Just launched first gig and a minute later I got what looks like phishing in my inbox

[petra_quilitz]

I was asked to message the assistant manager of a company on whatsapp so that I can get more information on the project. There were no names, no project description. It doesn't look legit to me. Has anything like this happened to anyone here before? I used this green button "create an offer" and wrote a polite text that they can buy one of my packages and I am looking forward to the project. This is what you do then, right? You refer a potential buyer to a package?

Thanks for any input on this. Didn't think I would need to write a forum question 5 minutes after posting the first gig.

Petra 

[jonbaas]

37 minutes ago, petra_quilitz said:

It doesn't look legit to me.

Then ignor it, and it if seems fishy, or against Fiverr rules, report it to Fiverr. 

38 minutes ago, petra_quilitz said:

I used this green button "create an offer" and wrote a polite text that they can buy one of my packages and I am looking forward to the project. This is what you do then, right?

Yes, that is how you send a response to a buyer request. If a serious buyer is interested, they will contact you, or accept your offer. 

All communication about orders must remain within Fiverr -- this is why Fiverr has a messaging system.

[petra_quilitz]

Thanks jonbaas. 

This is the message I received:

"Appen Limited is a publicly traded data company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange under the code APX. Appen provides or improves data used for the development of machine learning and artificial intelligence products. Also deals on surveys and translation and transcription and other data from home work"

and then with a follow up message:

"more. If you're interested please kindly message our assistant manager on whatsapp +1 (626) 642‑9094 Mr Bryce Miller He will tell you everything you need to know about the project"

I did end up contacting the number on whatsapp just to see if it is a scam and got this as a reply:

"Hi"

Guess that answers wether this was a legitimate buyer request.

 

I'm just a bit shocked how easy it seems to be for fake buyers to jump on new fiverr sellers like that. I thought that fiverr would be able to maybe at least monitor buyers who

-have recently signed up (October 21) and have no purchase history, +

-contacting a new seller literally within a minute after the seller posts the first gig with "whatsapp" in the message

I thought the least they would do is provide some kind of support to the new seller, maybe in the form of a message that says "We noticed some suspicious behaviour. This might not mean anything but, be aware of ...."., possibly with a link where to send the communication to, should this be needed. Something like that. 

 

Will report this incident to fiverr, even though I'm getting the sense that fiverr doesn't care and now I even have to research the email for reporting it.  Not sure if I like how this is starting. Hope it goes uphill from here.

Petra

 

 

UPDATE: found the cute little "Report Flag" in the inbox, right above the message to report. Okay, that was not difficult.