There’s an increase in demand for verified Upwork’s
accounts. Does it really work and what could be the ultimate consequence in
both scenarios?
Whatever is the product, it can be sold. And Upwork
(freelancers) accounts are hot merchandise lately. People from China and other
countries are scouting the web in search of a viable, verified, and active
freelancer’s account with good standing.
And it’s not a novel thing. Since the dawn of FMS and the
first sizeable platforms, namely Elance and oDesk, US citizens were opening
freelancing accounts either as a favor or a service to non-US freelancers. The
nomadic lifestyle of the digital age makes it difficult for platforms’ security
teams and algorithms to distinguish between actual frauds and legit freelance
globetrotters.
Even with the mandatory two-step authentication, it would
be close to impossible to reveal the hoax because, for just $50 a year, one can
have a US Skype number. Introduce some serious coordination and even a group of
people from different continents can fool the system.
That said,
Should you lease/sell your Upwork account? How much can
you get for it?
The first question you have to ask yourself is what’s
it worth to you?
Just to give you an idea of the price trend, here’s the
latest screenshot from one such marketplace:
As you can see, you can’t make a lot. After all, you are
only leasing the account to someone who’s making as much as possible.
But…
If your buyer is from any of the ineligible countries (or
any country for that matter), it is You who’s handling the communication with
the server; otherwise, the entire deal won’t last long. Upwork’s algorithms
will soon pick up abnormalities and flag the account. If you are an Upwork
user, you know how that ends, don’t you?
In other words, the only viable way to make it work is to
avoid or, at least, minimize frequent geolocation shifts and logging in with
multiple IP addresses.
Now, wouldn’t it be easier to just make those damn
two-hundred bucks? Call me crazy, but I think it would. And I’ll give it to you
straight — if you can’t make more than $300 on Upwork a month; then there’s
something fundamentally wrong with the way you are doing business. Perhaps it’s
time to learn how it’s done so you’d finally start making $2,000 to
$3,000 a month? How about that?
OK, smartass, what if I could effectively juggle dozens
of freelancers and make a hundred bucks on each? I have the wit and I know how
to coordinate everything.
Well, that could turn into a real business, couldn’t it?
Then again, what do you think are the odds of occasional multiple simultaneous
logins from different geolocations? And do consider the dynamics of this
business that include, but it’s not solely limited to frequent communication
and file sharing.
Should you buy an Upwork account?
Why would you do something like that when it’s completely
free — and relatively easy — to set up an account on Upwork? If you are
uncertain about the process, here’s the
step-by-step guide based on a case study of a previously rejected application.
But, for the sake of the argument, let’s say that you do
“rent” an account.
What then? How would you set up finances? You obviously have
to use the financial data of a person leasing you the account. Do you trust
that person to transfer the money you’ve made to your bank account?
Next, how could you be sure that you are the only one
leasing that single account? I mean, Upwork runs some advanced holistic
algorithms, and the moment they pick something fishy, they are flagging the
account. If a few freelancers from different sides of the world are using the
same account, it won’t take long before the entire scheme collapse.
For example, let’s say that you’ve landed a long-term
contract with a sequence of already funded milestones. Somewhere along the way,
shit hits the fan, Upwork first flags, then ultimately ban the account you’ve
been using. There, you just lost a few grand. How’s that for fun?
Well, the account owner’s IP address will handle all the
communication with servers because that’s the smart thing to do, so…
Even if all goes well and you collect a few 5-star reviews,
what happens when that person decides to break the deal? As you can assume, you
are left with nothing! Digital reputation, so vital for any online
entrepreneur, goes to someone else to capitalize on it.
And I could go on like this for a few pages. So, long story
short, there isn’t a single acceptable reason to rent someone’s account
if you are confident enough that you can deliver a certain service, unless,
of course, you are from an ineligible country. And this is coming
from someone who is in the business since 2004.
I dare you to prove me wrong.