Imagine that you have recently launched a freelancing plateforms, fully promoted it, and taken all necessary actions to increase its visibility. It’s going well; there are plenty of individuals posting tasks, and plenty of freelancers can finish them. Firms and businesses have made the entire process automated.
Then something like this occurs: you notice a chargeback that is quite large. When you look into the problem, you discover that a freelancer has not only taken some time not to complete his task but also, When you look into the problem, you discover that a freelancer has again not finished the task and collected payment in advance. To get an update, you attempt calling the freelancer, but the phone is disconnected, and your emails go unanswered.
You treat it as a one-time occurrence, repay the project owner, and don’t do much other than disable the freelancer’s account. All of the independent contractors had paid in advance. Now that the chargeback request has been made, the former project owner is apprehensive because he or she has not posted any new projects and is clearly very upset. The freelancers didn’t respond as before.
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A Significant Method To Combat The Freelance Scams
Online reviews of websites are becoming negative, and firms only upload fewer projects. If firms consider eliminating the option for advance payment, counter that good resources and some projects necessitate payment in advance and that the entire marketing strategy is centred around this.
Document Verification – Providing The Best Solution
Document verification is an excellent solution to tackle this fraud. The threat is quite real even though the situation in the aforementioned paragraph is just hypothetical; it can and has occurred in one form or another. Therefore, the question of how to stop such fraud from ever happening emerges. In order to respond to that, we must first determine what led to the freelance scam in the first place. In the aforementioned hypothetical situation, a freelancer would likely have to complete a registration process on the freelancer site in addition to creating a profile outlining their areas of competence. That is rather common, but there is no way to confirm that the freelancer claiming to be them is indeed them, and there is no way to check their document frauds to ensure their qualifications are accurate and genuine. Because a freelancer may accept something in advance on this platform, it was possible for someone to take advantage of this functionality.
The concept itself was brilliant and would probably entice the top talent to apply as independent contractors. This would then draw individuals or organizations who want to hire highly competent professionals to do their duties. The main problem was that it wasn’t carefully thought out and lacked a penalty to prevent this kind of fraud. A biometric identification service or third-party digital KYC verification may have served as a deterrent in this situation by validating the freelancer’s credentials and supporting documentation.
Freelancer Scams – Another Case
It is wise to point out that the same approach can stop different kinds of freelance scams before moving on to the solution to the issue. It is possible that the framework, which is offering the freelance service, will turn out to be a hoax. This would impact both the organization and the person supplying the freelancer. Assuming the freelance service offers escrow, they hold the money until the job is finished.
What if they ultimately perform a disappearing act similar to what ICOs do after receiving all the money? What would prove that they are the genuine article and not a con artist? The answer is that they most likely would have invested in a third-party service to guarantee that they are in compliance with KYC regulations and requirements. Your platform is constantly at risk if a reliable KYC document verification system is lacking.
Wrapping it Up
The answer is a resounding YES. Nothing but investment—in this case, a freelance platform—adds credibility; it demonstrates the company’s opposition to freelance scams. Not only that, but everyone who signs up to work as a freelancer has their paperwork validated. The third-party validator examines the documents for indications of manipulation and fabrication after receiving them. The best aspect is that you can submit documents or do live verifications using a camera. The entire process lasts under a minute. They are aware that if they try to pull a quick one, they risk being exposed and subject to criminal prosecution. One of the best ways to prevent freelance fraud is through this.