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At a time when industries everywhere seem like they're gradually eliminating the concept of an employee and all the pesky rights and obligations that title confers, an increasing number of white collar workers are finding themselves conscripted into a growing army of freelancers. Unfortunately, hunting down honest work for honest pay on freelance job platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, or Toptal is just one challenge the modern freelancer must prepare for.

Like so much of today’s world, these sites are teeming with scammers hoping to profit off of a newcomer’s desperation and/or of unfamiliarity with the space.

SEE ALSO: Scammers are using pictures of your home to amplify sextortion threats

To make navigating these treacherous waters a bit safer, we’ve put together a handful of tips to help you keep your head on a swivel as you hunt for work online.

1. Follow the Rules Tweet may have been deleted

Each platform has its own set of protocols for connecting clients and workers and facilitating payment for work done. Upon signing up for a platform, familiarize yourself with the laws of the land and doggedly adhere to them as you conduct your business. Consider any client or job offer that suggests deviation from the SOP to be a crimson red flag.

2. Yes, It’s Too Good to Be True

Scammers tend to promise freelancers exceptional hourly rates for manageable to middling workloads.

Sure, we’d all love to earn beaucoup bucks for bare-bones effort, but if a posted job’s pay and workload seem wildly out of sync with the rest of the market, it’s worth considering why that might be the case. Are you applying to something real or just taking the bait?

3. Don’t Pay to Work

No, you do not need to spend money to make money. If a client is asking you to pay an application fee, cover “training,” buy and download some proprietary software, or engage in any other sort of preliminary business that requires you to open your wallet, run away. They said they’ll reimburse you later? No, they won’t.

4. Don’t Provide Work Without Pay

There’s nothing wrong with someone asking for a sample of previous work you’ve already done to get a better idea of your skill level, but tasking you with a “trial” assignment that results in the kind of work the job would have you producing should set off alarm bells. With this gambit, scammers coax naive freelancers into handing over the desired fruits of their labor on a silver platter. With what they wanted already secured, the scammer can tell the prospective hire they’ve decided to go with someone else and move on to the next mark.

Relatedly, always make sure the amount you were quoted is the full amount you're getting paid, even if you're promised that the rest will come later.

Tweet may have been deleted 5. Don’t Accept Off-Platform Payments

These platforms require payment from clients up front and hold it in escrow for a reason. If someone offers to send you a check for more than the agreed upon amount, don’t let the prospect of more fool you. That check will bounce and you will have no recourse.

In fact, try not to go off-platform under any circumstance.

Tweet may have been deleted 6. Don’t Accept Payments That Aren’t Money

We’re fairly certain your landlord and pharmacist aren’t accepting exposure or equity to pay for your rent or prescription, so why should you consider a client trying to offer you that for your work?

7. Don’t Assume These Sites Are Looking Out For You

It’s not unreasonable to presume that these companies would actively vet all users and weed out miscreants. Though they all claim to engage in such practices, the persistence of fraud on their platforms calls into question the idea that the scammer problem is something they’re able to solve — or even interested in solving.

Tweet may have been deleted

While there are obviously rules that users who hire on these platforms must follow, and there are avenues for reporting scammers, don't assume security claims are more than vague, non-actionble bromides.

In short, act as if the only one looking out for you is you.

Last November, I was reeling from the sudden back-to-back disintegration of my two most recent employers. My lingering self-respect, along with a glance at the all-time low wages now being offered by the driving and delivery apps that once kept me afloat during the gaps in my freelance writing career, stopped me from revisiting those abusive relationships, but things were getting undeniably grim. 

That’s when I recalled a potential life preserver mentioned by a fellow writer pal: Upwork, a freelancing platform that wisely rebranded from "Elance-oDesk" in 2015 with the subtly fatalistic slogan, "This is How We Work Now." (You may have seen it in their recent commercial blitz.)

Over a catch-up coffee a year earlier, my buddy told me he’d found surprise success on Upwork. He spoke of well-paid, fun-sounding gigs he’d landed ghostwriting wedding speeches and wine mom group chat zingers. A glance at his profile page indicated that having worked a mere 85 hours, his lifetime earnings on the platform were already listed at "$10,000+." That plus symbol was downright decadent. My friend assured me that, once I had a few initial Upwork jobs and their subsequent reviews under my belt to help establish my "Job Success Score" — the metric essential for being shown to potential employers by the site’s algorithm — I too could join him in this digital promised land.

Following that coffee, I created an Upwork account and poked around the site, but, all too familiar with the drawbacks of the gig economy and its inherently exploitative and labor law-skirting business model, I wasn’t going to be lulled into a false sense of security just yet.  

It only took a year before I heard the wolves at my door. Sure, all gig work sucks, but at least this was a platform I could participate in from home. At least that’s what I said to psych myself up. Unfortunately, by the time I’d dusted off my pristine Upwork profile, I had all but forgotten the coda that capped off my buddy’s otherwise ringing endorsement. "But, seriously," he’d said, the sudden absence of levity in his voice demanding my eyes meet his waiting pair. "You’ve really got to watch out for scammers there."

How Upwork works

Landing jobs on Upwork happens through a bidding system. Clients post ads describing one-off projects or short-term work along with the budget they’ve allotted for it, which is paid out in return for time logged working or fixed-price lump sums upon completing the contract or reaching "milestones" reached or a completed contract. With these parameters in mind, applicants propose the hourly rate or flat fee they’d be willing to accept and wait to be selected. 

Upwork invites anyone running low to re-up to the tune of $0.15 per Connect, which may seem like a negligible cost to individual freelancers, but has proven to be...wildly lucrative

A key difference between Upwork and other job boards (and a hint as to why it's publicly traded, but Craigslist isn’t) is the fee structure. The platform takes a 10 percent standard "service fee" from all payments to freelancers. Upwork also collects a flat $4.95 contract initiation fee from the client for each new job as well as an additional 5 percent "client marketplace fee" added on to payments from the platform to freelancers.

Here's an illustration: if a freelancer's contracted for work that pays $1,000, the (theoretically honorable) client must pay a total of $1,054.95 ($1,000 payment + $50 client marketplace fee + $4.95 initiation fee) to Upwork, $1,000 of which is — this is very important for later — set aside in escrow. Once the contract ends, the $1,000 is remitted from escrow to the freelancer, but only after Upwork takes another 10 percent off the top (and an additional "VAT" off the $1,000 in some regions). The client pays $1,054.95, the freelancer makes $900 (or $880), and Upwork pockets $154.95.

This is but one of the systems Upwork uses to harvest revenue from its freelancers — the total number of whom is no longer a figure Upwork makes public, but the topic remains hotly debated in Upwork’s own forums, and those discussions often place the figure around 15-20 million active. 

There’s also Connects, the platform’s proprietary premium currency, which job seekers must spend to even apply for work. Currently all new freelancers are granted 50 Connects upon joining the site and bank an allowance of 10 every month. Taking a cue from dating apps raking it in with similar digital products, Upwork offers freelancers the option to spend Connects to boost their profiles' visibility and/or to pay a monthly $20 for a "Plus" account that multiplies the user's per-billing-cycle Connect ration from 10 to 100. In past years, bids on jobs may have cost the freelancer around two to four Connects. Today, some cost upwards of 16. Few I’ve encountered let you submit for under 10. Upwork says, when determining how many Connects each job’s proposal should cost, they "consider a range of factors, including project size, scope, and market demand."

Naturally, Upwork invites anyone running low to re-up to the tune of $0.15 per Connect.

Upwork shares no data on how many Connects the average freelancer has to spend per job landed, but the Upwork forums again overflow with users complaining about and questioning this ever-increasing cost of doing business that also seems to be yielding fewer results.

Initially, it seemed that setting up and forgetting about my profile the year before had been a stroke of good luck — my account had accrued a tidy Connect stockpile while dormant. I soon relearned how easy it is to blow through a token currency that’s been abstracted from its USD value. My quest for work that would help me be less broke had somehow only made me just as broke in an entirely new economy. 

Finally getting a bite from a client... not knowing you're the fish

On Nov. 29, with my Connect starter pack nearly drained after a few days of job searching and applying, one of my bids yielded a response. 

The post I’d responded to was by someone named "Khuram D." who was seeking a "creative writer for a short story." I would be provided all necessary background information for said short story, which would run about 1,000 words and "cover a person's career/life in a compelling and catchy way." "Essentially," the description continued, this would be a "'featured profile' of a person, written in a short story format." I didn’t know why Khuram hadn’t just called it a profile, but I chalked that up as the reason he was hiring someone else to write for him.

I was not only about to land my first job, but it was shaping up to be a steady income stream.

I pored over Khuram’s linked company profile sidebar before applying (and checked it again after his response to my pitch arrived). This was a site allegedly full of scammers, after all. I assumed his linked company, "KD," to just be his initials. But I saw no reason his seeming self-employment should prevent us from doing business together, especially as a one-man shop myself. Further bolstering the case for Khuram’s legitimacy were the raw figures on that company page, tabulated by Upwork itself. The data showed KD had paid out over $14,000 to 200+ freelancers over 120+ jobs he'd posted on Upwork since 2015. Upwork offered another stamp of assurance on the KD page, stating that my prospective client had a "payment method verified," replete with a little green checkmark badge. Most impressive was that the 153 reviews from past clients left him with a 4.73/5 star rating. I couldn't read those reviews myself, but their aggregated co-sign was enough to convince me this wasn’t some fly-by-night scammer.

Khuram’s opening salvo was to ask for relevant samples of my writing, which I provided. In this intro message, like others to come over the course of our correspondence, Khuram alternated between "I" and "we" when referring to himself. "Before I hire you..." was followed up a couple sentences later with "what we’re looking for." At the time I made little of it. Maybe there were other people who’d be looking at my work, maybe it was someone putting on airs. And while such self-aggrandizement was worthy of my eye rolls, it didn’t reach the heights of "red flag." 

After reviewing my samples, Khuram flattered me, saying "the tone and style of this is very well written." He added, "If we needed you to write these pieces on a regular pieces [sic] (3-5 per week), could you handle such a workload," and inquired about what sort of bulk rate I might offer for the opportunity.

Just as my faith in the platform had begun to waver, I was not only about to land my first job, but it was shaping up to be a steady income stream. Maybe my friend was right about this being the land of milk and honey.

I would later learn that at least half a dozen other writers had already complained on and/or to Upwork about this guy ripping them off — information I was not allowed to see, and that Upwork seemingly had not acted on.

Early warning signs of an Upwork scammer

I suggested I start with the one profile Khuram had initially posted about at my originally proposed hourly rate so I could get a feel for the work’s flow and demands. We could figure out a bulk rate for future writing after that, presuming we wanted to continue working together.

Khuram seconded my idea and said that, since we didn’t yet know how many hours this would take, he’d "place a small deposit, and leave the budget open." I should "just let [him] know the total time spent when [I’m] done."

Khuram’s proposed invoicing process aligned with most of the past hourly writing work I’d done via email. We were keeping everything on platform, and we would be using the escrow system to process payments. Still, we were deviating from Upwork’s SOP of having a job’s entire budget placed in escrow up front, and I hadn’t completely forgotten my friend's words, or the subreddit’s calls for vigilance. On the other hand, neither of us knew what an appropriate budget should look like just yet. And he’d been entirely candid about the meager size of the initial deposit. 

All the same, my gut had its first genuine "off" feeling, and I wasn’t about to ignore it. After Khuram put $5 in the escrow pot and sent over documents about the subject, I asked him to affirm a few things in writing before I started any work.

"Am I correct in my understanding," I asked him via Upwork’s in-house message service, "that your $5 in escrow is merely a 'hold' of sorts and, at the end of this trial assignment, I’ll report my hours to you when I turn it in [sic] the piece, whereafter you’ll honor my current proposed rate, regardless of whether or not we decide to move ahead with a bulk rate deal?”

"Yes, exactly, you described the deal accurately," Khuram confirmed.

As my one business law class from college taught me (and double-checking with an attorney confirmed), our message exchange now constituted a bona fide contract.

But once I uploaded that rewrite on Dec. 12, my once prompt responder adopted a vow of silence.

In the coming days, I wrote a fluffy bio for personal injury attorney "James Specter." The accompanying dossier told the tale of a man who’d had a deep desire to fight for the little guy instilled in him after a hit-and-run driver took out his father’s motorcycle, leaving the man paralyzed from the neck down, and facing a future full of suffering and misery.

That sinking feeling that your Upwork client has ghosted...

As I worked on the piece, I was surprised at the fun I was having writing something so far out of my usual wheelhouse. Throughout the process, Khuram was a paragon of professionalism. After I turned in my initial draft, he offered solid feedback along with a helpful outline for an arrangement of the story that was more to his liking.

I did what I assumed was the necessary due diligence of sending DMs into the void and began building my nest egg of case-making receipts.

But once I uploaded that rewrite on Dec. 12, my once prompt responder adopted a vow of silence. I frantically began looking all over the web for a lawyer named "James Specter" or any attorney matching the story beats that had been fed to me. My searches turned up nothing. Who had I just written about? And to what end? My heart sank as it dawned on me that my client had ghosted.

Still, I’m not one to roll over when wronged. Khuram could close whatever tabs he wanted. Our exchange was all there in writing on Upwork. And since the company had required a government ID when I’d signed up, they presumably had required the same of him.

I did what I assumed was the necessary due diligence of sending DMs into the void and began building my nest egg of case-making receipts. I asked Khuram if further edits were needed, to no reply, before sending my total hours and final invoice on the 18th. I even went so far as to create an additional Upwork milestone that requested the $475 he still owed me. Then, I had little choice but to sit on my hands until the new year. 

On Jan. 1, Upwork sent me an email alert asking if I was "ready to get paid?" Khuram had logged back on to release the $5 from escrow and, now that Upwork had their two quarters, my $4.50 was ready to be transferred to my bank at my convenience. Rather than rush to claim my riches, I sent Khuram one final impotent message on the 3rd stating that he was leaving me no choice but to escalate.

Please, may I have a crumb of recourse?

I assumed a recounting of what had happened, along with the related chat logs, would be enough for Upwork to confirm they had a scammer on their hands and do what it took to resolve matters. Whether I’d be able to get Khuram to pay me outside of Upwork remained unclear, but at least I could ensure nobody else got burned by him. To my surprise, Upwork’s response to my spread of receipts and request for Khuram’s deplatforming was relatively nonchalant.

[Upwork's] message did include another reminder that they weren’t going to be able to help me get that additional $475

After verbally patting my head about the deception and confirming what I already knew — that Upwork wouldn’t be covering what Khuram owed me or telling him to pay it — along with a helpful reminder to make sure everything gets into escrow next time, my first email response from Upwork Support did concede that my client had given me "misleading information." They offered to try and reach out to Khuram on their end, making sure to qualify that this "nudge" did not guarantee a response.

I took them up on that offer. I also asked if, presuming Khuram remained unresponsive, they’d hand over his name and contact info so I could pursue recourse elsewhere. I closed my response looking for assurances that, given the evidence I’d presented, Upwork would be 86ing this obvious ne'er-do-well.

Upwork messaged me next from the Disputes and Mediation department, but there was no update on their attempts to contact Khuram or even an acknowledgment that some kind of effort was afoot. The message did include another reminder that they weren’t going to be able to help me get that additional $475, and, since my case wasn’t eligible for dispute assistance, they were afraid they’d be unable to assist me further.

I again asked for Khuram’s info, and Upwork's acknowledgment that he’d indeed been a bad boy whom they planned on punishing.

Upwork’s next response refused to even dignify my assertion that Khuram violated site policy or that they could and should do something about it, only sharing that the Disputes and Mediation team couldn’t give out users' personal information for (understandable) privacy reasons. But if I told them specifically what I was after, they could pass my request along to the appropriate channel.

I would later learn that at least half a dozen writers had already complained to Upwork about this guy ripping them off — information I was not allowed to see, and that Upwork seemingly had not acted on.

When all else fails, commiserate?

I stepped back from the affair to research which legal avenues I might use to get Khuram to honor our contract. I can only assume this was construed by Upwork as my acquiescence based on the survey email they sent asking for a satisfaction rating about the resolution of my now-closed support ticket.

'Upwork responds well after the scam happened...but it seems to do nothing to vet or prevent them.' - Ruben Miller

During my holding pattern over the holidays, I’d first begun researching Upwork’s scamming issue and the company’s historic response to it. After my frustrating tussle with support, I redoubled my efforts. I was taken aback by the sheer number of those who had been burned like me. All around the web were stories from wronged Upwork users wondering if they should  — and finding out they might actually be able to — sue the company for its role in the harm done to them by scammers or the platform itself. 

I was able to get in touch with a few of them.

Ruben Miller from California has been hiring as a client on Upwork for 15 years and has experienced "everything under the sun" when it comes to the platform’s other cohort of scamming: "Freelancers disappearing, trying to add manual hours, using mouse wiggler apps to fake productivity, getting hired and giving [the work] to freelancers in other countries, faking identity (as far as fake AI video face changer apps on calls), fake accounts, and tons of AI applications without knowing how to do the job."

Like other victims, Miller says that, after he reports an incident, "Upwork responds well after the scam happened...but it seems to do nothing to vet or prevent them." He also laments what he perceives as a degradation of Upwork’s vetting and prevention processes that has resulted in scams "growing exponentially."

"Used to be a few scam proposals per job now it's 90%. It's turning UpWork into a bottom barrel scam platform sadly," he stated over our DM exchange. "Once they fired the majority of staff it got real bad and AI made it worse. It's starting to make me think they make money off scam proposals, as it pushes the job auctions up." He elaborated about his issues with the Connect-based bidding system, stating that "if scammers pay for proposals, that makes [Upwork] money as well. The proposal earnings is just a huge potential conflict of interest with what the site provides. Why root out scammers if you get paid per proposal?"

Raised in Manilla, Ralph Ngo thought he’d won big when he landed a job with Upwork that promised him $5 for every page of a middle school science textbook he converted into a multiple-choice question. The Philippines, like many English-speaking foreign nations where workers can be paid far less than their U.S. counterparts, is a natural fit for a place like Upwork. Philippines-based outsourcing firms advertise the labor on offer — for prices as low as $3.33 per hour — and Upwork’s Western "enterprise" clients get to shop at fire sale prices while Upwork merely hosts the connection.

'Upon job completion, my anxiety was through the roof.' - Ralph Ngo

Ralph told me over email that he spent 2 months converting 1-4 pages a day and "was expecting to get paid around $300-$500 for the massive amount of work that [he’d] put in," a relative fortune for a 20-year-old still living in the Philippines at the time.

Ralph acknowledges he'd been less than vigilant about following the site's terms of service and policing for scams, and agreed to the deal through a verbal agreement the client had offered on Skype after the client had invited him there to discuss the job.

"I had a growing anxiety in the last few weeks where I thought that they had no obligation to pay me as I did not accept any contract in Upwork," lamented Ralph. "Upon job completion, my anxiety was through the roof… I blindly followed every instruction they gave me regarding payment, including to accept an Upwork contract for $5 for my work. When I asked why it was only $5, they said that it will be changed later to reflect my work and it's only there temporarily."

Ralph pleaded with his client for full payment, even making up a sick aunt as a last resort. Twisting the knife, the scammer told him that he’d been planning to offer Ralph a raise but was retracting the offer after such insulting insinuations of impropriety by Ralph.

Like me, Ralph ultimately only got a $5 payout. He says the experience left him "devastated" for two weeks. Unfortunately, his scammer was based in the UK, and the $200 he’d need to file a small claims case there was out of Ralph’s budget. Though he doesn’t hold Upwork entirely responsible for what happened to him, Ralph wonders why they haven’t done more to curb the "big scamming and quality control problem" that "runs rampant" on the site.

"Briefly looking through the front page of jobs, majority of them are unverified payments, low quality descriptions, asking for the impossible while paying 3rd world country wages or worse," says Ralph. "It's common knowledge that Upwork is a race to the bottom. It’s close to being not worth someone’s time."

Like so many other victims, when Ralph complained publicly, a throng of vigilant Upwork loyalists materialized to criticize him. Though the site’s scamming issues are a well-documented blight, characters like Upwork power user Preston can be found in the replies of nearly every help, I’m new and think I’m getting scammed post on the Upwork forums, or on the subreddit, where they chide freelancers for their "user errors" and generally imply that they have no right to hold Upwork accountable for the literal crimes perpetrated against them in said company’s domain.

A scourge in plain sight

Some academic experts, like University of California, Hastings College of the Law, professor Veena Dubal, have gone on record suggesting that Upwork presenting its platform as a secure spot to conduct business could open the company up to some legal responsibilities when fraud occurs there. In a 2020 NBC News report on a previous Upwork scamming imbroglio, Dubal complained about the increasing normalization of contractors being scammed as if it were an assumed job risk.

'[T]here's a sense that the way to not have to deal with any kind of potential liability is just to not interfere at all.' - Veena Dubal

"There should be more of a sense of owing something to these workers," Dubal said. "But instead there's a sense that the way to not have to deal with any kind of potential liability is just to not interfere at all."

Dubal, like many others in and outside of her field, regards the unregulated gig economy as a larger existential threat to freelancer security deserving more urgent attention than the alleged misdeeds of one company within it.

Still, I had a personal interest in Upwork. A company so dependent on user confidence in the security of their platform had to be doing more behind the scenes to proactively identify and ban fraudsters, I thought, digging into Upwork’s shareholder reports for evidence.

In its 2023 Annual Shareholder Report, Upwork cites their "trusted work marketplace" as the primary core aspect of their business that provides them a competitive advantage; they claim only that it’s being monitored by "an industry-leading fraud detection vendor." 

The report does acknowledge that: 

"[Upwork’s] controls relating to customer identity verification, customer authentication, and fraud detection are complex. If such controls are not effective, our work marketplace may be perceived as not being secure, our reputation may be harmed, we may face regulatory action or action by our payment partners, payment networks, or other third parties, and our business may be adversely impacted."

This statement, followed a few lines later by the admission they experienced a "significant increase in provision for transaction losses in the year ended Dec. 31, 2022, due to increased instances of fraud, higher chargeback losses, and bad debt losses related to clients of our Enterprise Solutions offering" — i.e. clients skipping the freelancer bill by initiating credit card chargebacks — indicates that, at least internally, Upwork is sweating the scamming issue. 

'[O]ur performance metrics may not accurately reflect activity on and the performance of our work marketplace.' - Upwork shareholder report

Further into the document, Upwork states that they "may be, and historically have been, held liable for the unauthorized use of credit or debit card details” like those chargebacks and acknowledge, at a certain point, the financial institutions caught in the middle of these shenanigans may someday hit them with fines and fees “or cease doing business with" them altogether. 

In a section about disputes between clients over marketplace payments I found particularly relevant to my own case, Upwork states that “through our terms of service and services agreements for premium offerings, we disclaim responsibility and liability for any disputes between customers… however, we cannot guarantee that these terms will be effective in preventing or limiting our involvement in customer disputes or that these terms will be enforceable or otherwise effectively prevent us from incurring liability.” 

Professor Dubal may be on to something.

The publicly available report even candidly acknowledges all the fraud is having an impact on their data sets, as they do not independently verify the performance metrics they track with internal tools. The report goes on to state that the company is "unable to identify and remove all fake accounts and fraudulent activity from being reflected in the performance metrics that we report. Accordingly, our performance metrics may not accurately reflect activity on and the performance of our work marketplace."

This admission of potentially compromised data sets reminded me of a claim in a blog I came across while researching the company. Whistleblowing blogger Nebojsa "Nesha" Todorovic, who admittedly also did work for Upwork competitor GoLance at the time of the 2020 post, analyzed the sudden emergence of textually similar work posts he believed were from "fake job farms," According to Todorovic, Upwork has a clear incentive for turning a blind eye toward posts tailor-made to attract novice freelancers with bulging Connect wallets.

Ghosting clients are just the tip of the iceberg

Todorovic, a Serbian writer who has blogged about many of Upwork’s changes over the years, elaborated on his case when I reached out to him. To him, those Connects are the lynchpin. He thinks the "beginning of the end" for Upwork was a 2019 earnings call — mere months after the company’s IPO — that reintroduced the lesser-used currency as a cornerstone of Upwork’s vision for the future. Previously, Connects cost $1 each, but as users got 60 free ones a month and job bids cost 1 or 2 (if any), there wasn’t much need for most users to buy extra. The Connects reboot dropped the pricing of them to $0.15 but raised the cost of job bids to a 0-6 Connect range (which has since been raised to upwards of 16).

'[O]bviously, scammers are additional and valuable profit generators because they make freelancers spend connects. The biggest scammer is Upwork itself.' - Nebojsa "Nesha" Todorovic

So when Todorovic noticed the "fake job farms" in 2020, he didn’t just complain about the spam. He started connecting dots.

"There are some accounts, reviews, and jobs that are fake on Upwork," he states in an email. "We can never know for sure what’s the exact percentage or number of these fake ‘elements’ that are the core substance of every freelance platform."

In a follow-up post to the "fake job farm" one, Todorovic shares a screenshot where an Upwork community mod acknowledges the uptick in job post anomalies freelancers like Todorovic had noticed. This moderator goes on to state that "Upwork did review the jobs discussed on this thread and found that they were actually created as part of an outside course by a client teaching other clients how to use Upwork. They were posted as a 'test job.'"

Todorovic remains skeptical to this day that anyone but Upwork was responsible for the phantom jobs, no matter what unnamed company is offered up as explanation.

"Plain and simple, Upwork decides who's a scammer," he begins, "but obviously, scammers are additional and valuable profit generators because they make freelancers spend connects. The biggest scammer is Upwork itself."

When I asked Upwork if they’d like to respond to Todorovic's allegations, this was their reply.

"Please thank Nebojsa for his feedback. We also encourage him to report suspicious behavior directly to us via the platform, as each report is investigated by our team and actioned appropriately. We take the integrity of our platform very seriously and have robust measures in place to detect and address fraudulent activities, and are committed to maintaining a safe and trustworthy environment for our customers."

Despite the company’s statement, the data section in Upworks 2023 shareholder report would seem to indicate that Upwork does share Todrovic’s concerns about the influx of scammers on the platform, albeit for different reasons.

Claims of impropriety aside, Upwork’s 2024 Q1 earnings report suggests they’re hoping to foster a robust Connect-based economy, where users buy and spend more of the currency than ever before. While a cut of the action through percentage fees remains Upwork’s largest revenue stream, the quarterly report states that "revenue from ads & monetization products (i.e. Connects) grew 93% year-over-year, continuing to be Upwork’s fastest-growing revenue stream."

The hunt for my scammer continues

Still certain I had a clear-cut breach of contract case on my hands, I opened a new support ticket requesting my old one be exhumed. I again let Upwork know of my intent to take Khuram to small claims court over the balance.

This time, the Executive Escalation team was at the helm for Upwork’s response. I was again informed that nothing from the suite of fraud-prevention protections and guarantees touted to prospective freelancers applied in my case. Though downgrading Support’s earlier description of Khuram’s messages to a simple "misunderstanding," the representative acknowledged my request for info to aid in outside legal action and told me policy dictated they give Khuram one more ping before releasing anything to me. 

As expected, Khuram held his tongue. Upwork’s legal team signed off on relinquishing the private personal information of one of their users to a demonstrably disgruntled and tenacious second user. Even while crossing this Rubicon, Upwork offered no recognition that Khuram had done anything wrong, let alone a promise that he would be banned, put on probation, or even looked into further. 

[The] conditionality of Upwork’s commitment to its customers finally came into full focus for me. 

The contact email and number support Upwork gave me immediately proved to be dead ends, but that didn’t matter because I had his full name — Khuram Dhanani — a name with SEO-friendliness outmatched only by my own. So I set to poking about and pulling threads on the internet in the ways that only vengeful injured parties (and suspicious significant others) do.

My quarry’s positive ID came quickly, packaged in juicier dirt than I ever could have hoped for. The more I looked into this guy, the deeper and funnier the rabbit hole got, and the focus of my ire shifted from Khuram to the companies that gave him safe habitats to thrive.

But the story of my runaway client is somehow even longer and more mind-bending than everything I learned about Upwork over the course of this odyssey. There’s his Potemkin office park of fictional companies he claims to have founded. There was his "interview" by a text-to-speech British-accented woman’s voice on the only episode of an obscure podcast titled "London Digital." There are his numerous Nathan Fielder-esque Twitter posts about living the good life with photos either taken from outside the trendy restaurants he claimed to have just dined at or borrowed from travel websites when he felt like flexing his hotel arrangement.

Khuram is still ultimately responsible for his actions. And he still owes me $475 that I’d prefer to not take him to small claims court over. (Just DM me, man.) But as interesting as it was to follow  the life journey of an intrepid kid who started out flipping his parents’ brick-and-mortar jewelry shop best sellers on Yahoo Marketplace for bigger profits and telling victimless fibs in the comment section of a SpaghettiMonster.org post about a Burning Man wedding only to turn into a flim-flam man who seemed to have no qualms about stealing directly from individuals like me, he’s ultimately just some guy.

Taking my cue from Professor Dubal, I thought it’d be better to go after the ecosystem that allows him to pull his fast ones.

I did finally encourage a little action from Upwork when I reached out one last time to tell them I was doing this story. While I waited for their rep to get back to me, I noticed that someone had changed the status of my contract with Khuram (which had been unresolved this whole time) to "complete," and text had been inserted into our private message exchange that stated "Khuram D. is currently restricted from this conversation."

After I asked if this was SOP for all completed contracts, someone from customer support confirmed that Upwork had indeed closed my contract and explained "we don't prevent clients from communicating with freelancers after a contract ends unless there is a valid reason to do so, such as having an account hold in place, which limits access to certain features like message rooms."

To say this hint of Khuram’s account only now possibly having a hold on it after so much fuss felt like a hollow victory would be an understatement. The support email concluded with more of the usual links about how I can "report suspicious activity" and "stay safe" while using the platform going forward.

The official company response in my inbox contained more boilerplate assurances about how Upwork "considers the trust and safety of our customers to be of utmost importance" and mentioned their oft-touted-but-never-expounded-upon "trust & safety policies, systems, and a dedicated operations team working 24/7 to detect, prevent, and remove fraudulent platform activity." I was told for the umpteenth time that "it's critical that freelancers adhere to our Terms of Service and follow the best practices we share to stay protected." 

But this time, the draconian conditionality of Upwork’s commitment to its customers finally came into full focus for me. 

If you are part of the 91 percent of consumers who don’t read pages of legal writing every time you sign up for a new app or account, Upwork can and likely will tell you to kick rocks should misfortune happen to befall you while using their platform. Even if you go in with the best of intentions and do your part to protect yourself, if you happen to break any rule—even one you weren’t aware of—while attempting to find work while avoiding the horde of scammers that Upwork acknowledges are prowling the site, recounting your plight will only result in cold comfort from the company and its most fanatical supporters. 

As work on this article was winding down I made a few more attempts to get in touch with Khuram for comment via email and phone, all to no avail. But my last pokes around Khuram's Upwork profile did reveal something that I'd never seen once before over my numerous visits. 

At the bottom of the page for the original job post that got me, beneath the work description and stats about how much engagement the post was earning was a section titled "Client's recent history." According to a post on the Upwork subreddit, this feature was down site-wide from October 2023 through March 2024, when I really needed it.

Khuram's history lists the 50 most recent job posts he hired for, the star rating and comment (if given) by the freelancer hired, and how much he paid them. Of those 50 jobs, dating as far back as May '22, 39 hirees were paid out only $5. A 40th was paid $6. Each of these 40 was hired for writing work, many lured by the same post claiming to be "Looking For Long Term [sic] Article & Blog Writer" advertising a $44.50—$120 hourly rate. There were comments left among the numerous 1-star reviews describing bait-and-switch tales similar to my own, claiming he took off with their samples, or plainly warning others to avoid this "scammer." 

But in June of 2024, well after I — and presumably at least a few of these others — had raised our concerns with Upwork, and their crack security protocols had assessed the threat, Khuram was back hiring for a "photo manipulation" job which, to his credit, he paid $30 for.

Flying was never the most stress-free way to travel, but thanks to never-ending airline delays, unruly passengers, and the incredible shrinking airline seat, it can be a nightmare. If you're ready to upgrade your flying experience, picking up a pair of noise-cancelling headphones can go a long way.

You definitely have options: plenty of headphones, from over-ear headphones to wireless earbuds, offer active noise cancellation. And in 2024, it's not too hard to find ANC headphones that cost under $100. That said, we do recommend spending a little more to enjoy maximum calm at 35,000 feet, and with Prime Big Deal Days around the corner, you'll have more access to headphone deals.

SEE ALSO: October Prime Day is coming and early deals are rolling in on headphones and speakers — but we're holding out for more How much should I spend on noise-cancelling headphones?

If you want to find the best noise-cancelling headphones for flying, you should be prepared to pay $250 to $500. Premium headphones offer improved active noise cancellation, customizable settings, and transparency modes that allow you to hear those all-important gate announcements.

Many cheap headphones claim to offer "noise-cancelling" features, but a random pair of $50 over-ear headphones is more susceptible to letting sounds around you through, struggling to connect easily and switch between devices, or simply wearing more uncomfortably.

But as we mentioned above, investing in a more expensive pair of headphones can feel like less of a splurge during sales like October Prime Day. Typically, Prime Day (and the competing sales) bring deals on the major headphones, so we're expecting several of our below picks to get markdowns.

SEE ALSO: Scope out the best gaming deals ahead of October Prime Day

At the end of the day, going for that good all-around pair is worth it, because on a flight, ANC on its own won't save the day — otherwise, we'd just direct you to our guide to the best noise-cancelling headphones. For long flights, comfort is also key. It won't matter if your headphones block sound if you only want to wear them for two out of five hours of your flight. And because this is a flying-focused roundup, we did give extra points to headphones with thoughtful design that makes storage easy.

If that $250-plus price range feels totally out of the question, we've included a couple of budget earbuds in the under-$100 category, but they come with tradeoffs. If you're okay with a mid-range pick, consider buying wireless earbuds with ANC instead of over-ear headphones.

If the cost of a pair of headphones is off-putting, you can always wait for a sale to start. We see headphones from Bose, Sony, and Apple get marked down year-round — if you don't want to keep your eyes peeled yourself, Mashable's deals coverage is a great place to find any noteworthy headphone deals.

SEE ALSO: Best Buy's fall deals schedule includes major October Prime Day competition What are the best noise-cancelling headphones for flying?

Noise-cancelling headphones are at their most useful on airplanes. It's difficult to find a moment's peace when so much is going on around you. Frequent flyers may prefer to rest or work, and the best way to prepare for either is by using the best ANC headphones to block out the chaos. 

Because shopping for headphones shouldn't be as stressful as heading to the airport, we've done extensive testing to bring you the top options. So, read on to find the best noise-cancelling headphones for airplanes in 2024 — all based on Mashable's hands-on headphones reviews.

SAVE $50: As of Oct. 7, the Oura Ring 3 is on sale for $299.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 14% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Oura Oura Ring Gen3 Horizon $299.00 at Amazon
$349.00 Save $50.00 Get Deal

Health and fitness trackers have become the norm for most people. From tracking workouts, monitoring sleep, and checking how much water we're drinking — stats and data on how we live our lives are easily accessible through a wide range of watches, heart monitors, and now even rings.

Smart rings are the latest tracking devices that allow us to monitor our health stats, and one of the biggest names in this field is the Oura Ring. A tracker that provides overall well-being and recovery stats, it allows users to access their data via an app. Similar to some of our favorite smartwatches, but hidden away in a sleek, normal-looking ring.

SEE ALSO: Get moving with the best Prime Day fitness tracker deals

Intrigued? Well, as of Oct. 7, the Oura Ring Gen3 Horizon is on sale for $299.99 at Amazon. With this deal you're saving $50, or 14% on list price. This is also the lowest price for the Oura Ring 3 at Amazon, ever. It is worth noting, however, that this deal is only available on the silver model.

The Oura Ring 3 is perfect for sleep tracking, heart monitoring, and checking activity levels. It's even smart enough to record your body temperature and heart rate variability (HRV). The only downside to note of this otherwise amazing tracker is that after a month of free access to an Oura Membership, a subscription fee of $5.99 per month is required.

Save $50 on the Oura Ring Gen3 Horizon before Prime Day.

New Macs are coming sooner than you think. In fact, they might already be here — they just aren't very evenly distributed yet.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is preparing to announce new Macs and an iPad in late October, followed by a launch on Nov. 1.

More precisely, the company will reportedly launch several variants of the 14-inch MacBook Pro, as well as a new version of 16-inch MacBook Pro, with its new M4 chips that made their debut on the iPad Pro this spring. Apple is also launching a redesigned Mac mini (we've written about it) with an M4 and M4 Pro chip, and a refreshed iMac with an M4 chip. Finally, Gurman writes that Apple is looking to launch a new version of the iPad mini.

There's nothing really unexpected here, though it is a pretty long and interesting lineup of new devices. But something very unexpected did happen this time around: a Russian YouTuber may have gotten hold of the upcoming M4 MacBook Pro.

SEE ALSO: Apple Watch Series 9 vs. SE: I tested both for 13 days

It's not just your typical leak, in which you get a blurry photo from a factory line somewhere. No, this guy has an entire unboxing video, in which he shows, in detail, the 14-inch version of the MacBook Pro. The device is in Space Black (previously reserved for the 16-inch MacBook Pro), has three Thunderbolt 4 ports (instead of two), and starts with 16GB of RAM. And, of course, it sports a 10-core variant of the new M4 chip. The laptop shown in the video also has 512GB of storage, though that's not particularly unusual.

Looks pretty real, but there are some suspicious details. Credit: YouTube / Wylsacom

The unboxing video looks authentic enough, though it is odd that the MacBook shown on the box has the exact same wallpaper as last year's M3 MacBook Pro. You can check out the whole video, partially in Russian, on YouTube.

It's not very often that we get to see an unreleased Apple product several weeks ahead of its (rumored) release date, so we'll take all of this with a grain of salt. In any case, we'll be eagerly awaiting an official announcement from Apple come late October.

Back to Gurman's predictions, which also mentions several new Apple devices coming in the first half of 2025. Namely, Gurman expects Apple to launch new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air, a revamped iPhone SE, a new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air model (together with a new Magic Keyboard), and an upgraded AirTag.

Finally, later in the year, Apple is likely to launch new versions of Mac Studio and Mac Pro with more powerful M4 chips.

SAVE $19.99: As of Oct. 7, the Amazon Fire TV Stick is on sale for $19.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 50% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire TV Stick $19.99 at Amazon
$39.99 Save $20.00 Get Deal

Amazon's October Prime Day is not here quite yet, but the deals have already started. You can find discounts already kicking off on a wide range of Amazon's products, including the beloved Fire TV Stick. The Fire TV Stick is a streaming device that plugs into your TV (or laptop) and lets you access platforms including Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, and more. It comes with a remote with Alexa built-in, helping you turn any TV into a smart TV.

As of Oct. 7, you can find the handy Fire TV Stick on sale for $19.99, a saving of 50% on list price. Not only are we treated to an early deal ahead of Prime Day, but this is the lowest price the Fire Stick has been in nine months.

SEE ALSO: Best Macbooks to buy during October Prime Day 2024

The set-up for these handy remotes is so simple. Really, anyone can do it. Just pop the device into your TV's HDMI port, and that's it. You have instant access to a range of streaming platforms as well as many live channels. And trust us, Alexa voice control is much easier than manually searching for a show.

This is a limited-time deal at Amazon, so act fast before you miss out. Happy streaming!

SAVE $50: As of Oct. 7, the Amazon Echo Show 5 is on sale for $66.98 at Amazon. That's a saving of 42% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) $66.98
$116.98 Save $50.00 Get Deal

If you love Amazon's smart home devices then Prime Day is your best bet for a great deal. But if you're looking for a new gadget to upgrade your home, you don't need to wait for the official sales to begin — Amazon has treated us to some early deals, including a bargain on the Echo Show 5.

As of Oct. 7, the Echo Show 5 is reduced at Amazon to $66.98, giving you a saving of $50. Not to mention, this is its lowest price for six months. This is the perfect chance to get acquainted with Amazon's range of Echo products for less.

A smart assistant with a screen, the Echo Show is a great, and stylish, way to control your smart home. With built-in Alexa, and the ability to watch shows and video chat, you can't go wrong. The screen is small, coming in at 5.5 inches, making it perfect for smaller rooms where you don't want much clutter.

If you want to upgrade your smart home, don't miss out on this early Prime Day deal.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

This word describes something needed for air travel.

SEE ALSO: Mini crossword answers for October 7 Hurdle Word 1 answer

PLANE

Hurdle Word 2 hint

A delicious meal or an insult.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer hints for October 7 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

ROAST

Hurdle Word 3 hint

A system of hereditary classes in a society.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for October 7 Hurdle Word 3 answer

CASTE

Hurdle Word 4 hint

A leafy plant found often on pizza.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for October 7 Hurdle Word 4 answer

BASIL

Final Hurdle hint

The opposite of attract.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

REPEL

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

SAVE $100: As of Oct. 7, the Garmin Forerunner 965 is on sale for $499.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 17% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Garmin Garmin Forerunner 965 $499.86 at Amazon
$599.99 Save $100.13 Get Deal

If you're looking for a new smartwatch to level up your runs, you'll soon discover the market is pretty saturated in great options at a range of prices. One of the major players in this category is, of course, Garmin's Forerunner range. Designed with runners and athletes in mind, through the different price points you'll find watches with GPS tracking, heart rate monitoring, and a range of performance metrics.

If you're a serious runner looking for a bargain, you'll be glad to hear one of the Forerunner's newest models, the 795, is reduced at Amazon to its lowest-ever price. As of Oct. 7, the Garmin Forerunner 965 is on sale for $499.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 17% on list price, or $100 off in total. However, it's worth noting that this deal only applies to the yellow and black model.

SEE ALSO: 8 best noise-cancelling headphones to buy on Prime Day

The Forerunner 965 is full of incredible stats and data tracking for the most serious of runners to newbies. The bright AMOLED display is colorful and attractive, but also makes for a very accessible user interface. Standout features of this fitness tracker include: training status, sleep score, training readiness, and built-in maps.

With a battery life that can last up to 23 days, the Forerunner 965 is an ideal choice for long-distance athletes looking to upgrade. Grab yours before the deal ends.

The Daily Mini Crossword is one of the many popular daily word games available on Mashable. Powered by Arkadium, the mini crossword offers a speed round of puzzle fun with clues that are sure to challenge experienced crossword enthusiasts.

But there's no need to let the challenge get in the way of your enjoyment! If moments are turning to minutes after getting stuck on a clue, find the answers you need to progress right here.

And when you're done, check out the many other word games you can play on Mashable, including a full-size crossword.

Also, if you get stuck on any other daily word games, such as Wordle, Connections, or Strands — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for October 7 SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to Daily Mini Crossword for Monday, October 7, 2024:

AcrossVideo game featuring motion controls

• The answer is Wii.

"Greys Anatomy" showrunner Rhimes

• The answer is Shonda.

"Speak up, please!"

• The answer is Louder.

Producing foliage

• The answer is InLeaf.

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show attendees

• The answer is Models.

Totally tubular

• The answer is Rad.

Down______, coulda, shoulda

• The answer is Woulda.

Job seeker's website

• The answer is Indeed.

Perfect example

• The answer is Ideal.

Not thick

• The answer is Slim.

It's not found among thieves

• The answer is Honor.

Canine cries

• The answer is Arfs.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Mini Crossword.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Monday, October 7, 2024:

AcrossSpill the beans

• The answer is Blab.

Bird that has been used by the Dutch police to take down illegal drones

• The answer is Eagle.

Online shopping

• The answer is Etail.

With 3-Down, "Nope, try another guess!"

• The answer is Think.

Schedule ___ (modern email button)

• The answer is Send.

DownRoot veggies in borscht

• The answer is Beets.

Carpenter's shaping tool

• The answer is Lathe.

See 8-Across

• The answer is Again.

Like three mice in a nursery rhyme

• The answer is Blind.

Big beast in Banff National Park

• The answer is Elk.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Mini Crossword.

TL;DR: Through 27 October, get a lifetime device license to Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows at just £30.46 (reg. £167.66).

Though much divides students, working professionals, and business owners, they do share one thing in common: reliance on Microsoft Office tools. Whether it’s typing an essay in Word, organising budgets in Excel, or keeping up with emails through Outlook, these apps are staples for everyday tasks and larger work projects.

We’d like to put you onto a more affordable avenue than Microsoft 365 — a Microsoft Office Professional 2021 lifetime license for Windows. When we say lifetime, we mean it; enjoy unlimited access to the app suite for the course of your PC’s life. Elsewhere, this license costs £167.66, but you can get one at the Mashable Shop for £30.46.

Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and five other apps

Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows comes with eight apps. Instead of having to pay monthly or yearly to access them, you just have to purchase this device license, download the suite to your PC, and use them as much as you need.

Open Word to create, edit, and format professional documents; Excel to analyse and visualise data with spreadsheets, charts, and PivotTables; PowerPoint to craft slideshow presentations with transitions; Outlook to manage emails, calendars, and tasks; OneNote to organise multimedia notes; Publisher to design publication materials; and Access to build large databases.

Make sure your Windows PC is equipped for download

Uniquely, this specific license type is not tied to your Microsoft account, but rather to your computer. This makes setup a little easier and solidifies the fact that you won’t be asked to renew or pay any recurring fees.

A couple of software and hardware requirements to note before purchasing: Your PC should have Windows 10 or 11, at least 1GB of RAM, and a minimum of 4GB of available storage on your hard drive.

Grab your officially licensed Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows lifetime license on sale for just £30.46 (reg. £167.66).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Retail King Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License £30.46
£167.66 Save £137.20 Get Deal

TL;DR: A wide range of ChatGPT courses are available to take for free on edX.

edX hosts a huge bank of online courses, including a bunch of ChatGPT courses you can take for free. This could be your chance to learn how to make this popular chatbot work for you, without spending anything.

We've checked out everything on offer from edX and lined up a selection of standout ChatGPT courses to get you started. These are the best online ChatGPT courses you can take for free this month on edX:

• AI Applications and Prompt Engineering

• Chatbots for Instruction

• How to Use ChatGPT in Business

• How to Use ChatGPT in Education

• How to Use ChatGPT in Healthcare

• How to Use ChatGPT in Tech/Coding/Data

• Introduction to ChatGPT

• Prompt Engineering and Advanced ChatGPT

• Unlocking the Power of Generative AI with ChatGPT for Higher Education

The catch with these free online courses is that they don't offer certificates of completion, but that's it. You can still learn at a pace that suits you, so what's stopping you?

Find the best free ChatGPT courses on edX.

Opens in a new window Credit: edX AI Courses Free at edX Get Deal

If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.

Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer hints for October 7 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for October 7 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Most excellent

These words will affirm, slangily

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

Words for "neat."

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Thatscool.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for October 7

• Groovy

• Boss

• Swell

• Dandy

• Thatscool

• Hype

• Choice

• Righteous

SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for October 7 SEE ALSO: Mini crossword answers for October 7

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for October 7's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for October 7 What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Tweet may have been deleted

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer. If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

Tweet may have been deleted

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for October 7 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Stupid face

• Green: Car noises

• Blue: What you do when someone tells a good joke

• Purple: Monkeys

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Knucklehead

• Green: Car Onomatopoeia

• Blue: Sounds of Laughter

• Purple: Famous Primates

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #484 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Knucklehead: DING-DONG, DODO, YAHOO, YO-YO

• Car Onomatopoeia: BEEP BEEP, PURR, SKRRT, VROOM

• Sounds of Laughter: HAR-HAR, HOOT, WHOOP, YUK

• Famous Primates: BUBBLES, GEORGE, KING KONG, KOKO

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

SEE ALSO: Mini crossword answers for October 6

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for October 7's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for October 7 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for October 7 SEE ALSO: Mini crossword answers for October 7 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Powder that can thicken a soup.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no reoccurring letters.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter F.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for October 7 The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

FLOUR.

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

'SNL' takes on the VP debate with Bowen Yang as JD Vance and Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz.

Grindr, the most well-known gay dating app, is reportedly testing an AI bot that is designed to act as a wingman for its users.

Grindr's AI wingman will be specifically tailored for the app's LGBTQ user base, the Wall Street Journal reported. Users will interact with the wingman like a chatbot. Currently, a small group of users is testing the feature, Grindr's CEO George Arison said in an interview with WSJ. The group will expand to 1,000 users by the end of 2024 and 10,000 in 2025. The plan is for the chatbot to be available to Grindr's 14 million users by 2027 at the latest, Arison told WSJ.

SEE ALSO: As Grindr complaints rise, other gay dating apps try to swoop in

The wingman will apparently keep track of users' favorite matches and make suggestions ranging from long-term relationship candidates to date spots. Later on, the wingman may be able to make restaurant reservations and converse with other wingman bots so users have a "robust view" of each other by the time they meet in person, WSJ reported.

The Wall Street Journal listed some preliminary issues with this idea. For one, Grindr needs to ensure this won't be a privacy and safety risk in areas where it isn't safe to be outwardly gay. Furthermore, Grindr sold user location data through ad networks for years, and AI data could pose another privacy risk.

WSJ claims a solution will be an "empathetic AI technology" through AI model company Ex-human, which Grindr made a deal with last year. The model Ex-human creates will be trained on romantic conversation and made "more gay." It's unclear how these models will solve these potential privacy concerns. Grindr is also in a lawsuit in the UK about revealing users' HIV status.

Besides these possible issues, Grindr users are currently frustrated with the app due to growing product issues and paywalls. In a statement to Mashable earlier this month concerning this frustration, a Grindr spokesperson said, "Since a major investment in modernizing our chat platform earlier this year, we are aware that our users have experienced technical challenges on Grindr."

It remains to be seen, then, how the app's infrastructure will contend with the introduction of a chatbot, and also how Grindr users will react to it. When Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd described a potential "AI dating concierge" in an interview in May, the reaction was overwhelmingly negative. Considering that Grindr is known for quick hookups — VICE described it as a "24/7 merry-go-round of sex in your immediate locale" in 2022 — users may not want an AI bot intervening with their carnival ride.

Mashable has reached out to Grindr for comment on the AI wingman.

The saga concerning X and Brazil continues. On Friday, Brazil's Supreme Court stated that X paid its fines to the wrong bank, Reuters reported. This will delay the return of the social media platform to Brazil.

Back in August, Brazil's top court banned X (formerly Twitter) for failing to appoint a legal representative within the country. This came after X owner Elon Musk refused to comply with Brazil's order to take down misinformation and fake news and pay fines for this, which Musk called "censorship orders."

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk's X sucks and I'm not leaving

However, this battle didn't last long because X surrendered to Brazil in September when Musk quietly agreed to the country's demands: taking down accounts spreading misinformation, appointing a local representative, and paying fines.

On the latter point, Musk and X have taken hit after hit. In late September, Brazil's Supreme Court said if X wanted to be reinstated, it'd have to pay an additional $5 million in fines after already paying $3.3 million. This Friday, X filed a new request for Brazil to lift its suspension, claiming it paid all the fines. Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes responded that X needed to pay its fines to the right bank, according to Reuters. The justice also said that once this is done, Brazil's prosecutor general will consider the company's request.

X's lawyers then apparently denied sending the funds — which amount to around $5.24 million — to the wrong place, according to court documents seen by Reuters. X's counsel also denied the need for the prosecutor general's opinion before X could function in Brazil again.

Mashable has reached out to X for comment.

If you're an avid Walmart shopper, you'll probably want to consider signing up for Walmart+. We know that having to sign up for yet another membership service sounds like a pain, but it may be worth it for you (don't worry, we'll tell you why). That's especially true now that Walmart's decided to compete with Amazon Prime Day with its very own Holiday Deals event, beginning on October 8.

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about Amazon's October Prime Day sale: Start time, the competition, and more

Although the Holiday Deals event is open to all customers, Walmart+ members will get early access and can start shopping 12 hours earlier than non-members. (Walmart+ members also get early access to Walmart's Black Friday sales.)

Below, we'll explain what it is, what you'll get out of it, and how to sign up. You'll also find a list of anticipated deals from the holiday sale.

What is Walmart+?

Walmart+ is the big-box retailer's premier membership program that gets you exclusive benefits, both online and in-store. These include perks like free and fast shipping, early sale access, mobile scan & go at Walmart stores, and lots more. Many compare it to Amazon Prime, though it's still a bit different.

What are the perks?

The whole reason for signing up for Walmart+ is those sweet perks. Here's what you'll get when you become a member:

• Unlimited free delivery: All $35+ orders from Walmart stores will be delivered free of charge.

• Fast shipping: Next-day and two-day shipping is free for Walmart+ members with no minimum required.

• Easy returns: If you need to return something, Walmart will pick it up for you. You won't need to print any labels or repackage any products.

• Savings on fuel: Walmart+ members save 10 cents per gallon at participating fueling stations like Exxon, Mobil, Walmart, Sam's Club, and more.

• Auto care: Visit any Walmart Auto Care center for free flat tire repair and road hazard warranty.

• Mobile scan & go: Shopping at a physical Walmart location? Use your smartphone to scan and pay for your items to make the checkout process faster.

• Paramount+ Essential (ad-supported) Plan subscription: Gain access to Paramount+ for no additional fee and enjoy the catalog of movies and TV shows.

• Early access: Members will get first dibs on special product releases and big sale events, including Black Friday.

• Walmart+ travel: Enjoy up to 5% in Walmart Cash when booking hotels, car rentals, tours, and more with Expedia, and up to 2% on flights.

• Burger King savings: Treat yourself to 25% off Burger King every day and a free Whopper with any purchase every three months.

Walmart frequently treats its members to exclusive limited-time perks, adding even more value to your Walmart+ membership. Previous examples include free Apple Music and YouTube Premium.

How much does Walmart+ cost?

A Walmart+ membership costs $98 annually or $12.95 monthly. New members can also redeem a 30-day free trial to test the waters before fully committing, but it has limited benefits, and only some of these offers will be available.

Walmart also offers a Walmart+ Assist membership, a more affordable option available to qualifying government aid recipients of SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, and more. It's $6.47 per month or $49 per year.

How do you sign up?

Signing up with Walmart+ couldn't be any easier. Here's how to get started:

1. Go to the Walmart+ page. Here, you'll find information on what the service is, what perks you'll get, and pricing.

2. Click on "Start your free 30-day trial." (Yes, you get your first month totally free! A recurring billing period will start after the trial ends.)

3. Fill out your personal and payment information for billing and shipping purposes.

4. That's literally it. You're now a Walmart+ member, and you can start enjoying your perks immediately!

What is Walmart's holiday sale?

Walmart's first-ever Holiday Deals sales event starts on October 8 at 12 p.m. ET, but Walmart+ members can browse the sale at midnight ET on October 8th. In-store savings kick in on October 9, and the deals will run through October 13. You don't need a Walmart+ membership to shop the sale, but signing up does guarantee early access.

Here are a few examples of what you can expect to find during the sale:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Pizza Fire Delivery Van — $29 $49.15 (save $20.15)

• LEGO Disney Stitch Toy Building Kit — $51.95 $64.99 (save $13.04)

• DR. J Professional HEPA Air Purifier — $69.99 $179.99 (save $110)

• Bissell Little Green Pro Portable Carpet Cleaner — $109 $153 (save $44)

• Frigidaire 7.5 Cu. ft. Refrigerator — $198 $499 (save $301)

• Restored Apple MacBook Air Bundle — $226 $279 (save $53)

• 15.6-inch MSI Thin Gaming Laptop (Core i5-13420H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, 16GB DDR4, 512GB SSD) — $599 $699 (save $100)

• onn. 98-inch Roku TV (Walmart exclusive) — $1,498 (special buy)

Walmart+ or Amazon Prime?

Though similar, Walmart+ and Amazon Prime still have some pretty big differences between them, and we could make a case for having both. Both services include free and fast shipping benefits, grocery delivery, and access to select streaming services, to name a few shared perks. But, if you had to pick one, we'd say the answer lies in just one question: Do you plan on shopping in-store? If yes, go for Walmart+, but if you think you'll only be shopping online, Amazon Prime will be your best bet. (One more note to consider: Amazon Prime costs about $40 more annually than Walmart+.)

Both memberships also have special shopping events, like Amazon's flagship Prime Day, and Walmart's Walmart+ Week. During Prime Day, the focus is on deals across products, but Walmart+ Week centers extra savings on offers and services exclusive to its members.

Opens in a new window Credit: Walmart Walmart+ Learn More