28 April 2009

Scam it All!


As a freelance writer, one of the things I always have to consider when hunting for projects or applying for gigs is the prospect of being scammed.  Is this a legitimate writing opportunity, or will it be one of those sites where I have to sign up and pay every month for the chance of maybe writing articles?  Can I really get paid this much for these articles, or will the client claim at the last minute that they're not publishing them, so I won't get any money?

Unfortunately, the Internet provides people the easy opportunity to take advantage of others, so there are as many people offering help for how to avoid scams as there are people offering help in organizing your writing portfolio.

It's great to have advice to avoid scams.  And, really, the easiest way to deal with scams is to avoid them.  But as writers pick up on things, scammers will develop new techniques, and even seasoned writers may get taken at one point or another.  Then what?

Allison Boyer has an article that explains what happened to her when she got scammed (in a big way), and how she handled it.  There's good advice in this article for anyone who's been scammed, and Boyer will be posting advice to avoid scams in the first place, which can also be helpful.

Read and enjoy!

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2 comments:

  1. Two words: Contract. Lawyer. Or hire Tony and Guido to make payment arrangements with the client.

    I'm going to bookmark Allison's advice because something tells me it's a lot better than mine. Thanks for this!

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  2. I like your advice! Particularly Tony and Guido!

    Hubby's family is Italian...!

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