Ivy L.

I had high hopes for the Freelancer website and actually traded some Freelancer shares in the ASX around a year ago.

I created an account 4 days ago and deposited $40AUD.

I took two exams and thought they were $5.50 USD each, but didn't realise there were all these transaction/ currency conversion fees associated with them (I thought this was an Australian company and I'm based in Australia - how does this work?).

I started bidding for some projects and was misled into believing that sponsor fee would only come out if a project is won and also that the sponsor fee would come out of the employer's fund, not mine.

I was awarded one project yesterday. The employer had not deposited any funds, but I was already charged the project fee.

Upon reflection, most of the project descriptions are very vague and are probably fake projects so that the site can siphon money from the hopeful work-seekers.

I sent in highly private information such as my identification docs and credit card details. I hope the company abides by the Australian law and terminate my account properly – i. E. permanently deleting my private information.

I only thought to look into others' review of the site after my bad experience, and there are so many awful reviews out there.

I have promptly terminated my account and will raise this matter with the ACCC and have them look into the operation of the Freelancer site.

I'm not sure how an Australian business can operate under this sort of ethics.

This is a dangerous site and it would seem that a lot of people out there have lost a lot of money. This is simply not right. Stay away!