Freelance Writers Placement: Scam, Spam, or “Thank You, Ma’am?”

I was hunting for a job on Craigslist.org the other day and I saw an ad for an article writer. The ad mentioned three websites looking for content and paying $20 for 300 words and $48 for 400-500 words. I sent my cover letter and links to online work.

Within an hour or two I received the following response from Freelance Writers Placement:

Hello,

Thank you for replying to our ad for freelance writers. If you received this email, we have reviewed your resume/reply and we feel that you could be a great match for our client’s opportunity.

Our client pays within the $25-$45/article range and projects are both short and long-term. Median weekly salary is $775.00.

This is a contractor/1099 position.

We use Freelance Home Writers as our recruiting and training agency. Please register at the link below:

http://freelancewritersplacement.com/register

We also recommend that you take advantage of the trial training program – it’s one of the best programs in the industry and our clients prefer applicants that have studied the material.

I went to the site and after entering my name and e-mail I landed on a page which explained that Freelance Home Writers costs $2.95 for the first week and $49.95/month thereafter.

Really??

Of course, I backed out of there and went to do some due diligence. I discovered that Freelance Home Writers appears on many scam watch lists. Complaints have been made that the monthly fee was charged at the same time as the $2.95 and no one responded to requests to correct the error. Additionally, members claim this membership site simply gathers information from the same job boards which are available for free. You can read more here Freelance Home Writers.

I am publishing this post because apparently the new name and domain of Freelance Writers Placement has not yet achieved the same notoriety and I would like to get the word out to other writers.

Is it a scam? By definition a scam is a confidence trick used to defraud someone. At best, Freelance Writers Placement hopes to gain a writer’s confidence by pretending to offer a job, and then changes their pitch to that of a paid membership site. If they are aboveboard, why the bait and switch?

I would think that the writers who are paying for the service are the actual clients of Freelance Writers Placement or Freelance Home Writers or whatever other name they adopt in the future.

I trust that if there were a site where half of the writers were earning more than $775/week, that site would not have to send e-mails like the one below because all the freelance boards would be abuzz with the opportunity.

Moments ago you visited our website and half-way completed
your profile. There is currently a very big demand for
freelance writers for freelance writers on the Internet.

In fact, there are over 550 jobs available in our
database right now. Many of these jobs will be
snagged up by our members shortly so if you are still
interested in working at home with us…

Remember, your words have value. If you are new to professional writing, do not be afraid to ask experienced writers for direction. As a group, I have found writers are extremely generous with their knowledge and tips.