A False Tweet, a Possible Scam, and Complaints: My Upwork Twitter Search Results After ~64 Hours
I have a freelancer friend who recently experienced problems getting access to the Upwork website. I had no idea because I don’t check (and work on) Upwork as frequently as I’ve done in the past few years. And with the current spotlight on Upwork’s new pricing structure, I never bothered to check the Upwork forum and Twitter to confirm his experience.
But my friend egged me on: “Come on, I challenge you to check Twitter even for just one day. You’ll see what I mean.” And I did. And I got hooked! Let’s call it the Upwork Twitter search challenge.
Note: We need your help to spread the word about an initiative to build a fair, purpose-driven online jobs platform. Here’s the Medium article. It now has thousands of views, but we need to share it further! Thank you!
Under the Radar
I searched for “Upwork” on Twitter and scoured the search results. I never knew there were so many things happening to other Upwork freelancers that I wasn’t aware of. I’m posting them here to increase our collective awareness.
This is something you won’t see unless you take a look.
The challenge was issued by my friend a few days ago. I tried checking Twitter for a few hours that day — and I got “hooked.” A few days have past, and I’m still checking Twitter (until a few hours before I wrote this article). What I saw was a bit shocking…
Complaints, a deleted complaint, a false tweet, and a possible scam
Of course, I saw positive and negative tweets. In this case, we’ll focus on the latter, because that’s what a lot of us are unaware of (since we’re busy with our own lives). I have edited the text (some of the tweets) and image you’ll see below.
Here they are (some edited, some verbatim, some with links, some added after the publication of this article; emphases mine):
- “@Upwork I cannot log into my account. Neither can I access the site.”
- “Something is seriously wrong with the Upwork tracker on my PC right now. Everything slows down to a crawl whenever I open it”
- “@UpworkHelp Upwork hey, i am unable to upload .zip files while submitting a proposal why?”
- “Please see screenshot. Site not working. Tried clearing cookies :-(”
- “Same here (name).. I cannot access it.. What’s happening Upwork . Increasing rates and worse service.”
- “I see Upwork is down at least 30 minutes (up to 90 minutes) for maintenance every week :(“
- “Upwork And for almost downtime, it often has “Extended scheduled downtime”, LOL.”
- “Avoid #upwork at all costs! Over 23 days and they can’t figure out why I can’t apply for anything. I cannot even close my account!”
- “Upwork I cannot log into my account. Neither can I access the site.”
- “worst part of the #upwork site being down is admitting i still am using it after the outrageous fee hike” (Note: This is NOT the real Hillary Clinton)
- “I’m wondering how many real frauds were banned by upwork. And how much that number is less than mis-bans like this one.”
- “Upwork’s enormous price hike combined with slow biz this time of year for my industry is gonna force me to getcreative and also panic... Fuck Upwork though. My clients can’t afford the hike and I can’t afford a huge pay cut.”
- “Wot’s going on Upwork @UpworkHelp!? I’ve been trying to post a job since Wed and ur system is still giving error!! Can u get back 2 me asap”
- “really? I need someone for cut and paste data entry and you send me someone with a MSc for $77 an hour?” (I’ve experienced this before: I got offered a job I’m not skilled at, aside from other faulty job recommendations)
False Tweet
“Did you know the first 5 bidders on all freelance platforms get the job. (business/app name) provides an excellent way to automate your job serch” (verbatim tweet, inside an image)
The fastest (first 5) bidders always win? Don’t fall for this. This is not true. I’ve been hired when I was the 1st, 7th, 11th, 25th, and (at least once as) the 40th (or so) bidder. I’ve even read about one freelancer who said he or she got hired a few weeks after a job had been posted.
Deleted Complaint?
A few hours ago, I found one tweet which, according to Twitter, “does not exist.” The tweet mentioned the freelancer got banned in Upwork for no real reason.
Was it deleted by the owner or someone else? Nobody knows.
I was lucky to see that tweet so I took a screenshot. I checked the guy’s account and confirmed that that tweet does not exist anymore.
The Most Shocking Tweet? Possible Scam: Identity Theft
What shocked me the most was this tweet. Ben said, “Someone else is freelancing as me on your site — I never signed up & I don’t freelance. Pls fix.”
(Update: Here is another one: “fyi — there are 5+ accnts spamming Upwork using this pic for skype & sending malware 2 applicants”)
This is the most shocking for me because I thought Upwork is very strict when it comes to verifying all freelancers. I have seen many profiles with duplicate content (content copied from other profiles), experienced downtimes, and I have been scammed by some clients. But Ben’s case is much worse: a possible case of identity theft, and it’s been happening under Upwork’s radar.
Upwork’s new pricing takes effect this June, so I hope we’ll see a decline of these issues and an improvement of their service. I invite you to take the Upwork Twitter search challenge this weekend! And if you do, please share your observation in the comments section below and don’t forget to click the heart button too! We appreciate it!
