oDesk is a marketplace. Like any marketplace, it attracts the less than honorable, the cheat, and the outright swindler. In this article, I’ll show you some of the problem people and the scams they use so you can avoid them.
Caveat Emptor- let the buyer beware.
You’ve probably seen it in chat rooms. It’s epidemic on dating sites. You may have done a little bit of it yourself on a resume. Misrepresentation. A better word is lying.
How is it done by providers on oDesk?
- Profile inflation- posting other works or projects as your own.
- Cheating on tests- getting someone else to test for you in a subject that you don’t know.
- Lowering your hourly rate and then milking time by just running odesk while you do other things.
- Stealing articles for submission and representing them as your own original work.
- Claiming expertise in an area where you really have none.
All of these amount to lying. All of them will get you fired. Most of them will get you interviews and maybe a job offer. All of them piss me off.
Providers who scam the system upset me because oDesk works. It works when it brings willing sellers and buyers together. They get good product and I get money. But the whole thing is built on trust. When someone violates ethical standards to ‘game’ the system, buyers get upset and lose faith. It hurts me when I try to bid for their next job. It hurts me even more when buyers are driven away altogether.
Avoiding the problem provider
Ask these questions-
- Is the provider too good for the job? Someone with very high skill levels showing in their profile and a very low hourly rate might be a ‘milker’- underbidding on their rates and inflating their time.
- Does the cover letter match the provider? Someone who has excellent English skills isn’t going to type “I is now right for your job”
- If you are suspicious, ask for some small, original work sample. Good providers will be happy to show you what they can do.
Caveat exigo- let the seller be wary.
The job posting looks good. They are hiring 5 writers to do articles on candle making for their site; the money is good; you apply and get an interview.
The buyer wants to ‘see what you can do’ and asks you to write a couple of articles for titles they provide. Reasonable, right?
Not always. The buyer interviews 20 people, gets 40 articles for free and walks. No job. No money and you’ve wasted your time.
Investigate your buyer.
Buyers get ratings just like providers do. Look at them. Check out their website or other contact information. Look for these warning signs-
- First time buyer or buyer with lots of previous job postings but no previous hires.
- Buyer with low rating or with bad feedback.
- Buyer who interviews lots of people but doesn’t seem to hire anyone.
- Buyer who asks you to provide free samples of work they need even though you have similar work showing in your profile.
- Buyers who lowball their project with the promise of more work later.
There is no sure way to avoid all problem buyers. This is especially true when you are just starting out and hungry for work. But use your common sense. When you are suspicious, ask questions. A good buyer will be happy to clarify the project.
Working together, we can make oDesk what it should be- a place for honest people to come together and get the job done.
This is a critically important subject at oDesk and all marketplaces. At oDesk, we never shy away from these discussions as we feel they are very important to address for the safety of all of our users. We’re not going to claim to be perfect in avoiding problems like these, but we are always paying attention and looking to improve.
One recent note about the Verified Payment system at oDesk. We recently (a couple weeks ago) launched a feature that shows whether or not a buyer has a verified payment method on each job opening: https://url.odesk.com/lc3nf
This is intended to weed out fraudulent buyers and also give more information to providers that are applying to jobs from new oDesk buyers.
-Josh Breinlinger
oDesk
Good idea with the verified payment system.
And great series of posts Bill. I keep learning all the time.
Nice blog. Makes me wanna sack some of my newly hired not so good providers..
Very informative.As a new provider, I must say I have questioned some of the buyers already.whats the old adage? If it sounds to god to be true.. thanks for the info
Hi,
Well this is an obvious problem. However the next generation technology can solve all these problems easily.
Why cant Odesk enable Video interviews??? Is not a good idea to have chat with the person face to face???
That will definitely minimizes the cases of cheating.
I hope if Odesk is reading it then they might like the idea too
All I can say is **** oDesk for thier business ethics. All they care about is their 10% commission and as long as they can get that, they have and always side with the providers. Thus, their disputes and resolutions ALWAYS favours the providers simply to line their pocket.
So yes, **** oDesk.
I can’t agree of this 10% Commission ,i think you never work at odesk ,true odesk taking 10% did u ever Analise what they had offered ,There is a old saying that ” three blinds guess about an elephant ” you are one of them (or may be one inherited from them) we are living in 2010 ,Just an software can’t do every thing always trust and communication play vital roll .
I NEVER AGREE WITH YOUR COMMENT ,
AND U MIGHT HAVE FAILED WORKING AT ODESK ,THAT’S WHY ALL THESE STUFF ARE AROUND .
This is great advice! I tell those I refer much of the same.
I have been using oDesk, as a contractor, for over a year and a half. During that time, I’ve run across scam employers (whom I’ve reported) and have luckily not fallen victim to them thus far.
oDesk is a system that can be violated by either side, which is unfortunate, because the site provides a great way to work and to hire workers.
Contrary to what I’ve read from many employers, oDesk does back up their employers, as well as contractors. It is a two-way beneficial system and one shouldn’t fall prey to someone who abuses it, if they pay attention to the rules, regulations and policies. It is not oDesk’s fault if an employer hires the wrong contractor or doesn’t bother to read their rights or the ins and outs of the system provided.
P.S. Kudos to Ashish for suggesting video interviews. I use Skype myself, but do not have a webcam for the face-to-face.
It’s a shame, that any service entended as something good for all involved, becomes a breeding ground for the scum of the world. Odesk is no different. While many of us, especailly in these hard economic times, are legitimately looking for employees or employers, those dirt bag few have left a bad taste in our mouths. The problem, as with any site such as this, is the verification process. There seems to be lacking a method to verify that those hiring and those seeking work are who and what they claim.. We must remember; “You can be whoever or whatever you want to be over the internet”. To end the problems associated with this, sites like Odesk must find a better way to verify the credentials of those posting there.
Online testing procedires do not work. Anyone can take the test, and none will be the wiser. I agree, that sometimes the wording of a posting will give a person away, but the scammers have gotten wiser to this by hiring others to write their posts for them. It’s shame, but it’s what the world of internet services has been reduced to.
Odesk is THE biggest scam out there. They shape their entire system around protecting their incompetent contractors who would say and do anything to rip you off for a dolar. They can get f*&ked.
The system works like this “an hour worked is an hour paid” to odesk that is. Yes you have to aprove the work diary but try and dispue the hours, they will charge you first before even investigating then come back and justify the contractor.
The contractors all have an angle. They usually have all these jobs with great feedback but hire them and they are a pack of retards. They do a half arsed job at the best.
I have had SEO guys giving examples then arguing for some heap of hours per week like they will deliver the world but are useless as tits on a bull.
It is all bullshit and the odesk framework supports the scam so that they can get their 10%.
The contractors from india will take a contract then you have different people using the same email and contract name, skype etc till you are so confused you dont know who you are talking to.
Rather than do a hire on Odesk just go out in the shed and get a hammer, a nice big one, and start hitting yourself in the head real hard.
That is preferable to dealing with these idiots.
Better yet get a book and do it yourself at least you know whos responsible…
no. 10. LMFTitsOff
Hello,
I got scammed and I guess I should warn everybody about it! I started speaking to a Contractor named XinLiang for a company called Mobile panda! She told me she could do the job and after discussing the project for over a month, I hired her. After 2 weeks and after paying her $336, she comes back and says she misunderstood the project and that she wont work for the project any more cause she doesnt have time! She then proceeded to end the contract and not issue a refund. I lost $336! All the Odesk policies are for the benefit of the contractor and theres nothing for the employer.
I love Elance. Go with them!They even charge way less!
Hello all,
I am developer, Xin Liang.
I want to notice all facts with Praveen, so I write this comment here.
firstly, He had cheat me that he was Arabic(United Emirates State) employer at first on oDesk.(I don’ t like Indians), but he was Indian in fact.
here, I have disappointed with him already.
But, I have started to talk with him. He asked me that I should develop his app with $2000 for iPhone client and at that time his mock-up/wireframes for design was still not ready.
firmnessly under this condition, he has told me his budget was limited up to $2000.
so, I have completed the design for one module of his app with him for even 1month, but I haven’t earned anything besides of $330 from him.
I have lost a lot of time and cost by him.
After I have completed first workflow of this app, I have realized that the cost of this app must be $5000 ~ $6000 at least.(at this point, I had feel that he cheat me again)
there, I have disappointed with this job.
so, I have given all refund to him back($480) and closed.
that’s all.
then on this blog, he has written that he hasn’t gotten any money even.
I am very surprised with his shamelessness now.
If you want to confirm all this fact, please contact with me(Skype id is xinliang_1111).
I can show you all chatting history and refund transaction for his all budget on oDesk as soon.
as this, he is cheater.
now, I think that closing the working with him is very good fortune for me.
In fact, I have worked for him over month, but I have given all money to him back($480).
This tells that I am really honest developer.
I hope that I won’t meet with these employers(particularly India Employers) in the future.
thanks all.
hi all developers
.
I have also gotten a scam from a India employer.
he has offered me that our job should progress with fixed project, then after I have worked hardly for a week with this job, he has disappeared suddenly.
he has gotten my binary file and then disappear
very disappointed with India employers.
This scam is not my first for me even on oDesk.
then, these accidents for me have occurred with only India and singapor employers.
so, I recommend that you guys shouldn’t work with these employers.
and fixed project is risk for developers like this.
Good luck
oDesk is very good outsourcing site.
very funny to work with talented developers
We created a simple test that we get all developers to do.
It’s a basic problem that they have to complete under a set time before we even interview them.
From the test, you can work out:
- If they understand basic instructions
- they have a good understanding of English
- Have a basic knowledge
- Can solve problems on the their feet.
- Can gauge their coding skills (it’s a basic test, but after doing enough find it’s representative of a developers skills set)
This is a BASIC problem that you should be able to read the problem and just answer it immediately and we would find 1 developer in 20 that can do the test with any sort of basic knowledge and speed.
We only invite those developers to do the test that read well on their ODesk profiles and have decent feedback.
We haven’t had a bad developer since introducing this. Usually they leave after finding work for much greater money.
gDev FZ LLC is full of BS, they don’t even respond to oDesk about why they haven’t paid a contractor. If the work has been done, and there was an amount agreed upon, that amount should be paid.
Furthermore, how in the hell does a company like this to continue to conduct business on a site that they ignore complaints from in regards to a lack of payment?
The original blog post was written more than three years ago. I’ve left up some comments so that others can see that the problem continues. However, I don’t want the comments section to become a litany of woe about oDesk, nor a list of grievances. For that reason, I won’t be approving any more comments that are simply complaints about others (clients or providers) on the system.
Your recourse is to complain to oDesk directly.
I hope you understand,
Bill Morrison
http://wmorrison.elance.com