Outsourcing scams are pretty common. This is an unfortunate consequence of not always being able to vet out the person or company that you choose to do business with. Luckily there are some things you can do to protect yourself.
Use a service
You can protect yourself by using a service which manages payments and screens workers. This can work a couple of ways, it can either be a brokerage type service or a service which actually manages or vets the workers.
Upwork.com is the latest incarnation of elance and is a good example of the brokerage type service. Basically you pay them and they hold the money until you get what you want. This can cut down on surprises and disputes.
Virtual staff finder is a good example of a service that finds workers for you. You pay them to find you a virtual assistant that meets your needs.
Beware of sick/dead relative scams
Most of us immediately recognize scam when the former spouse of an African government official asks us to handle a large sum of money for them. We are often more gullible when the VA we have been working with suddenly turns up sick or with a sick relative and asks if would be ok to be paid in advance for some work. I admit I fell for it partially because it was a ridiculously small amount of money. They would have made infinitely more doing the work, so it is still a bit of a mystery, but if they had a volume operation I could see them making some money. I had worked with this person off and on for several months so I was a little surprised. I guess it’s part of the long con.
Check the work
While not always intended as a scam, foreign workers often copy things that they shouldn’t. This may be hacked code or copied text. Know your developer and their style, and ask if it is original. They will usually tell you because they liked what they copied. It’s often a hard concept to get them to understand. Writing on the other hand tends to be copied with intent to charge you for something they didn’t do. You can use Copyscape or simply take 10-20 words and do an exact search in Google to test what you are getting. It usually is worth paying a bit more to know you are getting original.
Start Small
There are no guarantees, but starting small and working your way up is usually a good litmus test.
