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My upwork account got banned what should i do?

go giver

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as the title say Upwork account got banned but I don't know why?
I haven't been using it for a while because I finished up all the connect to submit proposal.
Can someone help me to gett my upwork account back.

Thank you
 
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arl

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Have you tried contacting upwork? They must have someone you can talk to.
 

Ismail941

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You have 2 options:

1) Create a new account with new email address so that you won't make any mistake or failed to follow the instructions whatever you did in the first place
OR
A) Contact the Support Team, see what happened and wait to be resolved so that you would get your account back
 

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I haven't been using it for a while


Are you sure you are banned?

Upwork will send non-active accounts (accounts that "haven't been used in a while", for example) an email saying your account has been "Deactivated". The email does make it almost seem like you're banned but really it's just sitting there waiting for you to log in again.

If you are actually banned, contact upwork to find out why.
 
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SeanODG

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I'd recommend reaching out to them and being extremely apologetic..."I want to learn; could you share what went wrong and how I can improve?"

At the end of the day, UpWork doesn't really care who their freelancers are. You need to give them a reason to let you back in!

Best of luck!!
 

go giver

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I tried to reach out to them.it went like this.
 

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SeanODG

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Hmm makes sense.

You could try again with a new account and new email.

As a tip, I think going over-the-top with apologetic language would work best. There's research taht says using "you" more than "I" in emails makes people like you more. Your note could have come across as a bit defensive.

Something along the lines of:

"Hello,

First, thank you for getting back to me. You must be really busy so it's truly appreciated that you looked into this.

Your position makes sense based on the policies-thank you for writing them out. UpWork means a lot to me because it's how I pay for my expenses. It would mean a lot to me to try again with UpWork.

With that in mind, could you share a bit more about what I did wrong? It would be extremely helpful to ensure something like this never happens again.

Thank you for your understanding and looking forward to hearing from you!

Cheers,
Name"
 
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Nick M.

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Creating a new account is somewhat risky. Even if they closed your first account, the second account is a violation of their Terms of Service.

If you can pass the identity verification, the second should work as long as you don't get caught.

To be honest, right now I'm looking for UpWork alternatives. Last week, my account was closed for "violating their Terms of Service," and no further explanation. When I say closed, I mean closed to the point that I can't even contact them again. However, to the best of my knowledge, I did not violate their Terms of Service. In fact, I read through their entire Terms and could not find a single thing I would have violated. Like you, they won't reopen it (which made several clients upset; I was their favorite freelancer on the platform).

Given my experience last week, it seems like they just ban accounts for even the slightest suspicion. Getting work on UpWork not only violates the commandment of control but also now shows me you can't really reason with them. Even if both you and your clients are happy, it doesn't stop them from closing your account.

I'm going somewhere else. You may wish to do the same.
 

SeanODG

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Creating a new account is somewhat risky. Even if they closed your first account, the second account is a violation of their Terms of Service.

If you can pass the identity verification, the second should work as long as you don't get caught.

To be honest, right now I'm looking for UpWork alternatives. Last week, my account was closed for "violating their Terms of Service," and no further explanation. When I say closed, I mean closed to the point that I can't even contact them again. However, to the best of my knowledge, I did not violate their Terms of Service. In fact, I read through their entire Terms and could not find a single thing I would have violated. Like you, they won't reopen it (which made several clients upset; I was their favorite freelancer on the platform).

Given my experience last week, it seems like they just ban accounts for even the slightest suspicion. Getting work on UpWork not only violates the commandment of control but also now shows me you can't really reason with them. Even if both you and your clients are happy, it doesn't stop them from closing your account.

I'm going somewhere else. You may wish to do the same.

Honestly, I agree. I use UpWork, and it's scary as hell that they turn the account off.

When you say go somewhere else, where are you going?
 

Nick M.

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Honestly, I agree. I use UpWork, and it's scary as hell that they turn the account off.

When you say go somewhere else, where are you going?
I'm still researching, but I can update this thread when I figure that out.
 
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IlseVdG

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And if that Upwork alternative can't be found, then maybe it should be created.
I'm not familiar with Upwork, but I intended to look into it for copywriting.
 

Lex DeVille

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Instead of trying to get back on Upwork, it's time to learn to find clients on your own. Stop using Upwork as a crutch for putting in the entrepreneurial footwork. You will never have control which is one of the worst commandments to break.
 

Icecreamchild

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Instead of trying to get back on Upwork, it's time to learn to find clients on your own. Stop using Upwork as a crutch for putting in the entrepreneurial footwork. You will never have control which is one of the worst commandments to break.

But you are the one who is recommending Upwork for ages.
 
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JAJT

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But you are the one who is recommending Upwork for ages.

Because it's a great platform, easy to get started with, and gets most people from "nothing" to "something tangible" fairly quickly.

Just because it's the oft-recommended option doesn't make it the only possible option.
 

AFMKelvin

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Instead of trying to get back on Upwork, it's time to learn to find clients on your own. Stop using Upwork as a crutch for putting in the entrepreneurial footwork. You will never have control which is one of the worst commandments to break.
Hi Lex have you started a thread about how to find clients outside of work?
 

Nick M.

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Hi Lex have you started a thread about how to find clients outside of work?

Don't know if @Lex DeVille has a thread on finding clients outside of UpWork, but he does go over that in several of his Udemy courses.

 
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AFMKelvin

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Upwork has suspended my account four times in the span of one month. First they wanted me to do a video call to verify that it was me and show them my ID. They told me it was to get my verified badge. So I did. A week later I got suspended again because I had to upload my ID. So I did. Than a week after that they wanted me to do another video call. So I did.

Lately I've been seen some really cheap work from other copywriters that use Upwork to outsource their own work. I have also noticed an increase of spam recruiters that want you to join their own freelance website. So you spend your connects on spam.

Sorry that you got your account suspended but maybe you replied to one of those spammers that want you to go to a different website.
 

Tourmaline

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And if that Upwork alternative can't be found, then maybe it should be created.
I'm not familiar with Upwork, but I intended to look into it for copywriting.

Fiverr is what I use to find freelancers. But there are a bunch of these...


Hi Lex have you started a thread about how to find clients outside of work?

lol really :clench:
 

Lex DeVille

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But you are the one who is recommending Upwork for ages.

I recommend entrepreneurs find ways to help people and get started fast. Upwork is good for getting your feet wet with business. There's already a pool of clients ready to buy and you don't need a degree or experience to earn your first employer-free dollar.

It becomes a problem when entrepreneurs use Upwork as their sole source of leads and income. You might make $10k one month and feel good about your biz. Then you get suspended. Upwork holds your money. Your source of leads disappears and you don't know how to get clients anywhere else.

So you scramble to new platforms because that's all you know. But other platforms don't have as much money flowing through them. It's harder to get work. You pick up some clients, but it's less consistent, and that starts to be a serious issue when you've got bills to pay.

When that doesn't work you turn to other options. More platforms. Cold emailing. Facebook. Fiverr...whatever. You jump from one to the next hoping for cash, but you don't know which ones work and even if you did, you don't know how to make them work for you because you've never used them.

Ultimately you grow short on time and short on cash and you have to turn back to a 9-5 to make ends meet. Next you'll say "freelancing is a waste of time" and "Upwork sucks" and other common phrases people say when they fail.

In reality it was you who failed to take a smart approach to business. You never learned methods of lead generation which you would control because that seemed scary and uncomfortable and Upwork was easy breezy.

Upwork is a great source of clients. You can make a lot of money there. But if that's your only business, you're not in business at all.
 
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ZF Lee

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Are you sure you are banned?

Upwork will send non-active accounts (accounts that "haven't been used in a while", for example) an email saying your account has been "Deactivated". The email does make it almost seem like you're banned but really it's just sitting there waiting for you to log in again.

If you are actually banned, contact upwork to find out why.
Yes, I believe that’s the case.

Happened to me before, so I just sent a message to the Upwork team, and got opened again.

I think a good 'maintenance' practice, to keep an account open, would be to go for smaller jobs or ask the existing client network for open jobs.

I had a busy spell in university around August, so thankfully, that was what kept my account open and some money coming in, although I wasn't too happy about the poor cashflow.

I recommend entrepreneurs find ways to help people and get started fast. Upwork is good for getting your feet wet with business. There's already a pool of clients ready to buy and you don't need a degree or experience to earn your first employer-free dollar.

It becomes a problem when entrepreneurs use Upwork as their sole source of leads and income. You might make $10k one month and feel good about your biz. Then you get suspended. Upwork holds your money. Your source of leads disappears and you don't know how to get clients anywhere else.

So you scramble to new platforms because that's all you know. But other platforms don't have as much money flowing through them. It's harder to get work. You pick up some clients, but it's less consistent, and that starts to be a serious issue when you've got bills to pay.

When that doesn't work you turn to other options. More platforms. Cold emailing. Facebook. Fiverr...whatever. You jump from one to the next hoping for cash, but you don't know which ones work and even if you did, you don't know how to make them work for you because you've never used them.

Ultimately you grow short on time and short on cash and you have to turn back to a 9-5 to make ends meet. Next you'll say "freelancing is a waste of time" and "Upwork sucks" and other common phrases people say when they fail.

In reality it was you who failed to take a smart approach to business. You never learned methods of lead generation which you would control because that seemed scary and uncomfortable and Upwork was easy breezy.

Upwork is a great source of clients. You can make a lot of money there. But if that's your only business, you're not in business at all.
I found a lot of my earnings came from clients open to upsells/long term work, even on Upwork.

The current system seems to encourage this, what with the paying for Connects and all.

I've had a few queries from Whatsapp on networking, but no actual sales from there.
So I think there's some 'hidden treasure' in offline referrals.

Lately I've been seen some really cheap work from other copywriters that use Upwork to outsource their own work. I have also noticed an increase of spam recruiters that want you to join their own freelance website. So you spend your connects on spam.
Well, for some reasons, it makes me a bit happier!

More work to clean up after the cheap freelancers, and get paid for! :)

BTW, unless the freelancers mention they are outsourcing work from the client, its illegal for them to do it.
 

GigMistress

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It seems that a lot of people who have been inactive for a time and returned are getting banned, especially if they have relocated, changed banking details, etc. in the interim. The likely reason for this is that there is currently a swift trade in selling idle Upwork accounts to freelancers who have tried to join and been declined.
 
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go giver

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Hello,

First, thank you for getting back to me. You must be really busy so it's truly appreciated that you looked into this.

Your position makes sense based on the policies-thank you for writing them out. UpWork means a lot to me because it's how I pay for my expenses. It would mean a lot to me to try again with UpWork.

With that in mind, could you share a bit more about what I did wrong? It would be extremely helpful to ensure something like this never happens again.

Thank you for your understanding and
I'm done with upwork
 

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richstone.io

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@go giver out of curiosity, what service were you offering on Upwork? Maybe I can suggest you some alternative strategy to Upwork.

I am not on Upwork yet, and I would be cautious to bet the whole stack on a platform like this, BUT, I still would be curious to hear your suggestions about alternative strategies for software/data engineering freelancers :praise:
 

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I am not on Upwork yet, and I would be cautious to bet the whole stack on a platform like this, BUT, I still would be curious to hear your suggestions about alternative strategies for software/data engineering freelancers :praise:
Software / data engineering is a very broad term. Which tech stack and any preferable platform?

The general suggestion for software people is to establish authority. You get a lot of invites on Upwork when you have done many projects and have great feedback. So the question is how can you show expertise and authority in a domain if you are not on Upwork. For developers, the best path is to go to the marketplace / app store / addon plugin space for the stack / platform you work on and contribute a product to the community. You can create a library or addon and release it free.

Next, define who your ideal customer is. What do you want to work on? Who hires for such work? What is the profile of the one you would like to be hired by. For instance, it could be a small business owner who wants to develop a website. Or it could be a development agency owner who hires freelancers etc. Look into your past experience and build a profile of the person you most want to work for.

Next, determine where this ideal person would hang out. Is there a facebook group? A reddit sub? A forum? A networking event perhaps? Is there a business which deals with such people? Craigslist? For example managed services company which may provide services to the type of businesses you want to work for. Research all such avenues and reach out by helping people who need help. Let yourself be known as the creator of the above addon / library and you will be automatically be branded an expert.

I would wager that anyone with any software skill can do all of the above in less than a month and land multiple freelancing clients.
 

richstone.io

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Software / data engineering is a very broad term. Which tech stack and any preferable platform?

The general suggestion for software people is to establish authority. You get a lot of invites on Upwork when you have done many projects and have great feedback. So the question is how can you show expertise and authority in a domain if you are not on Upwork. For developers, the best path is to go to the marketplace / app store / addon plugin space for the stack / platform you work on and contribute a product to the community. You can create a library or addon and release it free.

Next, define who your ideal customer is. What do you want to work on? Who hires for such work? What is the profile of the one you would like to be hired by. For instance, it could be a small business owner who wants to develop a website. Or it could be a development agency owner who hires freelancers etc. Look into your past experience and build a profile of the person you most want to work for.

Next, determine where this ideal person would hang out. Is there a facebook group? A reddit sub? A forum? A networking event perhaps? Is there a business which deals with such people? Craigslist? For example managed services company which may provide services to the type of businesses you want to work for. Research all such avenues and reach out by helping people who need help. Let yourself be known as the creator of the above addon / library and you will be automatically be branded an expert.

I would wager that anyone with any software skill can do all of the above in less than a month and land multiple freelancing clients.

Thanks a lot to you for taking the time to answer!

This is actually the step by step blueprint of the usual tip to "get yourself around your target group".

Very actionable. Probably the most fastlane advice you will get as an (aspiring) freelancer. Works similarly for most industries by the way, only that creating something as a software engineer is more actionable than in many other industries.
 
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Nick M.

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It only makes sense for him to change his advice as the site he advised starting with changes, no?

I could be misinterpreting what Lex means, but I believe what he's saying is UpWork is a great place to get started. However, you shouldn't rely on UpWork. After learning how to get clients on UpWork, he believes you should learn how to succeed off from UpWork. Getting banned on UpWork is a good opportunity to make that transition. So instead of spending time trying to get back onto UpWork, he's saying it's move on and grow.

I haven't interpreted as a change of opinion on Lex's part. Rather, just an expansion of his previous opinions.
 

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