You are smart enough to never fall for a scam, but you may wonder why freelancers are easy prey for fraudsters. There are two main reasons why new freelancers fall for scams, that is, looking for high-income and finding a lot of work every day. In freelancer segments, such as content writing, those with more experience get work more easily. Newbies often have to undersell themselves to get work and get a decent salary. The lack of decent-paying tasks can lead to significantly lower income or gaps in income.

How do freelancers fall for scams?

The struggle to claw one’s way out from the lack of decent jobs can easily lead to understandable desperation. When the newbies are presented with opportunities to move up, many freelancers don't verify the postings as they are presented with the prospect of quick earning and high-income work opportunities. Due to the lack of any fraud detection system and secure payment systems like digital escrow, in all the marketplaces for freelancers, the scammers have been operating with ease.

Fake Job Posting Looking for Freelance Editor 

There are millions of jobs posted out there and it is almost impossible to detect which one is a possible fraud. For example, in Craigslist’s Gigs section, there is no genuine way to tell whether a job is real or a scam in disguise. As Craigslist has no features in place to rate the individuals posting work or check company reviews, you have no data to help you determine if the job posting is from an established company or someone trying to scam you. For example, the following job posting on Craigslist provides no suitable information to tell whether the job posting is trustworthy enough to get paid after completing the work. Most of the time, these scammers try to perform phishing and steal relevant information from applicants.


How to stay safe from scams as a freelancer?

1. Always look for the company website and verify the job posting by finding whether the company works in that specific field or not.

2. If an employer claims to have posted the job, make sure to ask for identity details and verify accordingly.

3. Ask for advance payment using a digital escrow system, like Vouch, before starting the work. ​

4. Use digital escrow systems like Vouch, to deal with the client, and make sure to do the entire terms and condition process through the Vouch app, so that in case of fraud, your payment remains secured.

How does Digital Escrow support freelancers in India? 

Vouch’s Digital Escrow service is a transparent way for freelancers and potential clients to build a project together and secure a clean transfer of built assets and payment. Freelancers can feel assured that they will be fairly compensated in a timely manner, and buyers will feel confident that their content will be delivered as expected and on schedule.

Vouch Digital Escrow uses a non-interest-bearing escrow account for all transactions in India and keeps you updated and informed at every step of the transaction process till the end. Vouch’s professionals are always available to assist you with all queries that you may have during the entire transaction process. There is no scope for deceit or fraud since the payments, shipping, delivery, and execution are carried out under the honest and watchful eyes of the Vouch’s professionals. With Vouch, any business transaction becomes transparent, uncomplicated, and hassle-free.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is Fraud Story #67. Check back here for more fraud chronicles and scams that you can protect yourself from.

Safety is not just about protecting your credit or debit card number. It's about having control of your money till you've delivered the product or service you contracted to!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: This is a good-faith initiative to educate the world about how to avoid frauds like these. Do you have a fraud that you would like to report? Please write to us at letstalk@iamvouched.com