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Thread: Freelancer.com withholds my money

  1. #26
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Alaister, mate,

    if you are happy riding around the 'net trying to pretend a company which asks people to hold up home made signs in front of who-knows-who, as some sort of "verification process" then, more power to you.

    That would have to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen on the 'net since I watched as 419ers baited Nigerian scammers by playing the same trick on them.

    "Yes, we are a multi million dollar company with over four million members and the best we can come up with to supposedly verify identities is to make people take pictures of "themselves" holding a sign"

    I don't know about you, Alaister, but, I sure as hell can think of a squillion good reasons why Freelancers' story explaining why it delays payments is nothing but male bovine excreta.
    The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

  2. #27
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by AlaisterLow View Post
    Hi sratchycat,

    Let me address some of the issues you have brought up.

    We currently have an active marketplace and userbase of over 4 million users from all over the world. As you can understand we need to implement security measures to ensure our system is as safe as possible for all our users.

    We never suspend accounts for no reason. Account Suspension occurs when users have broken our Terms of Service of if we see their previous activity placing the safety of our marketplace at risk. We also at times limit users' accounts in order for them to undergo our verification system to ensure everyone is who they say they are on the site.

    I do understand the frustration and inconvenience that occurs at times when accounts get suspended or placed into verification, however it is a necessary step. The fastest way to get access to your account is to follow the prompts and steps in our verification center.

    Be aware all funds in your Freelancer.com balance remains in your account and will still be there once you go through the verification process.

    We are not in the business of scamming or ripping people off. What we are working to achieve is a safe and secure marketplace for both employers and freelancers across the globe.


    Regards,

    Alaister Low
    Director of Customer Experience
    Freelancer.com
    Alaister. Baby, at least learn to write the word 'scratchycat'. I know all the rest is copy-paste. But pleeease... at least one word.

    Tell me. What security measures made Freelancer.com to outsource your fraud department to Philippines?

    Job :: Fraud Division Manager :: Best Jobs Philippines


    Not mentioning that the country got blacklisted due to money laundering, guessing you know about it:

    Philippines risks joining money-laundering blacklist | Reuters

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  4. #28
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    *got at risk of being blacklisted. But you got the idea.

    To give people some valuable additional information while gproducing two posts in a row:

    Your verification procedures are pure disgrace. Do not remember any bank or, say, PayPal requiring me to do something like this (official instruction):
    http://oi56.tinypic.com/2ufam4i.jpg

    If someone wanted to fool you, he certainly would. You know well about it. What's more, you know that you could totally drop this ID scheme and have your company working in complaince with the law. How? If I could figure it out, you could have done it many years ago. You know the way, but you prefer to have an excuse for freezing the funds. Not mentioning that when customer declines to give you what you want (having in mind you are holding his funds, this is extortion), you just delete his or her account. With no procedure for bringing the money to him or her. If customer's account gets deleted, he doesn't even get the mail notice!

    Apart from that, sensitive private data are just not safe in your hands. See Wikipedia's article about Freelancer.com. See the history of editions for August the 13th...

  5. #29
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by AlaisterLow View Post
    Hi sratchycat,

    Let me address some of the issues you have brought up.

    We currently have an active marketplace and userbase of over 4 million users from all over the world. As you can understand we need to implement security measures to ensure our system is as safe as possible for all our users.

    We never suspend accounts for no reason. Account Suspension occurs when users have broken our Terms of Service of if we see their previous activity placing the safety of our marketplace at risk. We also at times limit users' accounts in order for them to undergo our verification system to ensure everyone is who they say they are on the site.

    I do understand the frustration and inconvenience that occurs at times when accounts get suspended or placed into verification, however it is a necessary step. The fastest way to get access to your account is to follow the prompts and steps in our verification center.

    Be aware all funds in your Freelancer.com balance remains in your account and will still be there once you go through the verification process.

    We are not in the business of scamming or ripping people off. What we are working to achieve is a safe and secure marketplace for both employers and freelancers across the globe.


    Regards,

    Alaister Low
    Director of Customer Experience
    Freelancer.com
    Hello Mr. Alaister Low and welcome to RealScam.

    Is this you or your boss?

    GW-feb25-matt-barrie_art-wide_20120217111710150759-420x0.jpg

    Interesting article:

    "The man behind Freelancer, Matt Barrie, strides in past the geeks, fizzing with energy. He's a tall, solid, bald man of 38, and several friends gleefully point out to me his resemblance to the Mike Myers character Dr Evil. Barrie has been on the international conference circuit "keynoting" and, as we sit in the meeting room, I get his spiel. "A tectonic shift to society is under way and this shift is going to be so significant it is going to change the way that we live our lives, the way we do business," he says in a spitfire delivery. "It is going to change everything. I will tell you why. The reason is that 70 per cent of the world is about to join the internet. They are poor. They are hungry. They are driven. They are self-skilled. They are self-motivated. They want a job."

    The Aussie making a motza from offshoring white-collar jobs

    Care to tell us more about your company? Oh and it is ScratchyCat by the way.
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  6. #30
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Freelancer.com

    Fraud Division Manager

    Freelancer.com is the world's largest crowd sourcing marketplace, is the largest Australian-run website in terms of global traffic and is growing at an exponential rate! We're now in the top 250 websites worldwide with over 3.3 million users.

    Our CEO recently won BRW Entrepreneur of the Year, so come learn from the best in the industry!

    This is as close as you will get to working in a Silicon Valley tech company. There's no other opportunity like this in the Philippines.

    If you're a high achiever with talent who is looking for something more than a boring job, doesn't need to be supervised, and wants to be in at ground zero with a company that has a shot at being one of the biggest sites on the internet, then join our team!

    Taken from here.

    Eligibility note:

    It is unlawful to employ a person who does not have permission to live and work in the Philippines. Unless the advert states otherwise, please ensure you have this permission before applying.


    hmmmm
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

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  8. #31
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    One of things Freelancer.com cannot cover with its SEO are complains sent directly to media. Below you can find a mail that is ready to send. You got to just input your name twice (field: [...] ). Of course you do have to read it before you send it - you are signing it after all. Also feel free to edit it ; put there any information you consider to be of value.

    Here is a bunch of 10 mail addresses. Of course you can send it anywhere you can see the toxic waste from the company. Planning to add some addresses from time to time.

    mia@thenextweb.com
    scoop@brisbanetimes.com.au
    tips@techcrunch.com
    tips@wired.co.uk
    rachel.meranus@prnewswire.com
    lham@theage.com.au
    itbeditorial@itbusiness.ca
    mkelly@bizbookpr.com
    sjean@dallasnews.com
    newsdesk@smh.com.au



    Here it goes:

    --------------------------------------------------------



    Hello. My name is [...]. I have noticed you published an article about the company of Freelancer.com.

    I would like to inform you that contrary to company's PR, marketing and media messages, its policies are more than questionable.



    Examples:
    - money processing procedures are nothing similar to those you can see in banks, companies like PayPal or Moneybookers; those involve extorting sensitive personal data at the threat users will not get their monies provided that they do not cooperate (for example: send hi res ID scans together with own mugshot taken while holding the documents ; official instruction: http://oi56.tinypic.com/2ufam4i.jpg ). Problem is that contrary to company's statements (using security reasons as an excuse), such standards are unprecedented for any legitimate financial company (freelancing portal or financial institution). Apart from that, Freelancer.com never disclosed its standards of data processing and hadn't declared itself to be a typical financial company or listed the authorities it is subject to. What's more, those harsh and abusive procedures do not help to make the market safer - it won't be any exaggeration to describe the marketplace organized by Freelancer.com as most dangerouf of all freelancing markets.

    - hidden, rip-off and potentially illegal fees and charges (for example: currency exchange rates ; project delete fee ; withdrawal fees ; credit card fees ; project delete fee)

    - abusing the social media (for example threats sent to bloggers Kent Mauresmo: Freelancer.com Scam Artist 2012 | Creative Marketing Ideas and Chaim Kovalsky: http://www.realscam.com/f10/freelanc...281/#post32525 ; deleting all Wikipedia editions even mentioning the controversies associated with the company ; hiring the writers to create fake reviews ; spamming the Google search engine to cover the bad reviews)

    - spamming the Google search engine to cover the bad stories (see results for queries like >freelancer.com scam< and >freelancer.com review<)

    - using the customer database to abuse the privacy of at least one former customer (Wikipedia editions history for August the 13th: Freelancer.com: Revision history - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )

    - arrogance and ignoring users' complaints (for example CEO labeling the complaining ones as "crazies": Freelancer.com founder dismisses scam claims - Sydney Business Month or suggesting that the complaining user is... racist Get a Hindu: FREELANCER.COM, FACEBOOK ...AND SWASTIKAS )

    - number of other unprofessional and abusive behaviors (please refer to sources list at the bottom of this mail)



    Freelancer.com uses the undisclosed laws as excuses to mistreat, rip off and abuse the privacy its users. Even official CEO's statements seem to be more and more inconsistent. For example on August he stated that:
    "We have sophisticated antifraud software and a dedicated team [but] with four million users you always will have complaints about something, as well as a few crazies." (search: "Freelancer.com founder dismisses scam claims")

    while on November we read that:
    "The original software for this business came from acquisition, it wasn’t built by us from the ground up, so there’s lots of things to fix." ( Freelancer.com Scam Artist 2012 | Creative Marketing Ideas )

    Note that such inconsistencies can be found in a number of company's statements. Probably most insolent ones are copy-paste messages on discussion forums that are desperate attempts to calm down all the users that are upset due to company's policies and lack of professional customer support. (look for: >Emir from Freelancer.com< and >Max from Freelancer.com<)


    Even though there is more than 2 years history of complaints the company is perfectly aware of, the number of disgruntled users seems to rise faster and faster. For example: since spring 2012 the company feels free to suspend the freelancers' accounts because... their customers' accounts were not verified.

    Company has no official phone number and has at least its customer support and fraud departments outsourced to Manila, Philippines. ( Job :: Fraud Division Manager :: Best Jobs Philippines ) Philippines faces the risk of joining a global money-laundering blacklist after it failed to approve all required amendments to legislation on illegal movement of money.

    All the above is even more sad while noticing that most of them are poor people from countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh which (distance, costs) prevents them from undertaking official actions against the company. It is highly probable that this issue has been taken into account while planning company's operations.

    More and more Freelancer.com's current and former customers scream for justice and are fed up with Freelancer.com's lies communicated to the general public.

    Having that in mind I would like to ask you to not only cease company's infomercials dissemination, but to investigate its background and dissatisfied users' claims. I do ask for actions because it seems that the biggest and still growing risk factor for freelancing market is... Freelancer.com itself.

    sincerely
    [...]


    some sources (note you can find hundreds of those):

    Freelancer.com Scam Artist 2012 | Creative Marketing Ideas
    The trouble with*Freelancer.com « Lisa A. Martin – Freelance science copywriter/editor [note that the article's author used to cooperate with the company creating Wikipedia article about it]
    freelancer | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds Reported
    Freelancer.com Review- Is Suspending Accounts With Money a Good Policy?
    Freelancer.com Reviews - Legit or Scam?
    http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=135356
    Freelancer.com Complaints & Reviews
    Freelancer.com Website Reviews - Page 1 | SiteJabber



    ------------------------------------------------

    source:
    Get a Hindu: FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE - ASK THE MEDIA ABOUT FREELANCER.COM

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  10. #32
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Very well written. Talented bloggers like you will cover the first pages of Google and expose this company for what it is!
    Anyone needing assistance please feel free to use this e-mail in addition to the PM system here to contact me: soapboxmom@hotmail.com

    Dallas College Richland Campus Music Advising Derrick Logozzo / Melissa Logan / Not NASM Accredited / Out of State Tuition Nightmare!

    Love some Bunny! I do!

  11. #33
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    This is really nice of you. Even more when having in mind I am not a native English writer.

    The problem is that there is at least one thing this company does really well: playing with the search engine. This is a crucial element helping them to stay alive.

    Need a good example?
    http://www.imgnook.com/nE8LS.png

    Screenshot taken a few months ago. If you compare those results with ones from present day, you will see a HUGE change. No expertise needed to say the company loves to abuse the freedom of information. As I said: recieved illegal threats from them ; essentially the company's representative suggested I have commited a crime and provided that I don't play the ball, they will report it to my local authorities (yes, company offered to act as accessory to purported crime provided that I will cooperate). Not mentioning the Wikipedia, free press abuse (journalist removing her article 'Freelancer.com Founder Dismisses Scam Claims') and other forms of violation (for example causing my publisher to remove my article and ceasing contact with me: Get a Hindu: FREELANCER.COM SCAM: WHY ARE YOU LYING, MATT BARRIE? ).

    Other form of messing up with search engine?
    For a number of months, if you been typing 'Freelancer.com' into Google window, it would suggest you "Freelancer.com scam" as a best guess. Now? No such suggestion unless you type "Freelancer.com s[cam would be suggested]".

    So I have to tell you: Freelancer.com's behaviors are unethical, abusive and criminal. Yes, criminal. Even if they have changed their behaviors, the company has already engaged in criminal acts. Illegal threats, privacy abuse, property abuse (if you took my money and gave it to me in a few days, you would still be a thief), defacements and many more (this is not a fluff phrase ; will publish articles about it soon).

    This is so funny... just wanted to make my point in August. If they did nothing, I would give it a go. But their unprofessional personnel (including the CEO) wanted to play strong. Published my personal data (imagine a bank or even a discussion forum doing it ; even though I was protesting, they have repeated those actions making their abuse even greater and more arrogant), unjustly accused me of defacement, distributed a smear note among my customers, threatened me with authorities of my country (according to local Penal Code this can be interpreted as illegal threats), closed my user account using security as an excuse (even though acount got suspended and deleted within 48 hours after I have published my second article - together with the account they have deleted all the evidence and a few pennies there ; still have no refund ; no matter it was like one dollar - it is about the rules!), killed my relation with the publisher (Business2Community portal) and put accusation of public racism on top of it.

    Congratulations: now you got a really angry whistleblower on the loose. This is even worse news for you when having in mind your company is a can of worms and I am more than plain obtrusive about that...









    P.S. After about three months recieved spam mail from them asking me to take part in their... customer survey

    Want it even funnier? Read the attached screenshot...

    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by ChaimS; 11-11-2012 at 03:24 PM. Reason: img host

  12. #34
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    We are not in the business of scamming or ripping people off. What we are working to achieve is a safe and secure marketplace for both employers and freelancers across the globe.


    I don't know about you, but that really makes me feel better....
    The more I am around people, the more I like my dog !!

    http://www.asdupdates.com/wordpress

  13. #35
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by Wizzard7 View Post
    We are not in the business of scamming or ripping people off. What we are working to achieve is a safe and secure marketplace for both employers and freelancers across the globe.


    I don't know about you, but that really makes me feel better....
    Uh, NO! Don't think I will be signing up to do any freelancing through freelancer.com and caution others to stay away!
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  14. #36
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    One of the first things I would have done is to check with whatever agency is responsible for licensing and registering companies in Australia to see if they are even registered as a company, and if so is it current.

    The next thing I would do is to see what agency in Australia is responsible for enforcing sanctions against companies that are not in compliance with Australian law. Here in the US it is the FTC. I would think that Australia has a consumer protection agency of some kind.

    I had to laugh when they made the threat of legal action. While that may have worked years ago, today it is almost proof positive that the operation is a scam. They think intimidation will resolve their problems. I would have replied sue me as I will gladly see you in court.

    I think that AlaisterLow would have been better served here if he had explained what has been done to resolve the issues with everyone that has complaints rather than trying to blow smoke up everyone's skirts here. Obviously he has no clue who or what most of us do that post here. But I just love it when the shills come out trying to deny their company has done anything wrong without any proof.

    One thing is for sure, Alaister, is that freelancer.com is now getting publicity, just not the kind you want, but sounds like it is what it deserves. But your claim: We are not in the business of scamming or ripping people off. What we are working to achieve is a safe and secure marketplace for both employers and freelancers across the globe, is laughable in light of all the complaints that people have against freelancer.com. Forgive us for not buying it, but do come back and explain how all these complaints are being resolved by freelancer.com.
    EagleOne
    Author: "Robbing You With A Keyboard Instead Of A Gun - Cyber Crime How They Do It" available in soft cover and eBook at Amazon.com

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  16. #37
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by ChaimS View Post
    This is really nice of you. Even more when having in mind I am not a native English writer.

    The problem is that there is at least one thing this company does really well: playing with the search engine. This is a crucial element helping them to stay alive.

    Need a good example?
    http://www.imgnook.com/nE8LS.png

    Screenshot taken a few months ago. If you compare those results with ones from present day, you will see a HUGE change. No expertise needed to say the company loves to abuse the freedom of information. As I said: recieved illegal threats from them ; essentially the company's representative suggested I have commited a crime and provided that I don't play the ball, they will report it to my local authorities (yes, company offered to act as accessory to purported crime provided that I will cooperate). Not mentioning the Wikipedia, free press abuse (journalist removing her article 'Freelancer.com Founder Dismisses Scam Claims') and other forms of violation (for example causing my publisher to remove my article and ceasing contact with me: Get a Hindu: FREELANCER.COM SCAM: WHY ARE YOU LYING, MATT BARRIE? ).

    Other form of messing up with search engine?
    For a number of months, if you been typing 'Freelancer.com' into Google window, it would suggest you "Freelancer.com scam" as a best guess. Now? No such suggestion unless you type "Freelancer.com s[cam would be suggested]".

    So I have to tell you: Freelancer.com's behaviors are unethical, abusive and criminal. Yes, criminal. Even if they have changed their behaviors, the company has already engaged in criminal acts. Illegal threats, privacy abuse, property abuse (if you took my money and gave it to me in a few days, you would still be a thief), defacements and many more (this is not a fluff phrase ; will publish articles about it soon).

    This is so funny... just wanted to make my point in August. If they did nothing, I would give it a go. But their unprofessional personnel (including the CEO) wanted to play strong. Published my personal data (imagine a bank or even a discussion forum doing it ; even though I was protesting, they have repeated those actions making their abuse even greater and more arrogant), unjustly accused me of defacement, distributed a smear note among my customers, threatened me with authorities of my country (according to local Penal Code this can be interpreted as illegal threats), closed my user account using security as an excuse (even though acount got suspended and deleted within 48 hours after I have published my second article - together with the account they have deleted all the evidence and a few pennies there ; still have no refund ; no matter it was like one dollar - it is about the rules!), killed my relation with the publisher (Business2Community portal) and put accusation of public racism on top of it.

    Congratulations: now you got a really angry whistleblower on the loose. This is even worse news for you when having in mind your company is a can of worms and I am more than plain obtrusive about that...









    P.S. After about three months recieved spam mail from them asking me to take part in their... customer survey

    Want it even funnier? Read the attached screenshot...

    Hi,

    Sorry to see that the problem hasn't been resolved, I am thinking of starting a similar type of website but I don't know if it would be better to charge a fixed fee or a commission percentage?

    I would appreciate your views on this!

    Thanks
    John.
    Please follow me on Twitter
    My sites are AFCW.net RackedHost.com

  17. #38
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    EagleOne:
    - company is registered:
    ABN Lookup - Current details for ABN: 81 134 845 748
    https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/Re...Text=134845748

    - number of entities that may be interested in current situation:
    ACCC Home
    Home - OPC
    SCAMwatch home

    ...and more



    John:
    please see the private message:)

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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    More comments on Freelancer.com

    Freelancer.com

    Posted: 2012-11-12 by

    Woogante

    Stay away from this website

    Complaint Rating:

    Terrible - Matt Barrie cannot know what is going on ! He cannot know about all the fake IDs and fake emails and proxy servers that are being used on his site - he claims to be up there with the likes of Richard Branson - well he needs to emulate Sir Richard and get back in control of his Freelancer.com...

    Comments

    United States

    Internet Services

    Freelancer.com

    Posted: 2012-11-11 by
    Samplesafe

    No Support for Members

    Complaint Rating:

    I recently won a dispute on Freelancer.com. The freelancer who lost the dispute is now targeting me by posting fake projects which I am awarded and then the client vanishes - not only have I paid a commission to freelancer.com at the outset of the project (which they refuse to refund!), the...

    Freelancer.com Complaints & Reviews
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  19. #40
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    "freelancer.com blocked my account as soon as I was paid for my first job. I struggled and sent 1000 mails to freelancer support requesting them to explain me why my account is blocked and why am I not able to with draw funds. As they done it with no reasons so no response was given by freelancer team. I believe they are doing this to consume money of users.

    Finally, I got a below mail after 1 month saying that my PayPal account has done some wrong transactions and my account is blocked due to security reasons. This was a complete shock for me as I never used my PayPal for transactions. How they can send me such fake excuse."
    Freelancer.com is a SCAM

    We will continue to list as many complaints against this company as possible. What happened to Alaister Low?
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  20. #41
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  22. #43
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Alaister Low is smart... but not smart enough to discuss the real issues. Or is too busy with his abroad trips.

    Proof? Here ya go:
    Get a Hindu: FREELANCER.COM, FACEBOOK ...AND SWASTIKAS

    It is also possible he doesn't know what are real reasons of bad standards stuck to the company for like 2 years. Neither knows the general public. And those reasons may be pretty... umm... interesting, you know.


    The company's representatives use very fine excuse pattern while questioned:



    1. Deny everything, copy-paste the premeade, meaningless statements.

    Google:
    max from freelancer.com
    emir from freelancer.com



    2. Blame users. Her blog may seem to be criticizing the company, but if you are able to read between the lines, you will notice the girl defends and tries to pretend it is not the company to take the blame for most problems:
    The trouble with Freelancer.com « Lisa A. Martin – Freelance science copywriter/editor

    ...have I mentioned that she has been hired by Freelancer.com at least once (create company's Wikipedia entry)?
    The problem with that approach is that when company is criticized so often and with such strong words, it changes its policies (or most of those) immediately. Of course most of corporations will have some issues reported by a few people. In case of Freelancer.com you got a whole catalogue of abuses and a considerable number of complaining people. Confirm it to any other major freelancing website (Elance, oDesk etc.). Apart from totally different numbers, you will notice that usual complaints in case of any other market is the quality of the cooperation with your counterparty (freelancer or customer), not irregularities concerning market's organizer.



    3. Tell that all was in the contract with the user anyway. Let me put it this way: those documents look like outsourced to some freelancer agreeing to write them for 50 bucks. No single one (a number of papers scattered around the website), blurry, without any procedure outlined clearly and... company defaulted on them anyway (examples: affiliate program changed unilaterally by the company even for old members ; revealing my personal data from customer database).

    And I can tell you why most such contracts allow the corporations to do a lot. It is usually a safety valve for defense against scammers, hackers etc. (especially important for companys dealing with automated money transactions processing). Been preparing the procedures for an escrow company, so I know what's the deal. But those 'valves' are to be used as very last resorts only and with considerable imprications for company's systemic structure. In case of Freelancer.com, the company does whatever it likes.

    Apart from that, company's actions cannot be beyond general business rules. With special attention paid to: users' monies, users' privacy and services' quality.



    4. Use security as an excuse. Seems legit at first sight. But is very fishy indeed when compared to web entities dealing with money (banks, PayPal, Skrill, other freelancing websites). Producing your own mugshot or resending your documents' scans a few times is nothing like that. Money laundering prevention? Anti-terrorism rules? While are core branches outsourced to Philippines then? Why all information you got about your customer support representative is that his name is "John"? Why isn't the company oficially registered as a bank or hedge fund (it is important while analyzing a few other odd issues there)? Why hasn't it even provided full list of laws and authorities it is subject of? ...and if only it helped to security there. But for a few years we had the most dangerous freelancing market there with no signs of improvement.



    5. Pretend they do improve their processes. Got some promises as old as an year while company deals with specialists able to wonders within weeks (example to put sone hard facts here: "Freelancer have told me that they will be bringing in a compulsory milestone payment “pretty soon” which must be set up in advance of starting the project and will be a minimum of $5 or 10% of the project fee" ; got kicked out due to my articles about 4 months ago - don't remember anything like that existed). Reason? As I wrote... you can be surprised what can they be.



    6. Pretend that being scam or legit is a beauty contest, not a matter of law and morality. Example: let's said I have robbed $2M from a local bank. Gave $10,000 to each of my 100 neighbors. Have $1M all for myself. While bank owner complaints, I say "hey, look how many people are happy with me... you must be crazy". Problem is that even ONE offense is enough to put me behind bars. And I can testify in any court that Freelancer.com engaged in about 10 types of actions that have harmed me personally (examples: my name and surname revealed, distributing smear notes among my customes, me thretened illegally from local Penal Code's point of view).



    7. Hush it up. At all costs:

    - Google.com spammed with results from the domain of freelancer.com (see: freelancer.com scam ; freelancer.com review ; freelancer.com complaint)

    - Wikipedia to be looking like company's private ads board ; all proposals to discuss the controversies around the company dismissed as 'vandalism' ; 'controversial' ; 'irrelevant' etc.
    Get a Hindu: FREELANCER.COM, PRIVACY POLICY ...AND GERONTOPHILIA

    - at least one discussion forum killed the thread about the company due to legal concerns
    Google still has it: access world forum freelancer.com

    - at least one journalist writing about controversies deletes her article ; next articles of her praise the company and its CEO
    Freelancer.com founder dismisses scam claims - Sydney Business Month

    - a considerable amount of tweaked reviews created circulating around the web

    - independent bloggers (at least Kent Mauresmo and me) threatened with "legal actions" or "informing the local authorities" (basically the company informed me I have engaged in criminal activities but they won't rat me provided that I remove my articles). In case of Kent, we had an attempt to take down his entire large blog due to... copyright matters (used company's logo in article discussing it):
    Freelancer.com Scam Artist 2012 | Creative Marketing Ideas



    This last thing infuriated me. Copyright? So let me spill some beans here. When I was company's customer, had a conversation with Matt Barrie and been discussing some of my ideas concerning potential amendments of website. Gave no official permission to use them, but saw at least one implemented (only financial part of account is suspended, but the users can keep on looking for jobs and getting them).

    The big boss seems to believe that the world is his oyster and is not afraid to use other people's ideas without any specific "thank you" ; "we would like to offer you a compensation since we are for profit legitimate business" ; "would you like to take credit for it?" or even "goodbye":
    Get a Hindu: SPEAKING OF COPYRIGHTS...




    Congratulations Matt, congratulations Alaister, congratulations 'Danu Davenport', congratulations [put a few generic names here]

    If you haven't been harassing me, I wouldn't even learn how rotten this whole scheme is...

  23. #44
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    6a. If saw that your some of your misbehaviors get exposed, act legit/play stupid and pretend that past does not exist. Responsibility? What is it?
    Quite disturbing having in mind that allegedly mature men are in charge there...

  24. #45
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    1.Avoid Freelancer.com like the Plague! If you’re looking to outsource some work, I recommend using “Elance.com“
    2.Customer Service is KING! Treat your customers good and your business will flourish. Treat your customers badly, and someone just might write and SEO optimized article about you that shows up on the first page of Google

    -Kent Mauresmo

    Freelancer.com Scam Artist 2012 | Creative Marketing Ideas
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  25. #46
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Read more about Matt Barrie and see the pictures.

    http://www.realscam.com/f11/freelanc...736/#post33051
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  26. #47
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    I wonder if the editor for Good Weekend was contacted, would s/he be interested in having one of the reporters do a story on all the issues and problems Freelancer.com is having with so many people? I'm sure if a reporter would do a story, Mr. Barrie would not be able to blow smoke up the reporters skirts, but actually have to resolve all the complaints. I bet he wouldn't threaten to sue the magainze for doing the article based on facts. If he did, it would be fun to see the clash of the titans. Just a thought.
    EagleOne
    Author: "Robbing You With A Keyboard Instead Of A Gun - Cyber Crime How They Do It" available in soft cover and eBook at Amazon.com

  27. Likes 1 Member(s) liked this post
  28. #48
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by scratchycat View Post
    Freelance.com/en

    Registrant:
    Freelance.man
    P.O.Box 227, Clinch's House, Lord Street
    Douglas, Isle of Man IM99 1RZ
    GB

    Domain name: FREELANCE.COM


    Administrative Contact:
    Martinie, Andre @freelance.com
    P.O.Box 227, Clinch's House, Lord Street
    Douglas, Isle of Man IM99 1RZ
    GB
    33155621234 Fax: 33155621230
    Isle of Man is a small island in the Irish Sea. Why on earth would they want administrative contacts there? Crimestoppers are a powerful force in UK and there is even a special division for crime which is specific to the Isle of Man . You can pass on any information and remain anonomous.

    Crimestoppers UK.

    Crimestoppers Isle of Man

  29. #49
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by path2prosperity View Post
    Isle of Man is a small island in the Irish Sea. Why on earth would they want administrative contacts there? Crimestoppers are a powerful force in UK and there is even a special division for crime which is specific to the Isle of Man . You can pass on any information and remain anonomous.

    Crimestoppers UK.

    Crimestoppers Isle of Man
    P2P, this was my mistake and has been stated previously. I realize you are just becoming acquainted with this one. There are 2 companies, but the one we are really discussing here is freelanceR.com

    After doing some searches, they have similar complaints about each one but for now, use the one with R on the end. Thank you much for joining in.
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  30. #50
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    As you may have noticed, haven't been publishing anything for like 10 days. Yup, Freelancer.com came up with a great idea for success - just shut the whistleblowers up.

    Been running this blog for as long as 4 months and the Freelancer.com people have been reading it since the very beginning.

    And the trigger was quite specific.

    Dec 1


    INSULTS, INJURIES, STATEMENTS...
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

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