How To Avoid A Freelance Writing Job Scam

As many of you know, I recently started my freelance writing journey. Yay! It’s so exciting to create a flexible schedule for myself and adjust to a new lifestyle. I’ve been on the fence about writing on my experiences as a new freelance writer, but after encountering my first job scam and completely falling for it, I decided it was necessary for me to tell my story. So this week, I’ll be sharing my freelance writing job scam experience, red flags, and reasons why I thought the job was legitimate.

Disclaimer: I will not be providing specific names of individuals I talked with to protect real identities that were stolen for the purpose of this scam.

Freelance Writing Job Scam: My Story

At the beginning of May, I started gaining traction with my business. I had signed on to work with a couple of clients and I was feeling really confident. Opportunities were coming left and right. One day, I received a dm on Twitter from user handle, @KateLyneHR. She mentioned that she needed a content writer and was wondering if I would be interested.

Before pursuing further, I did some research on this Twitter user via their feed and bio. She linked the company, Energy Transfer, in her bio. So I went on to check out the website, their mission, about page, and their blog. Everything looked good. That was my cue to write back to her. After some back and forth, she asked for my email address to contact me further. Okay… Nothing too fishy yet.

Within a few minutes, I received an invite to the Slack workspace for Energy Transfer’s remote writers. I was a little suspicious, but after conducting further research, I found out that Slack was a common tool for companies to utilize for working remotely on projects. I also noticed that there were other freelance writers added to the chat.

Interviews were set up, all to be conducted via text. Prior to each interview, I was notified of who I would be speaking with. I looked up each person on LinkedIn, all real people with real positions at Energy Transfer. You could call me relieved.

Interview Process Con

The interview process was fairly normal. I was asked about how I write, what niches I write in, what grammar tools I use, and what I consider to be good content. These are all questions that I’ve been asked before with other clients. I didn’t think twice. They even sent me a job description and the various benefits they provided.

As I moved from meeting to meeting, I asked a lot of questions. One of the wildest parts of this experience was that they had a reasonable answer for each question. On top of signing off on my service agreement, they also sent me an offer letter. These guys were well-spoken, well-researched, and definitely knew how to twist every red flag into something clean and concise. The plan was that I would start writing two articles (300-500 word count) for about $800.00. I know, crazy! But then I justified it since the company had been around for a while and looked successful online.

Then it came time to do background checks and the questions started becoming more and more intrusive. They started with some casual questions about my interests to details about my banking. I had fallen for a scam!

Why I thought the writing job was legit

I want to take a moment to chat about why I thought the job was real and legitimate:

• Interview questions were common and fair
• They sent a job description that looked similar to many others I’ve encountered
• Energy Transfer is a real company
• The identities of the people I spoke to are real
• My service agreement was signed
• They answered 30+ questions with reasonable answers
• The scammers asked for my tax form. (This is reasonable because as a freelance worker, you typically submit a W-9 form to clients that you may have ongoing business with.)
• There were other freelance writers on the Slack workspace

Red Flags

Now that we’ve cleared the air on the tricks the scammers used to convince me, let’s talk about some of the red flags that came up:

• Each person I talked to used the same vocabulary. Ex: “Kindly send your contact information for details on the job.” “Kindly open the job offer.” (Be on the lookout for that!)
• They would set up times for meetings without checking in with me about availability.
• Multiple spelling errors. Some instances of awkward grammar.
• Asking about bank information beyond the accounting and routing number.
• Contacted me via dm on Twitter (Side note: I have discussed real job opportunities with entrepreneurs on Twitter before. But the user that contacted me came out of nowhere.)

Aftermath of the Freelance Writing Scam

The aftermath of the job scam was messy. Not only was I distressed about giving away too much information about myself, but I felt disappointed in wasting my time for there not to be a job at all. Despite feeling defeated, there were a couple of things that the scammers didn’t know about me. I’m resilient and proactive. This is when I took action.

I was able to find some of the other freelance writers from the Slack workspace and notify them via LinkedIn that it was all a scam. They were relieved and as disappointed as I was. From there, I was able to get through to one of the HR employees from Energy Transfer to let them know that their identity along with other identities from the company were stolen for the scam. They notified me that their account was hacked lately. The scammers really went the extra mile.

To protect myself, I changed the password to my bank account and reached out to my personal banker about the matter. We froze everything as soon as possible. Since then, no irregular behavior has popped up. I also filed a report with the Federal Trades Bureau, the local police (so it’s on file), and the Social Security office (in case of identity theft.) Following the multiple reports, I placed a fraud alert with the credit bureaus and I reported the Twitter user, @KateLyneHR. Be on the lookout for any dms from this user. I believe her account is still live.

Yeah, it sounds like overkill, but I had to remove myself from Slack! I didn’t want my user image to stay there and lure more freelance writers to the workspace. Unfortunately, Slack has a rule, where you can’t get removed from a workspace unless you have special permission from the project manager. That wasn’t going to happen. I simply sent in the details of my situation with screenshots of the intrusive comments to the help center. Within 24 hours, the workspace was deleted. Yay, mission accomplished!

Reflecting on My New Experience

When I think about what I went through, I’m angry and disappointed, but also glad in a way. I’m glad that I experienced this early on in my freelance writing career, so I could be more aware and vigilant. Never did I imagine that I would go through a freelance writing job scam, but here we are. I’m coming out of this situation much wiser and stronger. With new boundaries implemented and stricter contact protocol, I know that I’m on track to gain authentic and lovely clients. So, what’s next? I want to share my story and resources with other writers that helped me work through this situation. There are scammers from all walks of life, so be safe, vigilant, and listen to your gut!

Resources

The following are some resources that may help you if you fall victim to job scams:

• Blog post detailing a similar experience with Energy Transfer
• Reporting scams: Federal Trades Bureau
• Reporting scams: Better Business Bureau
• Government Agencies To Report Fraud To
• Article on Social Security Theft
• File a police report in your local area

Good luck on your journey,

Harumi