Are Freelancing Sites Safe?
The most common question when moving to professionalism is, Are freelancing sites safe? Freelancing, one of the biggest marketplaces, continues to expand its scope. It’s happening because, since the COVID-19 outbreak, companies are increasingly hiring freelancers to cope with the workload due to pandemics.
According to research, freelancing made up 36% of the United States Workforce in 2020. No surprise, the percentage is still stretching; freelancers can enjoy the freedom of customizing their workloads, clients, and projects. With an exponentially increasing number of freelancing platforms, it can be hard for you to navigate landing on the best yet safe one.
How Does A Safe Freelancing Platform Help Us?
A question may pop up in your head how does the right freelancing platform help us? Beginner-friendly freelancing companies provide a straightforward and smooth process to connect us with the most relevant job opportunities and clients. A right freelancing platform is a valuable tool in growing your career, whether you are still figuring out how to start freelancing from scratch or are already a pro in this field. Of course, there are positives and negatives associated with any online freelancing platform, depending upon particular freelancing preferences and requirements.
So, to make things easy for you, we have prepared a list of possible scams, preventions, and some safe freelancer sites.
Are Freelancing Sites Safe?
One of the most frequently asked questions is if freelancing sites are free or not. A straightforward answer to this question will be ‘yes, they are.”. But it’s not a final verdict. There are plenty of ways by which you can get easily scammed on Freelancing platforms. It happens if you are not careful enough, thus giving a chance to scammers. If you have an eagle-eye on these scammers, nothing like a scam will happen to you.
What Are The Possible Scams that Make Freelancing Sites Unsafe For You?
Following are some of the common ways by which scammers can trick you on any freelancer platform.
1. High payments for a simple task
Is your expected client offering you a few hundred bucks for doing a simple task? If yes, beware; this is a red flag. One of the most common ways scammers lure people is to offer very high payment for a task that seems like selling the hotcakes. It is way too much money to be paid for a simple task, which is a big red flag. It is their trick to scam a bunch of people all at once.
2. Trying to have an off-site contact with you
Beware of the red flag whenever an employer contacts you and wants to know your email or even wants your WhatsApp number to be shared. This scam is worse than those mentioned earlier, as these employers then send you malicious links and can hack your phone data. If all they want is a simple phone call for project discussion, go for it as there isn’t much security threat.
3. Outsider modes of payment
You should be extremely careful if an employer offers to pay outside of the platform, for example, by money order or cash. A genuine client will never want to pay a freelancer by a payment mode outside the freelancing platform without permission.
4. Ask the freelancer to pay any dues before assigning them work
It’s a big red flag. Never give money to any client, no matter how big a deal they offer you in return. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of being careful in this regard. If they ask you first to pay them before they assign you any work, know that it is a scam and give yourself a favor by simply walking away and blocking them on the spot.
Are There Any Ways to Avoid Such Scams?
No one enjoys getting scammed as it is no fun. We have compiled a list of measures you can consider to ensure your safety on these freelancing platforms.
1. Make sure to check clients’ feedback on their profiles
Another red flag while on an online freelancer platform is not seeing any feedback on a client’s profile. Save your time and energy by walking away from such employers. Although they might not be scammers in every case, to be on the safe side, you should ask them.
2. Never agree to leave the platform.
Although, it may be tempting because freelancing platforms deduct your payment. But believe it when we say this deduction is worth your money. Never leave an official freelancing platform to have an off-site contact with an employee.
3. Deal clients with verified payments
This one is totally up to you and the risk you can take. But in our suggestion, you should protect yourself by avoiding making deals with clients who do not have verified payments.
Which Freelancing Sites Are Safe?
Choice of a particular freelancing platform pretty much depends upon your set of skills as well as interests. However, if you are looking for technical or administrative jobs, including social media managers, web developers, or finance consultants – here are our top recommendations for freelance websites:
- Toptal
- Upwork
- Freelancer
Meanwhile, if someone is looking for creative jobs, such as graphic designers, writers, or illustrators – below are the freelance websites that suit them the most.
- Fiverr
- Dribble
- Flex jobs
Conclusion
The entire discussion concludes that freelancing is a fantastic way to make your living as it ensures secure payments. However, freelancing sites have pros and cons like any other platform. Being a beginner freelancer, you are prone to various ways of scamming. But you do not need to worry as we have covered you by compiling a list of measures you should take to spot and prevent such scams.
It’s all to know about safe sites, If you’ve got any suggestions, leave it below in comments.
