Identity theft prevention by freelancers using escrow systems for payment is important because there can be few outcomes of freelance work more demoralizing than to find you have been duped by an identity theft fraudster. It takes little imagination to realize that this is clearly a risk. What happens if the person who you thought was going to pay you suddenly claims that they have never heard of you.
Yet, the work has been completed and emailed to a one-use email. If the person happens to be in another country, or even in your own, there is very little you can do about it without considerable inconvenience and cost. The bill you thought was going to be paid will likely become a bad debt and you will be a wiser freelancer.
Why Do People Decide To Become Freelancers When There Is A Risk Of Non-Payment?
The decision to become a freelancer is based on many conditions. Such as, do I have the right skills to attract projects? Or do I have strong financial grounds in order to support myself? However, whilst freelancing offers incredible flexibility in your work and allows you to spend more time with friends and family – whilst enjoying the benefits of being your own boss, there are a calculated number of risks that anyone must consider before jumping into the world of freelancing.
One such aspect is the contrast in levels of financial security that you will encounter when going from professional employment – whether in an agency or company, to being a solitary freelancer working from home. In short, all financial ramifications will be undertaken by you, and only you. If clients refuse to pay you for your services then you will bear the consequences solely.
So how can you protect yourself as a freelancer from unscrupulous clients? Services such as Twago’s Escrow service “safePay” are here to help. This can also be a simple method of identity theft prevention.
If you would like some more information about the services that Twago offers freelancers to protect them with with their SafePay Escrow Service follow the links below:
Twago is a world leading job exchange platform
SafePay – Twago’s escrow service for secure payments to freelancers
Find graphic design experts around the world through Twago
Building Trust In Online Business Relationships
One of the most notable things about working with clients online is due to the fact that you and the client will probably never meet; you will have to establish a working relationship based on trust via other means. Moreover, whilst it’s common practice for freelancers to amass a diverse portfolio with which they can prove their worth to the clients, in many cases there is no burden of responsibility and proof of reliability that the client has to bring to the relationship.
Therefore, it’s not unheard of clients simply running once the project has been completed, leaving the freelancer out of pocket, despite their considerable amount of time and effort spent on the project. Thus, ensuring that you get paid the agreed amount for work that has been carried out expertly is the number one concern for all freelancers.
But apart from undertaking a thorough negotiation process in order to get to know the client, what else can freelancers do to protect themselves? Identity theft prevention should be high on the list of priorities.
How Can Freelancers Protect Themselves? – Twago SafePay
Using an Escrow payment system to conduct your online freelancing work is a sure-fire way to ensure that both the client and the freelancer are protected from some dishonest business partners. The twago safePay system is one such example of an Escrow system.
On the twago platform, when any customer has selected a freelancer with whom they wish to work on a project, then before the freelancer starts work, the client can make use of the safePay system to release the agreed project payment amount to a third-party Escrow account overseen by twago. Only once the project has been successfully completed (and both parties agree to the final outcome) will this payment be released to the freelancer.
This means that throughout the duration of the project, the payment is kept secure, and the client is not required to make any up-front payments to a freelancer that they’ve never met. Moreover, any freelancer using this system is protected from any dishonest clients who renege on payment.
If any conflicts arise over the project status, then mediation services are offered by twago, meanwhile the money stays in the safePay account You also know that this system is an effective identity theft prevention method.
Dispute Resolution Is Good, But Financial Security Is Better
The financial reassurances that Escrow services offer can go a great way to alleviating any stress and concerns regarding payment; however there are no 100% substitutes for good old-fashioned dispute resolution through open and honest communication between yourself and the client.
The most effective method to protect you from disputes is to conduct thorough negotiation and build milestones for the project, before signing any agreement with the client. This way, the progress of the project can be evaluated at multiple points along the way, and if needed, changes can be made following mutual agreement.
With the use of milestones you can be sure to reduce any nasty surprises at the end of the project, where the product you have created for the client differs greatly from the proposed product they had in mind.
Nevertheless, taking the gamble to follow your freelancing dreams should not entail the almost deadly risk of not being paid for your work. In order to protect yourself and ensure that you maintain a steady income for your expertise and work, why not check out Escrow services to ensure that you’re never left high-and-dry again.
Resource Box:
Robert from Twago, Europe’s leading online platform for freelancers and clients working together on projects in the fields of web design, app development, copywriting, translation and graphic design services.
