Hey — I know the rules say don't ping you directly, forgive me for breaking that one. Some slithery slimy disrespectful dirtbag just approached me in DMs and I've already flagged them to Skool. Wanted to put this on the main board so the rest of the community sees it before someone newer gets taken.
The pattern: started friendly, asked where I'm based, pushed to move to WhatsApp before any pitch was even revealed. After I demanded the actual offer, here's what
fell out — create a new email, set up a new Freelancer.com corporate account under a "fresh brand," let "the team" bid and do work through my account, I'd manage the finances and keep 20%.
That's a textbook effing money-mule scheme dressed up as a side hustle. FBI and Treasury have been warning about this exact pattern for two years — frequently linked
to overseas IT-worker fraud rings recruiting Americans as the front-name. The American gets stuck holding the bag: tax exposure on 100% of routed income,
money-laundering risk, OFAC sanctions exposure if the "team" is in a sanctioned country, and a bank account that gets SAR-flagged and shut down within months. 20% to
ruin your life. Hell of a deal.
The tells that should make you stop cold: the "let's move to WhatsApp" push before any pitch is on the table, vague friendly openers with no specifics, "just manage
the account, we do the work" framing, "we cover all the fees" too-good-to-be-true math, and any multi-account or multi-country bidding talk.
If you see this pattern, screenshot it and report. WhatsApp is the scam highway — real connections move to Zoom, Loom, or email. Never F-ING WhatsApp.
Watch each other's backs out here.
still composting…
— RJ