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I have been doing quite a bit of writing for various companies and getting paid for it. Admittedly, the rate of pay has often been low but in my opinion, it was better than nothing.
Did I say better than nothing?
That didn't apply to all of it. Two companies in particular paid me to do small jobs and so, when they offered me larger ones, I wasn't worried about not being paid. I guess I am too trusting because I was actually ripped off by these people who hired me via oDesk, paid me initially via oDesk and then asked if they could pay via Paypal. I agreed of course because I didn't have to pay any fees and I would get my money quicker (or so I thought).
If I had stayed within the oDesk system I could have left these companies feedback that would stop them cheating anyone else, but I can't do that now. I want to add here that it is not the fault of oDesk but probably my own fault for being so trusting and going outside the system. I cannot name the companies in this post for obvious reasons, but if they publish the work they didn't pay me for, I certainly will.
Fortunately the amount of money is not large but I feel cheated and I am annoyed at the waste of time. It just shows how very careful you have to be as a writer trying to make a living on the Internet. I attracted these two businesses who literally saw me coming, 'all green' and full of enthusiasm for a fresh project, and they took advantage of it.
I will be a lot more cautious next time and I'm just glad that I didn't lose a lot of money.
On the positive side I have just landed a long term editing job which is paying me each week for completed hours. It should last a few months, so I am pleased about that and it does kind of make up for the other incidents.
There is more about setting up as a freelance writer and avoidind the scams, here: How Writers Can Avoid Some of the Scams.
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