[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]?”.
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!