Avoid working and writing for Content Panel Limited via Skype

 The newest scam for freelance writers looking to make some extra dollars on the side comes from someone claiming to be David from Content Panel Limited and hiring via Skype. As you probably know already, very few legitimate agencies are currently hiring via Skype, yet there are still some content managers and small companies that prefer to use Skype to communicate with their writers.

Same old, Same old

If you previously read my article on avoiding SEO Content Hero Agency, then you will be familiar with what I am about to show you. This scammer uses the exact same wording and introduction in the Skype messages, so it might just be the same person or one of his friends. 

While I would not be able to tell you for sure who is behind this, one thing is certain: Avoid at all costs, unless you enjoy working for free. This is most probably not the real Content Panel company, and it's the same promise of being paid on the last day of the month based on a signed agreement that uses fictional data and executive names. 

What can I do?

We will probably not be able to find the real identity of this scammer too soon since he uses different email addresses, changes names and only communicates via Skype. However, a more intrusive investigation with the help of Cybercrime Police (such as Interpol or FBI) could shed some light in this case of identity theft, usage of unpaid workers and unauthorized use of copyrighted material.

Until the police does its job, I suggest that you do the following:

- Only work through trusted Freelance platforms

- Only work after Escrow deposit is set in place 

- Do not believe in signed agreements regardless of how genuine they look

If you still have certain doubts on a client, ask him to send you a photo of his ID and check if the name is the same as the one he mentioned before in the project. If that is not an option, ask to be paid upfront for the first 5 articles via Paypal, and only then start working. This way you will avoid being scammed by the likes of Content Panel Limited.

Update: Is there a legitimate Content Panel website out there?

Seems so (www.thecontentpanel.com) ! I recently discovered it through a Google search and decided to apply as a freelance writer on the platform. Seems like a pretty strict and reputable platform and they claim to pay weekly (every Monday). If they have many clients and are constantly accepting new writers, then I would recommend it. However, as I don't see many reviews of it online, I would suggest attempting the enrolment and doing the bare minimum for one week (e.g. writing 2 high quality articles) to see if they are correct with the payments or not.

I applied on the platform today and I received a message saying that my application will be reviewed in 90 days or more, based on current demand. Now that's a real bummer and one of the reasons they will lose many quality writers, since no one enjoys waiting 3 months or more for their expert team to verify a small profile and a 150-word test assignment. If they are serious about their business, they should have dozens of qualified professionals to review each new profile on a daily basis, and not just few people reviewing profiles manually every couple days. This is a big loss for them.

Avoid working for MoreThanWriters company

 There are many writing companies nowadays, and many of them are not serious when it comes to working with freelancers or paying them when the time is due. One such company is MoreThanWriters. They mainly hire through LinkedIn nowadays, and once you accept working for them, they will give you a short writing test to complete (typically one 200-300 words article on a chosen topic).

When the payment is too good to be true..

You are probably aware of the old saying "If something is too good to be true, then it's most likely a scam". Same goes for this company. When I applied to them, their announcement said they are willing to pay up to 16usd per 100 words for articles in Romanian language. As most writers probably know, this is an insane amount of money. Most agencies and clients will not pay such amount unless it's for something highly scientific like a Master Thesis, a Doctoral Thesis or something similar. No one will pay 16usd per 100 words for a simple article.

You may find clients willing to pay 16usd per 1000 words, yet even in this case the articles will need to be in English, free of grammar errors and have quality content inside. 

No reviews of the company online

This is another big red flag for the company. They have no online reviews, which is very strange for a company that has been in the market for over 3 years. If they would be serious and paid their freelancers to date while also offering consistent work, then some of them would have surely provided some positive reviews on their own blogs or other guest-posting websites. 

I only managed to find one another blog mentioning the company MoreThanWriters, and even that one recommended not to work for them due to lack of reviews and credibility. 

Approved and then getting no work

Out of curiosity, I went ahead and completed the qualification process for MoreThanWriters. Once I sent them the test article, they replied to me within 4 days saying I got accepted. But after that, nothing more happened. I waited couple days, one week, two weeks, yet I received no work from them. And this is not the type of website like Upwork or PPH where you apply for projects individually, here they send you work when and if they want.

Bogus invoicing process

Once again, out of curiosity, I sent them an email saying "Hi, I would like to know if there is a minimum payment threshold and how quickly will you pay me". They replied: 1. The platform will take your data information for the invoice from your profile (from the "Payment details” part). Make sure all the information needed is fulfilled and updated to your needs.

2. Once the project is finished and your articles are under the status of "Client", the platform will create your invoice automatically and you will receive an email asking you to accept it. Please check your data and the total amount.

3. Once you accept your invoice, you will be asked to include your invoice number.

4. Invoices will be generated on a monthly basis during the first week of each month.

This is only a small part of their email, yet you can easily spot several grammar errors in their text. In addition, they only claim to be paying via Wise transfer service, which is outdated and very few companies use nowadays (more about that in another article).

I replied to their email with another question and they only got back to me after 14 days with the answer. What serious company does that?

Conclusion

Avoid working and even applying for MoreThanWriters. They are not a serious company and you will only waste your time and effort in the process. Instead, if you really want to go the freelance writer route, choose a website that has many good reviews.

Avoid working for Juan Costa, claiming to be SEO Content Hero Agency

 No one likes to work for free, yet this happened to me very recently. I had a contract with Juan Costa, claiming to be the director of SEO Content Hero Agency. I found his contact details through a portal for freelancers that are looking for work, so I said to myself: Why not? I was not active in the freelance copywriting environment as of late, so I thought that writing some quality articles in exchange for some money would only do me right. 

Promises of good payment

Just as I contacted the client (presumably Juan Costa) through Skype, he sent me a contract that had all the details, company's website, address and telephone number, plus his signature. Everything seemed legitimate, so I decided to sign it as well, send it back and start working. I should have been more cautious, I should have asked for a photo of his ID and I should have tried to contact the business via their website to confirm the details. I did none of the above and decided to go with good faith, something which should never be done in an online-only environment. 

Juan was supposed to pay me 5$ per 100 words on each article, and he told me this would only be the beginning, since in subsequent months the payments would increase up to 10$ per 100 words. This is an excellent rate since I normally charge only 1$ per 100 words for standard articles and 2$ per 100 words for more complex articles. 

Working almost everyday for couple hours

The contract stated that I have to complete 3 - 4 articles per day, on a wordcount decided by the client. It was not that difficult since most articles only needed 300 to 350 words, yet I had to do quite some researches since the vast majority of these articles were about U.S. cities and counties which I knew nothing about. 

Occasionally I would have to write longer articles, of 700 words or 1000 words, but when such articles came to the workflow I only completed about 2 per day and Juan was okay with that. Overall, in the 2 weeks that I worked for this guy, I wrote 32 articles from scratch. 

When payment day comes but the payment never arrives

According to the contract, payment had to be made on the last day of each month. When March 31st arrived, I contacted him and sent him an invoice with the articles that I wrote for him, their wordcount, and the total amount that I was supposed to receive. He assured me that the payment is in processing and I should receive it by PayPal shortly.

The day was over and I received no such payment. I contacted him again by Skype, he seemed confused and asked me to re-send the invoice as the payment is still processing. I asked him for more work (articles) but he didn't reply to this question. I waited the entire day (this was on a Friday), but nothing happened on my Paypal. As the weekend came, I abandoned the chat and returned to it on Monday.

I confronted him about not receiving the payment and I asked for the entire amount I was owed + 6% penalty for the delay. Once again, he told me that the payment is still being processed, so I asked him how long can such process take when PayPal payments are instant?!? After that, he apparently blocked me as the Skype status showed for him ("Last seen - few days ago"). I tried calling him on the number shown in the contract but it seemed that the number was deactivated.

What to do in such case?

In my mind, the business was legitimate and I had a contract with this guy, so I decided to send an email through the contact form available on SEO Content Hero. They replied to me the same day telling me that I have no invoice with them and that they only hire U.S.-based copywriters. In that moment, my whole world crashed. Besides, the guy who replied to me was Joe Graisbery, director of SEO Content Hero, and he told me that there is no Juan Costa working with his company.

Conclusions

I have no evidence as to how honest the company SEO Content Hero is and I also found no reviews of them online. If you are looking forward to working with them, I would proceed with extra caution. The guy who scammed me could be one of their competitors or a former employee with a fake digital name, yet the company has no address on their Contact page, nor a phone number. Therefore, anyone can present a fake contract and claim to be SEO Content Hero. Until reviews shed some light on this matter, I recommend to stay away from Juan Costa or SEO Content Hero Agency. 

If you must really work for them, make sure it's on a freelance platform that provides Escrow (Security) Deposit so that you know you'll get your money, and also check if the deposit has been made before starting the work. Otherwise, there are no guarantees. Take me for example, I was owed 823$, yet I never got them.