Should You Apply? How to Spot a Scam When Applying for Freelance Gigs

The bane of a freelance writer’s existence isn’t excessive edit requests or fiddly style guides. In reality, it’s scams. Unfortunately, it can seem as if scams come with the territory when you’re a freelance writer, but the good news is that you don’t have to be a victim of them. It may not ever be possible to stop people from posting scam jobs on the internet, but it is possible to avoid applying for them. Keep an eye out for common freelance writing scams when you’re browsing for jobs, and you can protect your content, time, and bottom line.

Why Freelance Writers Get Scammed

You may be wondering why anyone would bother scamming a freelance writer in the first place. Although some scams are designed to get access to your bank account or to get information that makes it possible to steal your identity, some scams really are trying to steal your writing. Your skill at putting words together is more valuable to people than you may imagine—and yes, it’s valuable enough to steal.

Some of the common motives behind freelance writing scams include getting:

• Access to your bank account. These scams usually ask for account details in order to make a deposit for your work.
• Your personal information, such as your address, driver’s license number, or Social Security number, in order to steal your identity.
• You to complete writing assignments for free.
• You to complete writing assignments for a significantly reduced rate.

Just as with any kind of scam, sometimes there’s seemingly no reason for the rip-off, but keying in on the things someone might be trying to get through the scam ad they’ve posted can help you spot something that doesn’t seem quite right.

Signs that Scream “Scam” in Freelance Ads

Hustling for jobs is all in a day’s work for a freelance writer. In the early stages of your writing career in particular, you may be so anxious to build up your client base that you don’t put the ads that come your way through the sniff test to see if they really seem like the real deal. Before you apply for any freelance writing job, look out for these signs:

• Jobs that promise beginners high rates of pay. Freelance writing rates generally increase with your level of experience. As with most fields, beginners don’t usually get the jobs that have the best pay.
• Clients that want to pay you a deposit for your work. There’s nothing wrong with getting a deposit for your work—in fact, in some cases, it is essential. However, the request for a deposit will almost always come from you rather than be initiated by the client. This already conspicuous red flag becomes impossible to miss if the client asks for your bank account numbers to pay you.
• Clients who want free samples. It’s not uncommon for clients to ask a freelancer for samples, and it’s not even uncommon for clients to want you to produce an original piece of content as a trial run. If you’re writing as part of a job application process, you should be paid for your time. If you simply work for free, what happens if you don’t get hired? How many other people submitted free samples? This is a good way for people to get a lot of content without spending a dime.
• The job promises revenue sharing for compensation. Unless the client can demonstrate that they have an established website with a significant amount of traffic, then revenue sharing usually means that your share of the nothing that they are earning is nothing.
• Clients who promise exposure. You can’t pay the bills with exposure, and working for free sets a bad precedent. Typically, clients who offer to pay with exposure don’t have enough web traffic/readers to deliver any kind of exposure that would be valuable.

The old cliché is right—if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. When you are evaluating freelance writing ads, keep that saying firmly in mind.

Clients Who Come to You with Scams

You don’t have to fall victim to a scam ad to experience a freelance writing scam. Unfortunately, many people who scam freelancers reach out to them directly. Once you announce on social media that you are a freelance writer or set up a freelance writing website, they will seek you out.

These purported clients will usually come to you with requests for you to write something for a website or blog. They may pitch the opportunity in a way that makes it sound like they want you to do a guest post on their site, but their intention is often to get you to create content for free.

Clients almost never have to solicit writers and convince them to come on board. There are simply too many writers out there looking for work for this to make sense. However, if you want to investigate an opportunity such as this further, check out the client’s website. You can learn a lot about the legitimacy of a writing opportunity in this way. If you see these warning signs on the website, you’re probably being targeted for a scam:

• No contact information/use of contact forms only
• Claims that don’t make sense/seem unrealistic
• No references to real people
• No about page

Checking clients out on social media is another good option. If a client has scammed other writers, those writers will be telling all on Twitter, Facebook, and more.

Listening to your gut can help to protect you against freelance writing scams, and so can Writers Work. We give you everything you need to build a career as a freelance writer, from access to job postings so you can find work to educational tools so you can make the right decisions as you establish yourself as a writer. Join our community today to become part of our network.