How to Avoid Scammers and Find Valuable Clients.

When I started working as a freelancer in 2022, I created accounts on Fiverr and Upwork. They looked awesome to start earning some money. But, I could not find many jobs at that time. It took me 2 months to get my first job, and it was a little one. Honestly, I could accept any job at that point because I really wanted to work. 

One day, I got a notification to translate a book from scratch. I noticed that the book was from McGraw Hill Education. If you were a college student like I was, you would realize that this publishing company is one of the best publishers in the world. You can find any technical books from this brand. So, why did this person contact me if I did not have any experience as an editor, a literature translator, or a technical translator? So, I decided to search for that book on Google, and surprisingly, there it was, where you could download it easily as a PDF version.

It was disappointing for me. I was looking for an opportunity like this in my professional career. But it was necessary to experience that moment to understand that those jobs did not happen instantly and effortlessly at the beginning of my profession. 

I would like to say that this was just one case, but these situations were increasing over time. I got messages from people asking me for money to start working. They also sent me links to start chatting on telegram and weird documents with no logo, brand, careless instructions, terrible grammar mistakes, and exaggerated, high rates in bold and underlined. Many of these seemed like the perfect job, with no work and a lot of money. But it was too unbelievable. So, I decided to block those accounts. 

So, I am not saying it is impossible to work online. You can find amazing jobs on those freelancing websites, but you need to follow your instinct, investigate those potential clients and their job offers, and ask yourself if those offers make sense. You will become a scam detector over time. Nowadays, it takes me less than 10 minutes to recognize a scammer online and block it. 

Finally, I am going to tell you the good part of the story. Last year, I got a message from someone asking me to be part of his team. He was looking for a content creator and editor for his new Spanish learning products. He mentioned his company's name, brand, mission, and vision. Furthermore, he also mentioned what he was expecting from me, in other words, my role in his company. He described every aspect of his company and my job in detail. Finally, he shared his product links where you could verify that all the information he had provided was true. Indeed, this stranger became a really valuable potential client, and I totally agreed to work with him. 

Nowadays, I am still working with him, fortunately. And this is a message for you, the reader, that there are still trustworthy job offers online. How to avoid scammers and find valuable clients? You just have to be careful, be patient, and truly believe that you are going to receive a great potential client's message one of these days.

Edited by Kate Linsley