Fiverr Scams: How To Avoid Them
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Fiverr is a global platform that helps businesses and individuals find and hire freelancers for a wide range of digital services. While Fiverr is a great platform for finding affordable and high-quality services, there are also scams that you need to be aware of.
In this blog post, I will discuss Fiverr scams and how to avoid them.
Contents
What Are Fiverr Scams?
Fiverr scams are fraudulent activities that are carried out by dishonest buyers and sellers on the platform. These scams can take many forms, including accepting payment without completing the work, delivering plagiarized or poor-quality work, or using fake reviews and portfolios to appear more legitimate.
Dishonest sellers may also try to communicate with you outside of Fiverr, which is against the platform’s rules. Please know even buyers can also devise ways to scam sellers. They may make an agreement with a seller and after the work has been delivered; they will reject it and cancel an order.
Why Is It Important To Avoid Fiverr Scams?
It is important to avoid Fiverr scams for a number of reasons. First, Fiverr scams can cost you money. If you pay a scammer for work and they don’t deliver, you will lose your money.
Second, Fiverr scams can waste your time. If you spend time working with a scammer, you will be wasting the time that you could have spent working with a legitimate seller.
Third, Fiverr scams can damage your reputation. If you hire a scammer and they deliver poor-quality work, it could damage your reputation with your clients or customers.
How To Avoid Fiverr Scams
Here are some tips to help you avoid Fiverr scams:
1. Do Your Due Diligence
Before hiring a seller on Fiverr, it is important to do your due diligence. Check the seller’s ratings and reviews to see what other clients have said about their work.
Look at the seller’s portfolio to see examples of their work. Check how long the seller has been on Fiverr and how many completed orders they have. If you have any questions about the seller’s service, be sure to ask them before placing an order.
2. Review The Ratings
Fiverr assigns ratings to both buyers and sellers. It is essential to examine these ratings and choose individuals with an overall score of 4.5 stars or better. When selecting a buyer, prioritize those with a 4.5-star rating or higher and pay attention to those who have accumulated a substantial number of positive reviews for their services. Also, consider buyers that have at least more positive reviews on their gig.
Do know that some sellers buy reviews, so many positive reviews don’t mean genuine reviews and fewer reviews don’t mean the seller is not capable.
3. Steer Clear Of Extremely Cheap Gigs
It is advisable to steer clear of gigs with extremely low prices. While not all budget-friendly gigs are deceptive, your risk of encountering scams significantly rises when you choose the lowest-priced options.
4. Never Engage In External Communication
Refrain from communicating outside the Fiverr platform. Fiverr’s protection measures cannot apply if you fall victim to a scam outside the platform. If a seller tries to communicate with you outside of Fiverr, it’s a red flag.
5. Initiate A Discussion
Make sure to initiate a conversation with the buyer or seller before initiating the project. This will grant you additional time to thoroughly evaluate the other party. If they are unable to respond to fundamental questions about the service, it is probable that they will not meet your expectations.
6. Use Fiverr’s Payment System
Use Fiverr’s payment system to ensure that your payment is secure. Avoid making payments outside of Fiverr, as this can put you at risk of scams. Use Fiverr’s escrow and milestone system to ensure that the seller delivers the work before you release payment.
7. Gather Evidence
Collect all relevant evidence of the scam, including messages, files, and any other interactions you had with the seller. This documentation can be valuable when trying to resolve the situation.
8. Report The Scam
Fiverr takes scams and fraudulent activity seriously. Report the incident to Fiverr’s support team so they can take appropriate action against the seller if necessary.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Fiverr scams are a real threat, but they can be avoided with due diligence and awareness. By doing your research, checking reviews, avoiding extremely cheap gigs, never communicating outside of Fiverr, having a conversation, using Fiverr’s payment system, gathering evidence, and reporting the scam, you can protect yourself from scams and have a safe and productive freelancing experience on Fiverr.
