sent over the internet merely to find email addresses that are being used by users. They earn money by trading these email addresses selling them to actual SPAM senders.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Please delete my previous comment, I shouldn’t have posted it without removing my own email address link in the SCAM message. ( bylaw@yahoo.com) now if anyone clicks on the link it will have the same effect as the SCAM sender wants. Sorry actually over here it’s around 4 am and I was too tired to notice that in the first place. Thanks in advance.
November 25th, 2008 at 4:03 am
wow what a nice post about Socks and retail information.
Its a very needed information because i need to buy variety of socks.
Thanks
November 25th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Misspellings and typos are the most common forms of scam. It seems like people never take time to proofread what they write before they post it online these days. It’s annoying and it makes it difficult to find a decent job because you’re thinking that the employer who posted that ad is rather fake, not real and professional.