Signs Of a Scammer

[shamzie]

Is there a way to report them?

[reginavibes]

Thank you so much for this post, as I have my fair share of nasty experiences. Regarding your points:

They want to talk outside of fiverr

These may not all be scammers, because there are bigger corporations out there using Fiverr that require more in depth communication such as ■■■■■ calls or Google hangouts, especially so with more expensive projects. They want to know what exactly you’re providing. Sometimes fiverr has a bad rep of “cheap, low quality” work (not saying all obviously)

You are a new seller

That could be possible.

They claim to be a hr manager

This is a funny one! Never encountered this before but then again, it is highly subjective. For all we know he/she could be legit if you find out more information. You said it is unlikely credible and legit established company would hire on fiverr, I STRONGLY BEG TO DIFFER! Check out Fiverr’s press release/stakeholder documents, you will be surprised how many “established companies” utilise fiverr.

Unprofessional/rude

Couldn’t agree more, usually these go to spam basket immediately!

No Reviews

Also depends on situation. You may be the first seller they choose to work with. They may be entirely new to fiverr. That doesn’t mean they are bad, and doesn’t mean you should NOT make that money for all buyers without reviews…

Great points though! Makes me feel good knowing there’s others facing similar experiences!

[kathryns_voice]

I’ve been on Fiverr now for a few days, and feel like this is all the requests I am getting. I’ve gotten 4 now, and every single one has asked that I chat on hangouts or ‘dollar sign kype’ (Note the ‘dollar sign’). I read the communication guidelines and know that everything should be kept within the platform. I then offer them a gig for a 30-minute paid consult to tell me exactly what they want on a voice chat so I can direct them to the correct gig that I offer, and get declined immediately without explanation. So I hope other new sellers beware, and make sure you do your due diligence. Don’t just jump on a chat with someone without knowing they are serious about getting you some work. I personally like having the ability to offer a cheap gig for my time. It’s been a great way to filter out folks who aren’t willing to tell you what they want up front, and are most likely a scammer.

Hi and welcome to the forum!

I’ve been on for roughly a month and for the first week or so I received many requests like what you are describing. I promise it will get better, as I started getting jobs, the scammers went away. Hang in there!

[visualfoxdesign]

I would also add - they ask for custom samples instead of accepting samples of past work. Custom samples = free work.

Yeah, I had several of those that ask for a sample!

I used to reply with something along the lines of that doing so does not conform to Fiverr policy and that they can look at the examples I placed on my Gig page as well as look at my profile for further examples of my qualifications.

Sometimes that reply got flagged as a result of triggering keywords putting the reply under review, so now I just say something along the lines of:

For examples of my work,

you can view my gig and profile for further proof of my qualifications.

I also noticed these people tend to follow a trend in their questioning which goes as follows:

• Ask if you’re able to do a specific task.
• Ask how long it takes
• Show an example of something similar to ask if you can do that.
• Show a positive reaction to your confirmation that yes you can do this.
• Finally - > Ask for proof of your abilities by showing the end result with your watermark on it.

I find it uncomfortable whenever this happens, because their profiles tend to show several positive ratings by people in the same service Branch on fiverr.

[hmz4klm]

Oh God!
Yesterday I met a buyer. He told me about the image that was to be edited. I told him to place the order. He replied " I am not going to place the order until you show me the sample". I prepared the sample and showed it to him. He asked for further changes in. I made those changes too. After checking my work. I was BLOCKED!

I’m no longer able to contact that FotherMucker. Stay safe viewers.

[misscrystal]

Oh God!

Yesterday I met a buyer. He told me about the image that was to be edited. I told him to place the order. He replied " I am not going to place the order until you show me the sample". I prepared the sample and showed it to him. He asked for further changes in. I made those changes too. After checking my work. I was BLOCKED!

I’m no longer able to contact that FotherMucker. Stay safe viewers.

I am not going to place the order until you show me the sample".

I’m so sorry you got scammed by this old trick ---- Never start work until they place an order.

[woody_g]

Here is something I do and it seems fiverr admins don’t mind. In fact, they approve this for the purpose of getting rid of scammers. I don’t get as many as i did in the early months.

Example:
scammer123: Hello, how are you?
Me: Super, what can I do for you?
scammer123: I have a business proposition for you. Would you be interesting in contacted me on $k1pe or D1skord?

… right there, I know they are scammers. Then I send this quick reply:

Me: {username}, let me explain how this works. You DO NOT solicit off fiverr communication. Its against the fiverr terms and conditions. So, for that I am reporting you. Have a FANTASTIC day!

Fiverr admins, this user has tried to get me to communicate off this platform via [website], [website], or [website]. If you’re monitoring, please remove {username}. I’m sure they want me to gain them access to another site such as [website] or something. Thank you.

{username} fills in the username of the scammer in this case:

scammer123, let me explain how this works. You DO NOT solicit off fiverr communication. Its against the fiverr terms and conditions. So, for that I am reporting you. Have a FANTASTIC day!

Fiverr admins, this user has tried to get me to communicate off this platform via [website], [website], or [website]. If you’re monitoring, please remove scammer123. I’m sure they want me to gain them access to another site such as [website] or something. Thank you.

The [website] is redacted here, but is meant to represent common communication platforms off fiverr. You can guess what they are: (Sk, Go, Di, Up).

The reply I get back is that “Fiverr has decided to approve your message. scammer123 will no longer be able to contact you…”

I love how well this works.

[woody_g]

Oh God!

Yesterday I met a buyer. He told me about the image that was to be edited. I told him to place the order. He replied " I am not going to place the order until you show me the sample". I prepared the sample and showed it to him. He asked for further changes in. I made those changes too. After checking my work. I was BLOCKED!

I’m no longer able to contact that FotherMucker. Stay safe viewers.

Did you put a watermark on the image? I would think about doing that next time. Depending on your photo editing software, you can do that fairly easy.

Personally, I charge for samples and say that if they place an order, that will be discounted by that amount. Gives incentive and covers your time and effort

[woody_g]

My main gripe is there is a trend in buyers who order a gig, you deliver based on what they ask for, they come back with some ridiculous changes or demands and threaten to cancel - which of course we know hurts our ratings.

This is not a direct scam as someone asking for communication off the fiverr site, rather a scam to get you to do more work than was agreed upon or getting the work, cancelling, and thus getting work for free. I will admit, fiverr *was helpful in my case. I did go to the resolution center, was advised to work it out, I did offer a compromise and finally the customer accepted and completed the job (even left me a 5-star rating). I have a feeling fiverr told me to work a compromise or else, but also communicated to the customer “accept or else”. I have not evidence of that, but it would be real cool to thing that was the case. Either way, I am pleased with fiverr customer support so far.

[uk1000]

On 1/2/2020 at 3:06 PM, woody_g said:

The reply I get back is that “Fiverr has decided to approve your message. 

Do you really want all the scammers to receive the exact message you send to Fiverr CS/the Trust & Safety team? Surely you could just give a message saying something like “sorry I can’t do that as it would be against the terms of service” or “Sorry all contact has to be on Fiverr” or “Could you describe what is required on Fiverr…” (eg. if they just give a link). Then you could click the report/spam button the message if/when you wanted and the scammer wouldn’t know the message sent to Fiverr or if you actually had reported them. 

[woody_g]

The reply I get back is that “Fiverr has decided to approve your message…

Do you really want all the scammers to receive the exact message you send to Fiverr CS/the Trust & Safety team? Surely you could just give a message saying something like “sorry I can’t do that as it would be against the terms of service” or “Sorry all contact has to be on Fiverr” or “Could you describe what is required on Fiverr…” (eg. if they just give a link). Then you could click the report/spam button the message if/when you wanted and the scammer wouldn’t know the message sent to Fiverr or if you actually had reported them.

Yeah, I could do that. But where is the fun/justice in that. I want them off fiver, not harassing someone else - which of course they will using a different username, etc.

[uk1000]

On 1/2/2020 at 3:18 PM, woody_g said:

I want them off fiver, not harassing someone else - which of course they will using a different username,

But surely your way would not stop them creating a new account/username just like reporting/pressing the spam button wouldn’t. Though it might not be that easy or there’d be much more spam from the same people with different accounts (things like the payment provider having to be unique and probably Fiverr checking IP addresses etc. might make it harder for them to create new accounts).

On 1/2/2020 at 3:18 PM, woody_g said:

But where is the fun/justice in that. 

Because you could block/report them just as fast if you wanted and only you’d know they were reported by you (if you did). It would also stop lots of scammers getting angry at you. It also would stop the message about your message being flagged for possible TOS violation and having to wait for it to be checked - if Fiverr accidentally thought that it was in violation / hit the wrong button maybe it could risk a warning. 

[misscrystal]

I just type one letter and use the report button. They just come back with a new account no matter what you do anyway.

[zubigrafix]

Well said I was facing this issue and different scammers from last few months but thanks to Fiverr team they block them instantly.

[woody_g]

On 1/3/2020 at 8:50 PM, uk1000 said:

It also would stop the message about your message being flagged for possible TOS violation and having to wait for it to be checked - if Fiverr accidentally thought that it was in violation / hit the wrong button maybe it could risk a warning.

Haven’t had any issues so far. 

[nitesh_angre]

Oh God!

Yesterday I met a buyer. He told me about the image that was to be edited. I told him to place the order. He replied " I am not going to place the order until you show me the sample". I prepared the sample and showed it to him. He asked for further changes in. I made those changes too. After checking my work. I was BLOCKED!

I’m no longer able to contact that FotherMucker. Stay safe viewers.

We are here to learn something. Please don’t be discriminatory against specific places. That’s scammer behavior as per 4th point by OP. Know that your location is also visible on Fiverr and you sound like having vendetta.

[woody_g]

We are here to learn something. Please don’t be discriminatory against specific places. That’s scammer behavior as per 4th point by OP. Know that your location is also visible on Fiverr and you sound like having vendetta.

Know that your location is also visible on Fiverr and you sound like having vendetta.

Are we… threatening something? Please mind your words here.

I don’t believe I have gone past any boundaries myself. Scammer ARE a negative to the fiverr code of conduct. I’m only helping fiverr maintain a reputable image. And I do not understand the meaning of the 4th point here. Can you clarify please???

[meldawn9]

You know what’s really funny? When the scammer sends you a long brief about the project, before disappearing. I’m a writer so I’m like, “Hey, thank you so much for your wonderful ideas! Now I can use your ideas for my own blog or another client.” Hee hee hee! (Just kidding, I’m not using anyone else’s ideas, but if you’re a buyer, you should be careful to not share your ideas with other writers.)

[steve_maxell]

Writing to customer support telling them your not going to cancel an order. If you writing an email like that you most likely are dealing with a scammer.

[hj_logo]

Really helpful tips I have learnt here only today. I am a new seller. If you need any form of collaboration kindly contact me. Also, kindly checkout my gig if there is something I am not getting right. Thank you!

[artistshop]

In my few years at Fiverr, most scammers I have encountered sent me phishing links and PDFs to trap me. Others have tried to take me out of Fiverr. These are the two most common types I have found here. What helps the MOST is seeing how they communicate. Most scammers use a template that the send to multiple buyers. The tone, the words, the vibes clearly show it’s all fake. So definitely keep an eye on that. Lastly, great job putting this together. It’d certainly help many.

[misscrystal]

I’ve found they ask for a free sample and then when told no become abusive.

[mateusbl]

Recently i received a messege where the person send the ■■■■■, and i repond this: The Fiverr permite the contact only via this chat.

So if is a real person they will contact you via chat, but all of them don’t will respond because they are scammer

[saheli9]

Thanks for sharing. and dont open / download zip files , because most of scammers send exe files as zip when we unzip it malware start to run in pc . i had very bad experience with one of Nigerian

[greaterclarity]

My first couple of days here, I’ve had two requests of this nature. It looks like one of them got reported before I even responded. I told the other person I could not provide the service they requested… and then later it looks like they were banned. I’m not sure what to do in these cases. Should I continue to respond politely, ignore messages (and risk being penalized), or is there some way to flag them?