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Discussion : Internet Fraud by Freelance Websites
Discussion is closed !1-15 > 16-30> 31-45 > 46-60 > 61-75 > 76-90 > 91-105 > 106-120 > 121-135 > 136-150 > Total 140 comments
2009-06-02 15:36:01 -
I am a coder and have ran into several people who have chosen me as the winning bidder and then in the getting to know each other stage(s) and instruction confirmation stage(s) where they disappeared on me and I not get any kind of money at all, or we have gotten past all that area and I have done the job for someone with them having sent me a partial payment to my Paypal Account and then after delivering the files to them, they turn around and file a complaint that I didn't render the services that I was supposed to render.
The last of these is the newest one that has recently happened to me and I'm not sure what to do because the man is in Canada.
2009-05-04 21:28:51 -
If you are planning to outsource with CSSAGlobal, please do ask for my feedback. I am sure that you won't regret it. You can contact me by using Contact form available on www.uday.net/CSSAGlobal Thanks.
2009-04-14 11:08:45 -
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
On April 10, 2009, a bid request for a “Super Debugger” was posted on RentACoder by a buyer named ATuring. The bidding was scheduled to close on April 30, 2009 with a deadline of 90 days. It was in the “Medium Business Project” price range. The specs were as follows:
I require a program that can accept source code in all the major languages (C / C#, VB, Java, PHP, .NET), analyze any loop structures within the source code, and determine whether the program will run from beginning to end or will run in an infinite loop. It must be in the form of a windows application with a file input control and status bar messages.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with this project, it’s a manifestation of the Turing Halting Problem. The Turing Halting Problem is to find an algorithm that can read programs as input and determine whether or not there will be infinite loops. This was proven to be impossible in the early 20th century by Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science. In other words, the project cannot be done, even by a reasonable and competent coder.
To see the Bid Request, go to the following link:
http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/misc/BidRequests/ShowBidRequest.asp?lngBidRequestId=1146467
The point of the bid request was to see if coders in RAC were smart enough to ask questions related to the project and conduct research on their own BEFORE agreeing to do anything. My findings were rather disappointing. Not only have coders posted bids on the project without reviewing the specs, but some of them were ranked 9 out of 10 or higher with as many as 72 successful projects to their name. Here is a list of the coders who participated in this experiment:
Coders Who DID NOT Bid (The Good)
• wataylor
• Realtime Engineering
• jpapp
• isidor
• -Ajay-
• akamaus
• biotech86
• ClassiX Soft UK
• bitdonkey
• GVahe
• BGDN.Net
Coders Who DID Bid (The Bad)
• Al Wonderer (Rating 8.4)
• Umbraco (Rating 9.07)
• outsourcing guru
• samia21
• Asad Inc. (Rating 9.98)
• Rjavier (Rating 8.44)
• Soft-AX
• CodeXp3rtS
• Claudiocordera
• John Doeish
Coders Who Asked for More Money (The Ugly)
• Cyclone Soft (Rating 9.55) (Asked for $50,000)
Although there are more coders who did not bid, their names will not be mentioned simply because they implied interest and competence in being able to code the project without figuring out in advance that it was impossible. Those coders are advised to conduct more thorough research in future projects BEFORE they comment on any bid requests period. If this project had an “expert guarantee” and you accepted the project, then you would have been screwed.
After a thorough review of the buyers who actually bid on this project, I have noticed several trends. The most obvious link is that most of these coders are from Pakistan and India. I’m not sure what it implies, but it sorely discredits the quality of the coders from those areas. I work full-time with Indian coders and they would be embarrassed to see their brothers and sisters displaying such unprofessionalism.
The second commonality is the overwhelming amount of “cut-and-paste” responses that fail to address the bid request. Stop trying to TELL a buyer that you can do the job and SHOW him you can do the job by asking relevant questions and providing related demos if possible. If you were a buyer and had 10 people simply stating that the project can be done while one coder provides a demonstration or a detailed explanation of how it could be done with a time estimate, who would you pick for the job?
The third, most disturbing thing amongst the people who made outright bids on this project comes from those who have a high ranking. Some of these guys have done work for only one or two buyers, yet have a ranking of 9 or better on every project. For these supposedly “Very Good” or “Excellent” coders to bid on a ridiculous project as the “Super Debugger”, their bids deeply put into question the legitimacy of their ratings. I’d hate to suggest the use of “meat puppet” RAC accounts which fabricate bogus projects in order to inflate ratings for a select group of buyers and coders, but their project history strongly suggests such a practice. As a result of this potential fraud, ratings and job counts should not be the ONLY factor in picking an appropriate coder.
I hope this will help buyers weed out some of the more honest and competent coders from some of the “bad seeds”. Don’t allow a few incompetent coders leave you with a bad taste in your mouth about RentACoder. Learn to tell them apart so you don’t receive deliverables that are below your standards. As for coders, if you heed some of my above-mentioned suggestions, then you’ll find yourself winning more bids and receiving higher ratings LEGITIMATELY.
2009-03-31 13:41:50 -
Hi all,
I am also heard about getafreelancer but still now i didn't use that site,because there is design also some what not nice.But I am using http://www.net4manpower.com for taking freelance projects..I am a freelance translators,i got some projects from this site and also they provide me 100% secure payment..so now i am using this one only, and also initially i don't want to pay any money for registration and bid anything..so we don't cheat ..if you interested try it..
2009-03-19 09:09:33 -
I have used rentacoder.com for several years now on 28 jobs. I rate them 5 stars *****.
I have a 1 bad experience with a lazy coder, but the staff at RAC corrected this in 3 days.
I will continue to use RAC for future jobs. Thx. Greg
2009-03-12 19:20:34 -
GetAFreelancer.com is a complete fraud. I seriously doubt any of the jobs that are advertised on there are real. I bid for one project, got a private email back from them asking me to go to a website and write a review of it after I had completed 'a simple application form'. the site turns shows a form that signs you up for stuff via your mobile phone, thus they get massive hits to the page and then money on top out of the sign up.
Also, if you try and google 'Getafreelancer scam' like I did, the search brings up multiple entries of an actual job advert on the site about writing about scams/fraud. They've key-worded all the negative association you might attach in your search and turned it into a legitimate ad!!
Google Alexis Tilman freelance - He/She is everywhere on freelance sites doing the same thing and must be raking it in
2009-02-18 06:28:58 -
Unfortunately, I've had to go through arbitration with Rent-A-Coder twice now; once initiated by myself and once initiated by a buyer. Both times what has happened is that a buyer basically abandoned the project. Both times the buyer did not really take advantage of the arbitration process, because they failed to present their case AT ALL. They did not even respond to requests by the arbitrator. Both times the arbitrator also gave the buyer extensions in order to respond, but yet the buyers still did not respond.
Although I don't like the arbitration process, because it is a bit tedious and nerve-wracking, my impression is that the process is more than fair. My advice to buyers is this: 1) Make sure you can clearly define the end product that you desire from the coder. Watch out for 'scope-creep' (that's just general advice). and 2) If you find yourself in an arbitration, be timely and complete with your responses. Please remember that by definition the coders you are dealing with are professionals, so if you are in an arbitration with them you should expect them to fully present their case. You should do likewise.
2009-01-13 16:11:15 -
He is one of the BEST FRAUD in GETAFREELANCER. His GAF id is "creationc". So kindly please dont take any project from him. He is ready to sale his mother and his sister and wife for MONEY. He is from BANGLADESH. So beware from Bangladesh people.
2008-09-11 14:26:52 -
I must urge any potential buyer NEVER to put funds in escrow with GetAFreelancer.com
I put $900 into escrow, thinking that my interests would be protected and that my money would be retuned if somebody tried to scam me.
A person called ITCSlive won my bid. He pretended to be a programmer but turned out to be a middleman trying to make a margin on someone else's work.
He did about 10-15% of my job and claimed he had finished and demanded my money.
After a long dispute, GetAFreelancer (GAF) finally took my money out of escrow and put it into my account on the site.
I issued a request to withdraw my money to my PayPAl account. That request was accepted.
Two days later, GAF had themelves put $600 my money back into escrow against my wishes. They claimed they had made "a mistake" so had restored the escrow.
Two of the main principles of escrow (and why it works) are:-
1. Buyers are protected from unscrupulous providers so that if a job is not done no money is paid.
2. The only person who can put money into escrow is the buyer. GAF cannot decide to put MY money in escrow.
This is theft, pure and simple and I am following up with the Swedish police (GAF is SWedish) and will take a civil action. I shall not rest until my money is returned.
The most stupid thing about GAF's stance is that they claim not to mediate in disputes. But they do. They support the provider even when he is demonstrably 100% in the wrong.
Just avoid GAF. They might steal your money.
2008-07-24 22:36:10 -
Oh man... Nothing like someone posting nonsense, bagging on anything and everyone. Changing your name and doing it again 7 minutes later under a new alias.
Good job and quite skillful
2008-07-08 01:58:24 -
Who's the dick head that runs this web site?
Does everyone know you are publishing everyone's email address on a web page?
What a lot of naieve twits!
Haven't you heard about email harvesting from web pages?
It's real. There are networks full of servers devoted to collecting our email addresses from anything on the web, especially forums.
Obviously there are no experts here :-)
2008-07-08 01:51:19 -
What a lot of rot!
If there is any doubting to be dome, let it be done about the hosts if this web site for publishing unfounded and slanderous accusations pandered by losers who will always be losers.
Go find some real news.
2008-05-21 06:49:14 -
Good evening...
Well, 2 months and counting. Where's that live site you promised Chetan? A bunch of empty words from a top of the line scammer.
BTW... Love that the only votes for CSSAGlobal came from CSSAGlobal addresses.
CSSAGlobal doesn't care a bit. It got hot for them and they are changing over to CSSAMedia... watch out, a new string of ripoffs on the way!
2008-04-23 18:50:11 -
OK, it took a few days but here ya go. Proof that the only one here telling the truth is us. Chetan, don't even try to cloud this with more lies.
http://cssaglobal.netshoppers.com/
You'll find the contract, dated PM threads and emails that show EXACTLY how CSAGlobal ripped us off.
Cheers
Steven
we may even put up the pc'o crap software they called a 90% complete CMS, still undecided on it.
2008-04-18 01:49:17 -
Oh, and please not the line at the bottom. Must contain a full acounting system. Wouldn't that make Cheatin a flat out liar? Didn't he claim there was never an accounting system?
I'll have the entire site up within 48 hours with every scrap of dirty trails from this scam company.
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Total 140 comments
