6 Legit Sites for Online Work in 2022
If you know the real thing, you will not fall for the fake. This is a simple principle that bankers use to fish out fake notes. It will help us here. When a bank teller is oriented into their role, they are exposed to numerous authentic notes. That way, they develop a sense of what the real thing looks and feels like.
One way to stay safe online is to learn to identify a genuine online work site. This is one avenue that scammers have used to target unsuspecting job seekers.
While most work scams are aimed at those who want to work fully remotely, some still target regular job seekers. Genuine work sites have clearly defined systems and processes of operation from setting up your account to bidding for jobs to getting paid. They also have measures that protect site users from defrauding one another.
Some Signs That an Online Work Site May be Legit
- Requires your profile to be fully filled before an account becomes operational.
- Verifies personal details for accuracy.
- Does not demand payment at registration but charges a clearly defined percentage after working and earning.
- Never asks you to give your payment information until you want to withdraw your earnings.
- Has rigorous verification procedures for payment information.
- Has built-in mechanisms to ensure both clients and workers get fair treatment in cases of dispute.
- Have a privacy policy that keeps your personal data confidential.
Legit Sites for Finding Work Online
These freelance sites have a good reputation for securing the interests of both the freelance worker as well as the company / employer.
Upwork
Upwork allows clients to interview, hire and work with freelancers and freelance agencies through the company's platform. The client posts a description of their job and a price range they are willing to pay for a freelancer to complete it. The client may invite specific freelancers to apply for their jobs, or else post the job for any freelancer who is interested to apply. The Upwork platform includes a real-time chat feature that either clients or freelancers can use to message prospects.
Freelancer
Freelancer is a marketplace where employers and employees are able to find each other. The site allows employers to post work for site members who place bids in a competitive tender process. Freelancer takes a 10% fee, which can be reduced with a paid monthly membership, with a minimum fee of $5. The company has offices in Manila, Philippines; Sydney, Australia; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Buenos Aires, Argentina; London, United Kingdom; and Jakarta, Indonesia.
Fiverr
Fiverr is an online marketplace for freelance services. The company provides a platform for freelancers to offer services to customers worldwide. Fiverr serves to allow listing and applying for small one-off jobs, or gigs, online Fiverr serves as e-commerce platform for freelancers and companies to sell their services by using their gigs.
Guru
Guru.com is a freelance marketplace founded in 1998. It allows companies to find freelance workers for commissioned work.
Toptal
Toptal is a global remote company that provides a freelancing platform, connecting businesses with software engineers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers. The company has no headquarters.
Hive Micro
Hive Work (also known as HiveMicro) is an online micro-working site where you can earn money for completing short, repetitive tasks. The tasks involve things like identifying the content of images, separating out “real life” videos from animations, drawing boxes around certain image elements, identifying movies and TV shows, and transcription.
How to Identify an Online Work Scam
- Contact emails that are not in a professional convention employeename@companyname.com.
- Asks you to pay a fee for the processing of your job application documents, training, registration or use other excuses to get you to pay a fee.
- Request to give your credit card or bank account details before offering a legally binding work contract.
- Always use the scamadviser.com search link to your advantage by checking the trust score of a website that looks suspicious to you.
What About Pay to Click (PTC) Scams?
These are cleverly presented scams that exploit genuine job seekers by promising an income through clicking at numerous advertisements. Or in some instances, clicking at the same adverts severally. The goal is to generate traffic to certain sites and create the impression of true organic traffic.
Scamadviser has a full article that breaks down paay to click (PTC) work scams for you. Also, there is a related article on more employment scams.
Sharpen your scam sniffing skills with us here!
Sources: Wikipedia, Homeworkingclub
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