Comments on: Why We Don’t Post “Warnings” at Freelance Writing Jobs

By: The Freelance Writing Jobs Weekly Rundown: February 14, Edition : Freelance Writing Jobs | A Freelance Writing Community and Freelance Writing Jobs Resource

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:22:56 +0000

[...] Why We Don’t Post Warnings at Freelance Writing Jobs [...]

By: Deb Ng

Deb Ng — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:28:54 +0000

Darn straight. I’d rather not open myself up to that sort of thing.

By: Deb Ng

Deb Ng — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:28:20 +0000

You’re right, Lucy. I don’t mind disucssing scams and posting warning signs, but I’m not going to point fingers. What if I’m wrong?

It’s up to all writers to practice due diligence.

By: Deb Ng

Deb Ng — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:27:19 +0000

If we’re talking about the same website, I realized that writer was only posting half the story after she posted very negative things about me in one of her investigations. Knowing she only published half the information, I stopped believing her warnings.

By: allena

allena — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:01:32 +0000

I hear a lot of the whispers too, from people writing me at About.com. I will admit straight out that others' lawsuits in past years have scared me off. .-= allena´s last blog ..2010 Then? Accidental Freelancing and the 1099 =-.

By: Lucy Smith

Lucy Smith — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:59:55 +0000

I don’t really see why people expect you to take responsibility for scam busting.

Any writer learns to pick them very quickly, and the truth is that you learn faster by doing. I have applied to two jobs that turned out to be scams when I was brand new – one wanted me to download some special software to make conference calls that required my credit card details (but I have Skype! I cried), and the other wanted ‘a small fee’ to make sure I was serious. In hindsight, both bore scam hallmarks, but I was green and desperate for work.

99 percent of scams have very clear warning signs that people just need to learn to spot themselves. Yeah, it’s frustrating to find that an awesome-sounding job is a scam, but chalk it up to experience, and learn to always tread with caution.
.-= Lucy Smith´s last blog ..Passion, what is that? =-.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:00:23 +0000

Great post. One of the reasons I stopped reading another writing website was that the owner of the site seemed to be on a ‘crusade’ to out as many ‘scams’ as possible. I didn’t always agree with her crusades, however, and in fact I’d often had a positive experience with the sites or people she decried. I think buyer beware, or in this case, writer beware, is a smart move.