As a work marketplace, we rely on all our customers being honest and following the rules.
So if you see someone breaking our Terms of Service (TOS), use the "Flag as Inappropriate" button—you'll find it all over the platform—to send an alert straight to our Trust & Safety (T&S) team.
You can also tell Upwork Support, who will make sure your report goes to the right T&S team for review. And don't worry—we will not tell the person you reported that it came from you.
What sort of activities or behavior are off-limits?
We'll take action if we find out someone's doing one of three things.
- Doing anything illegal. Examples include:
- Creating, promoting, supporting, or taking part in any form of child exploitation.
- Carrying out fraud or a scam.
- Developing tools or software to hack into other people's computers.
- Discriminating against anyone based on their race or ethnic origin, color, national origin, religion, or age. Or on their veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity, disability, marital status, or pregnancy.
- Glorifying or inciting violence, or encouraging self-harm or suicide.
- Infringing someone's intellectual property rights.
- Saying or sharing something that violates our TOS without necessarily breaking the law. That could be by spreading disinformation or behaving in an abusive way, including making threats or harassing someone.
- Trying to circumvent Upwork by taking projects off the platform. That includes sharing private or confidential information about another customer—whether it's a person or a business.
Still have questions?
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was my account suspended?
If your account was suspended, you’ll receive notification of what violation occurred. Circumvention, illegal activity, or TOS violations are the most common reasons for account suspension
