To make some extra money, I signed up to bid on freelance web design and programming jobs on Freelancer.com. After placing several bids for various projects, I was awarded a project on 12/16. I accepted it for $250 dollars. I had initially funded my Freelancer.com account with $10 using PayPal on 12/15, so that I could add a dollar to my bid to get it to the top of the list of bids. When I accepted the bid, Freelancer.com took 10% percent as a commission fee up front, rather than at the end. I wasn't aware they were going to do this, but I assume it is probably in the fine print somewhere on their site, and I was okay with it because of the bigger picture of getting the money for completing the project. I had a little over $5 remaining in my account, so Freelancer.com took the remainder of my balance and took the rest ($19.75) from my PayPal account. The problems started when the person that posted the project responded to me and said that they posted the project in error and that they do not have any work for me. I immediately contacted Freelancer.com through their live support chat. They said they do not offer refunds, but I can submit a ticket if I want. I did so, and then moments later noticed my account had been suspended. So I filed a dispute with PayPal and notified Freelancer.com that I did so. I also gave them 2 days to return my $25 dollars, or I would file complaints through various Websites and message boards. They responded by asking for a copy of my Passport or other government issued photo ID. I told them no. PayPal said there is nothing they can do, because the transaction is a service, rather than a product. Freelancer.com has very poor business practices and the fact that they asked for my personal identification for no reason is suspicious.
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