Freelancing sites are getting popular everyday. Sites like Freelancer, oDesk, Elance etc have already became the primary earning sources for a lot of freelance contractors around the world. The way freelancing sites are getting popular, scamming is increasing there too. We can read a lot of complains from both clients and contractors. 2 very popular complains we can hear -
**Clients got the work and denied to process the payment.
**Paid upfront 100% and the contractor never replied.
First one from the contractors and the second one from the Clients. So, How to be safe from being scammed in freelancing sites? This is the question.
For Clients: Choose those freelance contractors which have got good reviews. Above 4 star contractors are usually good. Read a few feedback of previous clients if available. This will give you some overview about the contractor’s behavior, discipline etc. If you want to give opportunities to new contractors, you should never pay 100% upfront. There is escrow service available at Elance and milestones at freelancer.com. After the completion of the job you should release the payment. At oDesk, there is nothing like escrow or milestones. To be safe there, never pay 100% upfront if you see the contractor is new or have bad previous feedback.
For Contractors: Have a look at the feedback of the client before start working. If the client is new to you, never provide full work before processing the payment. At freelancer, oDesk, Elance, never work for a client who does not have payment method verified. Ask client to create milestones or escrows before start working if you are at freelancer.com or Elance.
Those tips might help you a bit to get rid of scammers but still there will be chances. Online is never 100% safe. The point here is no make the risk percentage lower. If you have some opinions, you are welcome to post it through comments.
