Scam or no scam?

[vivienkaaz]

Hello!
Sorry if I sound like a newbie, it's because I am one and I don't want to be scammed.
I had sent an offer for a buyer request to retype a document and I got a message asking me to write them on WhatsApp. The weird thing is, the "person" I messaged on WhatsApp didn't seem to be an actual person. They couldn't answer my questions and just continued with their chatting program. They also asked for my experience but instead I asked if I understood the job correctly, to which they just replied "That's great" and asked me if it's okay to send a paid test article. I clarified what I offer and they just sent the file. No viruses, I opened and it looks legit - the company seems legit, but how do I know if these two people I chatted with are actually affiliated to this company? 
Turns out it does match to what I'm offering, it's just on a larger scale I guess. 
Another thing I'm unsure about is that there's a security fee I have to pay and that can only be refunded if I finish the assignment. If it's legit I will be serious about this, but if they're not even from that company I won't get my money back. 
It's also weird to me that in the PDF file with the information they talk about a demo video that I need to watch first and that someone was supposed to send me, but nobody sent me one. Is that another sign these people are not actually with this company? Also, there are typos in the PDF file. Red flag for me at least. 
The pay is very good, maybe too good for a first job. And I don't know if that's normal, but the amount of pages on each project I can choose have an even (?) / specific number of pages. 25, 50, 75 and 100. I mean, wouldn't each project have a more random number of pages? Like 23, 48, 78 etc.? It's so calculated. 

Anyways, I should probably ask them to prove that they're actually part of this company. 
Other than that, what do you think? 

[vivienkaaz]

Update: Now I'm pretty sure it's a scam. I asked both to prove they're working for the company, my question got completely ignored and then he slipped. He had messaged me on Fiverr asking me to send a message to the "company secretary" on WhatsApp and just now he said "send me a message" (to send me the demo video). First it's his secretary, then it's him? 🤔 Not to mention they write the same way; he can't write properly apparently. 

(I actually forgot that you shouldn't write with customers outside Fiverr. It's been a while since I had an active gig.) 

I am not even mad, I am amused. 😂

[katakatica]

28 minutes ago, vivienkaaz said:

Update: Now I'm pretty sure it's a scam. I asked both to prove they're working for the company, my question got completely ignored and then he slipped. He had messaged me on Fiverr asking me to send a message to the "company secretary" on WhatsApp and just now he said "send me a message" (to send me the demo video). First it's his secretary, then it's him? 🤔 Not to mention they write the same way; he can't write properly apparently. 

You should NEVER contact anyone off-site - not only is it against the TOS, if they ended up making you pay (which screams scam...) Fiverr wouldn't be able to help (and if anything, you'd get the warning.) It's clearly a scam - they might even threathen to report you for contacting them off-site (if you don't give them the 'deposit' and so on, so be careful about what you do. Just ignore and hope that they will forget about you (I'd maybe even report them, but that most likely would end up with you getting a warning.. 

[sabinespoems]

2 hours ago, vivienkaaz said:

Update: Now I'm pretty sure it's a scam.

I'm glad to read you came to this conclusion, because all I wanted to do when I read your post is yell through my computer 'RUN!' 😅 And I'm also glad you realized you can't communicate outside of Fiverr. It's not worth risking your account over so please never do! 

4 hours ago, vivienkaaz said:

Another thing I'm unsure about is that there's a security fee I have to pay and that can only be refunded if I finish the assignment.

This sounds like (for a lack of better words) work hostage and blackmailish.... There is absolutely no reason at all why YOU would have to pay the CLIENT in order to do THEIR work. 

This whole situation sounds like a big ol' mess and I hope you didn't continue working with this person, because from what I can tell this is most definitely a scam. I can understand that the money and eagerness to work on a project can blind you a bit and blur boundaries, but go with your gut. And besides your gut, there's clear facts this is not a trustworthy person/case to be working with. It seems like you already know this client is no good but in case you have any doubts left; ma'am this is a scam and a sham so please run while you can!!

[enunciator]

4 hours ago, vivienkaaz said:

I got a message asking me to write them on WhatsApp.

Should have bailed out right there. You endanger your own account by violating Fiverr ToS through communicating to a client outside of the Fiverr platform.

[newsmike]

7 hours ago, vivienkaaz said:

The weird thing is, the "person" I messaged on WhatsApp didn't seem to be an actual person.

Actually they may be a scammer, but you broke TOS by communicating on WhatsApp, so CS will not help you. In fact they will probably ban your account.