Fiverr Community Forum

Beware of new scam (scammers recording your voice responses)

Fiverr Tips Tips for Sellers
#1

[This is why the Terms of Service exist and forbid external communication, thanks to mariashtelle1, cyaxrex, and eoinfinnegan for the discussion]

Beware of buyers who want to tell you about their project via external communication platform. I had a buyer send me a few messages asking if he could talk to me via external platform about his project (“Hi”, “How are you”, “I have a project”, “Is it okay for you to have a call in [the external platform]?”. Capture3

We got on the external platform and he asked me questions and then waited in silence for a very long time - then he introduced himself (Full name, age, location) and asked me to introduce myself in a very awkward, script-like way. He asked a few yes/no questions, as well.

When I went back to the external platform, I asked if he could tell me anything about his project via text, and he continued to try to open a voice chat. I told him one more time to bring it back to Fiverr so we can keep track of the initial conversation for the project, and he said “Bye.” “I don’t want to work with someone who changes their decisions.”

Just be aware that your voice is a valuable part of your identity, and if people can capture you saying “Yes”, “No”, your name/age/location, they can do a lot of harm.

I’ve reported this user to Fiverr, but here’s what I’d look out for:

  • Location in profile and users current time don’t line up
  • Quick, script-like responses via chat
  • Refusing to tell you anything about project via text
  • Wanting to get off of Fiverr’s platform as quickly as possible

Let’s stay safe out there and keep communication within Fiverr!

10 Likes
#2

I would say that you also broke fiverr tos as soon as you agreed to communicate outside of fiverr and you also might get a warning for that.

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#3

Yes, all this person needs to do now is phone round all the banks operating in the the area where you live and say, “Hi, I’ve lost my online banking login details, can you help?”

I’m starting to think that there is a very real problem with millennial and young people at present. It literally boggles my mind how people even fall into the trap of communicating off-Fiverr in the first place. Yet, people seem to this and basically say, "Here, take everything you need to empty my bank, buy a gun in my name, and track me and my family to my front door. Do you need anything else?"

12 Likes
#4

A generation has grown up never having read any terms and conditions and believing that it’s ok to just give whatever info to whoever asks.
GDPR, which was supposed to provide more security and safety, has really just made clicking “I agree” so commonplace (every site you ever visit) that it has actually taken all meaning from it.

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#5

I agree. However, I also see GDPR as a censorship and small business murder weapon. I like to think that I am pretty much an expert in GDPR. However, putting GDPR into practice is (in my opinion) pretty much impossible for most bloggers and small businesses who do not have a lawyer and a top notch GDPR Pro web dev on their team.

I also think that the automatic click to accept terms of service trend is also more the product of social media. This and a basic lack of understanding of how technology works.

At least my generation had a basic understanding of how tech works and why privacy matters. Now we are pretty much at the point where continuing to use FB would mean you have to agree to be put under 24-hour home surveillance and surrender your first born child to Mark Zuckerberg, and people would still click agree.

6 Likes
#6

Yeah, you’re right. I won’t be doing that again. I brought the ToS up to this user (who is now removed from the site) in our external communication and that was when he said “Bye”.

Sorry Fiverrrrrr but this is the kind of info that will teach people why the ToS are in place and how they protect sellers.

1 Like
#7

It is best and mandatory to always tell buyers that you cannot communicate with them outside the fiverr platform. 99.99% of scammers use this approach. In the case where you are scammed of the service you render, you have nobody to report to

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#8

I’m doing some investigating on my own about how I fell into this trap, because I am usually painfullly rule-abiding. Here’s what I’m finding:

For me, I get most of my work through other avenues, and I have to communicate with clients through a variety of mediums based on their comfort level and complexity of the project. So I’m comfortable communicating with people and having my guard up when building new relationships.

Regarding ToS:

Fiverr is one of my lower-performing income sources I have over the past 2 years, and while I used to get 2-3 gigs through Fiverr a month, I’m now getting 1 or 2 gigs every 4 months. Because of that, I haven’t been as active on Fiverr lately.

As I look back through my message logs, I was very strict about off-Fiverr communication between clients during my first year when I was working more, but since my Fiverr income has dropped off and I’ve been communicating with clients directly through other platforms, I spaced on the ToS and let myself communicate with someone off-platform. This was a good reminder of why I was so strict about that initially (and why it’s such a good practice for Fiverr to require).

I think part of the issue here is that, in order to barely make ends meet as a freelancer, I have to be a part of so many different online communities with different rules, ToS, and standards. But this is a good refresher as to why it’s important to keep all of those things straight.

4 Likes
#10

10000%. (20 characters)

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#11

What could possibly go wrong? Obviously this is not something you should do.

#12

I know this is an old topic but since it’s been resurrected: I see quite often people mention this as a red flag and while it may be true…it’s just not always the case.

My profile shows I’m from Thailand, since that’s where I was when I opened my account. I tried to change it but I was told from Support it would change automatically if I were to relocate somewhere else…it obviously didn’t.

So my location in my profile is different from my current location timezone and I have never used a VPS nor scammed anyone.

I don’t like sellers may be worried about working with me because of this misconception. I don’t think buyers would have a problem with that unless they are also sellers, but I’m positive this was born in the forum with people classifying this as a red flag.

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#13

I have about one fourth of my buyers with time zones that don’t match their locations. I stopped worrying about it.

1 Like
#14

Perhaps, but the only reason for someone to classify it as a red flag is if they’ve had really bad experiences with users with mismatching country and time zone.

EDIT: Not to mention a huge number of users who used to follow (or still follow) the “advice” that they should fake their location so that it shows USA or UK, because they’ll get more orders that way. If I remember correctly, it was one of the reasons to introduce phone verification.

2 Likes
#15

You’re right, it’s not just the location mismatch that throws a red flag. It’s more likely that they aren’t willing to communicate or share files via Fiverr. The location mismatch is still a part of it, but probably not the first thing that would make me not trust someone.

2 Likes
#16

Even though I get a lot of clients who claim they are in the US but obviously are not, I have not had a problem with them so far when they order.

One told me he is in China and that’s the reason, since fiverr is blocked there. So it’s possible that many of them are in that country.

1 Like
#17

I’d avoid doing business with anyone misrepresenting themselves, but it’s important to note that Fiverr’s location info is not reliable.

It shouldn’t say ‘from’ to begin with, but rather ‘located at’…and it should, as CS told me it would, update itself after a period od time/ number of access in a different location.