Please help with shady client
Hello, I’d really appreciate some guidance.
This morning I received an invitation for a Software QA Tester position. QA is not my main niche, but it is something I have done several times before, so I decided to investigate further.
The client only had one previous job with a 100% hiring rate. They sent some instructions through a Google Docs document. The document had very little technical information and mostly stated that more details would later be provided through Jira.
Honestly, from the very beginning something did not feel completely right, but I continued anyway.
Here is where things became strange: the chat where we were initially talking suddenly became unavailable because the client was “restricted from this conversation.” After that, the client contacted me again through another chat, gave me a few technical details that were not very relevant, and sent me the contract. The hourly rate was honestly far above market average. I accepted because I am currently very short on work, otherwise I probably would have declined.
Then came the part that worried me the most. The client said the project involved a crypto application and that they needed to test payment flows. That immediately raised red flags for me.
I clearly stated that I would not make any payment unless everything was reimbursed upfront, and they immediately sent me a bonus of less than $100 USD for the tests. The money is currently pending on Upwork.
Fortunately, the crypto transfer they asked me to make cannot currently be completed because my exchange account has a 24 hour withdrawal security cooldown, so this gave me some time to stop.
The client suggested trying alternative payment methods or other exchanges, but at that point I started feeling even more uncomfortable. I tried twice to get more technical details about the actual QA process and testing objectives, but the responses were always very vague and brief.
They continued suggesting alternative ways to complete the transfer quickly, but I refused because I no longer feel comfortable proceeding. At this point the whole situation feels too suspicious and unclear to me.
I have not logged a single hour of work yet, but I already received the upfront payment that was supposedly meant for the payment tests. If I had not received this money, I would simply end the contract immediately because I do not want to risk my Upwork account.
However, since I already received the funds, I am unsure how to safely proceed without causing problems for my account.
What would be the safest course of action here? Should I refund the money and end the contract? Or should I simply close the contract directly? I tried with chat support but is useless. Alsop I don't see any option to flag this client/contract.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.