Scammers invaded Fiverr, making us true sellers invisible.

[majidshowghi]

Greetings to all.
I am Majid, a full-time motion graphics artist and animator on Fiverr. I also engage in 3D modeling.
 
I've spent the last four years on Fiverr working in these disciplines purely as a daily student.
I put a lot of effort and time into learning, and I'm still doing it.
But the invasion of scams on Fiverr is what annoys me and prompted me to create this essay. I believe that they play a significant part in wasting my time and energy as well as that of everyone else who uses Fiverr daily to work and and try hard to learn everyday to advance their careers.
 
Please search "Character Animation" on Fiverr for example. You will come across a lot of scam gigs very early on page 2, along with videos from Hollywood and Pixar and Japanese anime! Something that they obviously doesn't own and have no right to upload as their work samples!
 
The gigs of real performers are hardly noticeable among these frauds and we are losing the competition in getting first see attention and clicks to these gigs!
 
In addition, Fiverr is being degraded in every aspect by this. Speaking of my own gig, each and every consumer who visits Fiverr in search of animation or explainer videos will encounter this scam since they are aware that it is impossible to produce a multi-million dollar video for just $100. They will therefore dismiss the Fiverr page and go for another freelance website because it was all just for laughs.
 
Although the rules of service for fiverr require us to utilize original content and have no concerns with copywriting, it appears that they are powerless to control this problem, and I believe it's time for the community to take action.
 
 

 

[vickieito]

2 hours ago, majidshowghi said:

I believe it's time for the community to take action.

HI @majidshowghi, what do you suggest that we do?

Whenever I run into sellers who are obviously not using original content, violate ToS, or have questionable quality, I flag them and report them immediately. Sometimes Fiverr takes down their accounts on the the same day, sometimes it takes longer. That's the only thing that I've been doing to help improve the quality of the Fiverr platform (besides trying to over services of the highest quality). If you can think of anything else, please let us know!

It also looks like Fiverr is taking a tougher stance on quality and copyrights. They just recently updated their ToS and Community Standards and have been denying a lot of new accounts for "poor quality." I also noticed that there are also many existing sellers who are being shut down when they update their gigs because it triggers something in Fiverr system (so it appears Fiverr is trying to be more strict there).

I think Fiverr's move away from Buyer Requests is also helping to improve the overall quality of sellers on the platform because we can now report sellers who try to misuse the Brief & Match system. There is still a lot of questionable sellers on the platform, but I'm optimistic that Fiver is moving in a better direction and all of these changes (and hopefully future changes) will help ensure that the talented, honest, and high quality sellers are rewarded and the get-rich-quick, dishonest, and low quality sellers fall by the wayside.

[shalock]

Well, besides from reporting this gigs yourself, or being reported by sellers there's not much we can do 

As @vickieitosaid, Fiverr is tightening their policies and going against poor quality gigs and even preventing some sellers to create new accounts or gigs in some categories.

However, there will always be "cheap" buyers that will look for cheap gigs. If you see a gig with a Pixar like quality for 5$ for example, you have to know that it's fake. However, some buyers aren't willing to spend more money, they are aiming to take advantage of a desperate seller or in the worst case, they are naive enough to believe in the gig.

I'm ultimate instance, a victim of these poor quality gig should report it and it will surely be taken down. I'm pretty confident thats the best way to "clean" the marketplace as in my case, don't have the time to search for every gig that in my category to see if they have stolen images (which they sometimes have).

[majidshowghi]

5 minutes ago, shalock said:

Well, besides from reporting this gigs yourself, or being reported by sellers there's not much we can do 

As @vickieitosaid, Fiverr is tightening their policies and going against poor quality gigs and even preventing some sellers to create new accounts or gigs in some categories.

However, there will always be "cheap" buyers that will look for cheap gigs. If you see a gig with a Pixar like quality for 5$ for example, you have to know that it's fake. However, some buyers aren't willing to spend more money, they are aiming to take advantage of a desperate seller or in the worst case, they are naive enough to believe in the gig.

I'm ultimate instance, a victim of these poor quality gig should report it and it will surely be taken down. I'm pretty confident thats the best way to "clean" the marketplace as in my case, don't have the time to search for every gig that in my category to see if they have stolen images (which they sometimes have).

Right.

I don't have enough time to look for "every" phony job either, but I can probably do it once or twice a week. Additionally, it will be much cleaner than it is currently now if the community supports Fiverr in this regard.
You know, I believe that some scammers in some nations claim that it is "easy to scam on Fiverr," which is why we see a lot of them. When I say a lot, I'm referring to the fact that, at least in my field of character animation, about 1/4th or, on some pages, even 1/3rd of sellers, are like that. This sounds like a serious problem!
The only way to help Fiverr with this, in my opinion, is to report them, thus I believe the community should do so.

Perhaps Fiverr could make an indirect request to the community. Maybe by bolding that flag, I dunno.🤔

[shalock]

Just now, majidshowghi said:

"easy to scam on Fiverr,"

I agree with you, there's a believe that Fiverr is quick and easy money and then they got baffled when it isn't that way and resort to low and cheap tactics.

Also agree that as community, if you find something wrong you should report it as it's beneficial for everyone.

The problem is that in the time that you report and an account is taken down, another two pop up (hydra reference 😎).

I've seen poor quality gigs in my field and some that are obviously multiple accounts from the same person, but in the end I think the solution will come from buyers that stop buying that gigs and those disappear from the marketplace, but i wouldn't hold my breath.

[katakatica]

I've seen a lot as well - and my inbox is often bombarded by fake writers, too (though many of them don't have gigs yet, I'm sure they figure it out eventually.) I think what tricks people into buying these scams (in all categories) IS the prices. Why pay, I don't know, $250 for an animation when someone else offers it for $5? Now, obviously, the second one WILL likely be free stocks (or stolen from someone else) but there will always be people who look for 'value'. Fiverr has always had this reputation of having 'cheap and just OK' products for the most part. I THINK they are working on, well, changing things (that's perhaps the easiest way to describe it) but it will be a slow process. 

That being said, what I notice lately is that scammy profiles are being promoted less and less (what pops up in one person's search results isn't necessarily a good indication since the results are fluid). They are getting less orders which must mean that Fiverr is starting to 'ignore' them. It would be great if they would be just deleted, but I'm guessing that's not so easy(?) unless every single person is reported manually! 

The one 'pro' to these sellers (please take this with a pinch of salt as I'm mostly kidding) is that buyers who want to pay pennies for huge projects get filtered out...somewhat, that is. 

[majidshowghi]

17 hours ago, katakatica said:

what pops up in one person's search results isn't necessarily a good indication since the results are fluid

One of the things Fiverr frequently claims is its search's fluid results.

I checked it from a few different countries, some of which were quite far away, and that wasn't That fluid. I mean not like search result pages, but a few gigs back or forward...

These scammers are as numerous, at least in my category of animation, which has real sellers invisible. Even though Fiverr ignore them, they are still there, and because of the quantity, they make real sellers drown.

I dunno, maybe Fiverr could employ some gamification... or some other indirect way to inform customers of that.
Even better, I'll create a free animation to raise awareness of this problem.🤷‍♂️

[mariashtelle1]

22 minutes ago, majidshowghi said:

checked it from a few different countries

It doesn’t matter, you still use the same browser, same cookies, same search history, Im sure even you switch on a vpn you still make the same search terms 🤷‍♀️ You are not a “unique” visitor with their own search history and history of clicking different gigs 

[tinufranklin]

I don't receive any scam messages around 2 weeks above now. So, that is very well from Fiverr team work.

[majidshowghi]

2 hours ago, mariashtelle1 said:

It doesn’t matter, you still use the same browser, same cookies, same search history, Im sure even you switch on a vpn you still make the same search terms 🤷‍♀️ You are not a “unique” visitor with their own search history and history of clicking different gigs 

I happened to know how these stuffs works. You are right, but what I meant, I checked my self in different locations and with friends, in Saudi Arabia, then Canada, then other cities in Germany, then Belgium, then Argentina , I didn't mean VPN. (I forgot Italy and a Sweiss friend in the middle of the ocean 😅)

The results was about the same!
Maybe they mean different planets. I didn't have any body on Mars the check it.

[majidshowghi]

1 hour ago, tinufranklin said:

I don't receive any scam messages around 2 weeks above now. So, that is very well from Fiverr team work.

 

Right. They are undoubtedly working on it.

The vast majority of frauds that are displayed in search results are the main topic of this thread.

In addition, I wanted to know if this issue only affects my field of animation or if it affects other fields as well.

[shalock]

5 minutes ago, majidshowghi said:

The results was about the same!

What @mariashtelle1 told you was about your browser data and your profile as a buyer, theorically thats what determines what result you are shown in the marketplace, no matter where part of the world you connect.

As I understand, Fiverr aims to match you with the right gigs according to your browser history and interests and no to match you with buyers from your region, so making tests with VPNs won't work.

I suppose that the only way to test it is to use a clean browser with no history and try different keywords? however, since the moment you do the first search you start telling to Fiverr what are you looking for,  so it would be a matter of, I don't know, delete cache try one keyword and then delete the cache and try another different?

Edited November 14, 2022 by shalock

[majidshowghi]

7 minutes ago, shalock said:

What @mariashtelle1 told you was about your browser data and your profile as a buyer, theorically thats what determines what result you are shown in the marketplace, no matter where part of the world you connect.

As I understand, Fiverr aims to match you with the right gigs according to your browser history and interests and no to match you with buyers from your region, so making tests with VPNs won't work.

I suppose that the only way to test it was to use a clean browser with no history and try different keywords? however, since the moment you do the first search you start telling to Fiverr what are you looking for,  so it would be a matter of, I don't know, delete cache try one keyword and then delete the cache and try another different?

Alright, maybe it's the language barrier.
I didn't personally inspect every place. I employed friends. My computer's browser is different from the cookies, data, and browsing history of my friends.
Additionally, the gadget kind wasn't the same.
I literally asked friends to look up my keywords and see if I was on the same page as them. And the outcomes were about the same. (a few gigs back and forward and the farthest was one page difference.)

[shalock]

16 minutes ago, majidshowghi said:

I employed friends

Right, my bad, didn't read that.

What I think is that this is a huge effort to prove what? that the marketplace won't work as you expect it to? I know it can be frustrating to see gigs you consider of low quality and worse, with stolen content, appearing in searchs but in the end, the marketplace is shaped by the buyers.

If buyers keep engaging with those gigs and buying them, theres nothing else in that front that sellers can do other than report them if they stole your content or you see them breaking the ToS or something like that.

Edited November 14, 2022 by shalock

[andrewkrown]

On 11/13/2022 at 9:43 AM, majidshowghi said:

Greetings to all.
I am Majid, a full-time motion graphics artist and animator on Fiverr. I also engage in 3D modeling.
 
I've spent the last four years on Fiverr working in these disciplines purely as a daily student.
I put a lot of effort and time into learning, and I'm still doing it.
But the invasion of scams on Fiverr is what annoys me and prompted me to create this essay. I believe that they play a significant part in wasting my time and energy as well as that of everyone else who uses Fiverr daily to work and and try hard to learn everyday to advance their careers.
 
Please search "Character Animation" on Fiverr for example. You will come across a lot of scam gigs very early on page 2, along with videos from Hollywood and Pixar and Japanese anime! Something that they obviously doesn't own and have no right to upload as their work samples!
 
The gigs of real performers are hardly noticeable among these frauds and we are losing the competition in getting first see attention and clicks to these gigs!
 
In addition, Fiverr is being degraded in every aspect by this. Also very often besides scam one encounters cyber bullying, this one is really very strasnic, because as a student I did a writing with the help of these sources click here and I learned a lot new for me, actually everything is simpler, we have to be more careful in what concerns money transfers and other types where there might be a scam. it was all just for laughs.
 
Although the rules of service for fiverr require us to utilize original content and have no concerns with copywriting, it appears that they are powerless to control this problem, and I believe it's time for the community to take action.
 

 

Yes, this really is right, I've already stumbled across something like this and now I'm looking for how I can get my money back(((

[strategist_ceo]

On 11/13/2022 at 5:58 PM, vickieito said:

Sometimes Fiverr takes down their accounts on the the same day, sometimes it takes longer.

I did this before and Fiverr did nothing. I think the deciding factor is whether the seller is converting leads and if they do a bad job, the algorithm will spell their downfall.

[catwriter]

5 hours ago, majidshowghi said:

In addition, I wanted to know if this issue only affects my field of animation or if it affects other fields as well.

It affects other fields, too.

Logo design, for example. I remember someone with a Starbucks logo who claimed that it was his original sample (and he seemed to think that, if you drew something from scratch, it belonged to you). And that's just one example, logo design field is full of stolen logos.

Or writing. Or proofreading. People who couldn't spell properly to save their life steal a gig description, and new buyers, especially those looking for a low price, can't tell that the seller is offering something they're unable to provide.

Or translation. People who claim to be able to translate from any language to any language, and think that being a translator means using Google translate.

And so on...

[melissaharlowvo]

59 minutes ago, strategist_ceo said:

I did this before and Fiverr did nothing. I think the deciding factor is whether the seller is converting leads and if they do a bad job, the algorithm will spell their downfall.

Yes @strategist_ceo you are correct. Fiverr is very experienced at sorting out what’s good and what’s bad… period. It’s as simple as that. The private review process is REALLY good at revealing the fakes and goof balls.
 

Fiverr has ZERO tolerance for scams, poor service and quality. The scammers will never move up the ranks so they really aren’t your competition. Besides, who wants buyers who are attracted to these kinds of gigs? Cheap, copied, obviously fake skills? Not me!! They are the worst buyers!!  
 

Everyone goes through SLOW PERIODS OF ORDERS! I am in one right now! Have faith and try not to blame the stupid fake accounts.
 

So my personal suggestion is report these gigs when you see them. Cut and paste your verbiage to support so it’s less time for you. And move on.
 

Fiverr will figure them out trust me!! Every platform out there has the same problem so it’s certainly not just Fiverr.
 

Stay true to your work and put your precious life energy into goodness. Energy = Growth …either way …so put your energy into YOUR amazing gigs… not theirs!

[majidshowghi]

18 hours ago, catwriter said:

It affects other fields, too.

Logo design, for example. I remember someone with a Starbucks logo who claimed that it was his original sample (and he seemed to think that, if you drew something from scratch, it belonged to you). And that's just one example, logo design field is full of stolen logos.

Or writing. Or proofreading. People who couldn't spell properly to save their life steal a gig description, and new buyers, especially those looking for a low price, can't tell that the seller is offering something they're unable to provide.

Or translation. People who claim to be able to translate from any language to any language, and think that being a translator means using Google translate.

And so on...

Thanks,
So far, the following fields have the most scams:
-Motion Graphics and Animation
-Logo Design
-Writing & Proofwriting
-Translation

[majidshowghi]

17 hours ago, melissaharlowvo said:

 

So my personal suggestion is report these gigs when you see them. Cut and paste your verbiage to support so it’s less time for you. And move on.
 

Right, that is your only choice right now.
 
They are abundant, which is a concern, at least in my field (Animation and motion graphics)
 
The second issue is that, if I want to report each one individually, I'll have to do so while also giving Fiverr my reference.
 
For instance, if I want to report a dishonest seller, I need to look up the source from which they are duplicating. That also requires time.
And because there are so many of them, I need assistance from the wider community members to continue.
The last issue is that despite my repeated complaints, Fiverr took no action in some cases.
Perhaps they require more reports!
Finally, I am unable to just ignore them. As I can see, these scammers have orders waiting while professional sellers don't!
One instance was when I noticed a dishonest seller who had 13 orders in queue!!! which, after I complained, they deleted his entire account. But from the time I reported him, it took 2 weeks, and who knows what more he did in that time.

[strategist_ceo]

31 minutes ago, majidshowghi said:

these scammers have orders waiting while professional sellers don't!

I understand your thoughts, as I, too, have been through it.

That account disappeared after Fiverr do away with Buyer's Request.  Which is why I think it's great.

[aonecreativedie]

On 11/13/2022 at 8:43 AM, majidshowghi said:

Greetings to all.
I am Majid, a full-time motion graphics artist and animator on Fiverr. I also engage in 3D modeling.
 
I've spent the last four years on Fiverr working in these disciplines purely as a daily student.
I put a lot of effort and time into learning, and I'm still doing it.
But the invasion of scams on Fiverr is what annoys me and prompted me to create this essay. I believe that they play a significant part in wasting my time and energy as well as that of everyone else who uses Fiverr daily to work and and try hard to learn everyday to advance their careers.
 
Please search "Character Animation" on Fiverr for example. You will come across a lot of scam gigs very early on page 2, along with videos from Hollywood and Pixar and Japanese anime! Something that they obviously doesn't own and have no right to upload as their work samples!
 
The gigs of real performers are hardly noticeable among these frauds and we are losing the competition in getting first see attention and clicks to these gigs!
 
In addition, Fiverr is being degraded in every aspect by this. Speaking of my own gig, each and every consumer who visits Fiverr in search of animation or explainer videos will encounter this scam since they are aware that it is impossible to produce a multi-million dollar video for just $100. They will therefore dismiss the Fiverr page and go for another freelance website because it was all just for laughs.
 
Although the rules of service for fiverr require us to utilize original content and have no concerns with copywriting, it appears that they are powerless to control this problem, and I believe it's time for the community to take action.
 
 

 

@strategist_ceo am sure you know Fiverr has a policy's that protect original work, can we say Fiverr don't do a Proper check on those GIGs before making it go live or after going live Fiverr failed to discover their wrong practice.

 

This is actually somehow to me, because Fiverr don't play with their policies.

[strategist_ceo]

2 minutes ago, aonecreativedie said:

you know Fiverr has a policy's that protect original work

They are improving on this. Looks good so far.

[catwriter]

@vickieito, look, a couple of posts above this one, someone literally copied and pasted your post.

In a topic about scammers who present other people's work as their own.

The irony...

[strategist_ceo]

22 minutes ago, catwriter said:

The irony...

I think he noticed and deleted it. I was wondering