Watch out for this scam - Valnet
I recently sent a proposal for a job, only to be told to contact them via Telegram. I did, reluctantly, and it was obvious this was a scam.
I should add I never usually take things offline, especially when a Telegram contact is always a scam! This one seemed different and professional, probably too professional to start with!
They want typing work done in 24 hours and will pay 1,500 euros for the work as long as it is approved, this raised my alarm bells. I pushed further on the upfront payment and how it works, turns out you need to pay $150 upfront to get an ID card to prove you are a freelancer with the company to ensure you get paid.
The person I conversed with was very rude when I said I would not be paying for this card prior to doing any work. They then proceeded to ask how much money I had! I could also borrow money to pay for this card. I ended the conversation at this point.
They, however, didn't want to stop and kept on about this card and how I would receive my 1,500 euros in 20 minutes of paying them $150. They are now blocked.
So I want to make everyone aware of people posing as a small business owner wanting PA assistance, this one was under the name James T. The company is Valnet (or so they say). The telegram contact is Michael Anthony.
Sadly for them they didn't get their $150 and so I'm sure they will try to scam someone else.
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Official comment
Hi Rebecca
Sorry to hear that you had this issue with a user and thank you for reporting them. As Nancy has mentioned, communication should never be taken off the platform, this is to protect both our buyer and freelancer communities.
Best wishes,
Community Team
Comment actions -
Report it via the workstream you used.
All freelancers are told to read the terms and conditions before starting work - ie, not to work outside of the PPH platform. If they do, they would also be in breach of PPH Ts and Cs. Far too many scammers on here. Best to report from the project workstream.
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You can't tell people or educate them, I'm afraid. There's been hundreds of threads warning people, telling them to read properly, telling them not to go off platform. Do they listen? No.
The calibre of freelancers on this site has decreased so much - in line with the rise of scammers - such that most now think this is a pot of gold and just forge merrily ahead. Just best to report, as you have done. Educating people is just like banging your head against a brick wall. They just see the $$$
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