Fakes on Upwork

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Let me start off by saying upwork.com has transformed my business (freelancer.com was good too).  They cost a fair amount 10% but do add value!

Anyway so there will always be scammers around, and here’s a live one!

I posted up a job, helping out a friend of mine at http://masmirobiofarm.com, on a new account.  Got a few enquiries – one from this guy “Bullen Nicholas”.  I’ve had some good results from US contractors on Upwork so was excited.

A few things stood out – 0 hours worked, and 0 jobs.  That’s a warning.  Although I have a similar guy from the US who was just starting out and needed some work history – so was able to give me a great deal and I gave him his first job.

But the picture and the text were the giveaways; web developer with a mutilated avatar? LOL, and the text “working as web developer from last 6 years”.   Maybe education standards have slipped in the US over the last few years, but that is inexcusable.

So I did a bit of “forensic analysis”.  Grabbed the “guy’s” image.  Fired up old trusty Paint Shop Pro.  Resized the lateral proportion by 80%.

Then using my favourite plagiarism/fake analysis tool Google Image Search..  Give it a whirl..



Hey this guy does look a bit familiar.  I know… my old flatmate's favorite show back in Uni.  “Dawson’s creek”

Wow.. James Van Der Beek is looking for work on Upwork under a pseudonym.


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