Should you refuse to do work for sites that may be illegal?

Artois52 Level X³

April 13, 2017, 8:50 am

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Should you refuse to do work for sites that may be illegal?

I am acontent writer and a guest post publisher and I recently received an order for
work from a buyer whose site looked very much like a phishing site to me. I requested
a mutual cancellation of the order and left it that.

I would be interestedto hear other sellers’ views on this. Would you do work for what might be an illegal
site? Should we report buyers that ask us to do so? Would we be complicit in a crime
if we did do that work?

If any SEO Clerks staff members read this, I’d be interested to hear the official line too.

Thanks

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unitedminx

unitedminx

Of course you should! Otherwise you will have problems too. Why can't you find normal employers who care about their staff members and pay well at the same time?

3 years ago

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keen2write

keen2write

I do feel if your never to sure ask them there intentions of the site also do bit checks on the matter. If you ever feel that it my be a fraud site or scamming then just cancel and tell them why you cancelled . I not come across that before but members in past have always asked me on FB to join so and so sites and they look rather dodgy so I just leave them to it.

You will always find that sort thing around just go with your instincts mate.

8 years ago

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Artois52

Artois52

Thanks moneybags82

I’ve only come across this a couple of times and I don’t usually judge people for how they make
their money, but I was very uncomfortable about this latest one.

I guess you are right, it’s a personal decision.

8 years ago

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augusta

augusta

I think this is a personal decision because some people would mind working with any site as long as it brings in extra by ks.I will say if it against your belief and what you stand for,then dont do irregular and illegal stuff.

7 years ago

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Artois52

Artois52

Thanks aqibarif74

I didn’t know that you could do that.

8 years ago

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Artois52

Artois52

Thanks for your input Mike

I guess it’s not our job to police the internet, and anyway, someone else will do the work
if I don’t. You are right about racism and hatred; I wouldn’t do any work to promote
that kind of garbage either.

I might go to bed a few dollars worse off for sticking to my morals, but at least I will go
to bed with a clear conscience!

8 years ago

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Sino989

Sino989

Truthfully it's up to you. If you're willing to risk getting in trouble with the law for a client that's doing something illegal then go for it, but if you don't want to get in trouble for someone you don't know then don't.

8 years ago

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kaka135

kaka135

I guess it really depends individually. Some people do not mind working on illegal jobs or works that slightly against the law, but some people just can't work on them at all. There was once I had a chance to earn a commission just by receiving payment and transferring that money to another party, but by doing that, the person does not need to pay tax to the government, and I just decided to turn down the offer. First of all, I do not want my company to be in trouble in future, as it's using my company bank account to receive the payment. Moreover, I just don't think it's a right thing to do. Though my friends told me it's totally fine and legal to do so, I just don't feel right about it.

So, I guess it really depends on whether you feel comfortable about the offer.

8 years ago

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VickyBurg

VickyBurg

This is a really hard question just because it's a choice between making money or doing the responsible thing and reporting a site or a user. I guess it's every persons personal decision what jobs to accept and what not. I guess if something is illegal and your work is a accessory to it you could end up with much bigger problems than just loosing a few bucks. I also think we, in this freelancing line of work aren't responsible to babysit or micro manage our buyers decisions so looking at it this way I will also say that you are legitimately doing a job through a legitimate service and therefor the job you are doing has nothing directly to do with the overall business of your buyer.

8 years ago

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Lyudmilka7

Lyudmilka7

If in the back of your mind you are hesitant about a website, I would say Don't do it. You do not want to be wasting you precious time.

8 years ago

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joegirl

joegirl

Absolutely yes. As a rule, I will not write for companies that goes against my personal principles or my beliefs. For example, I would never write for an adult site, no matter how high the pay is. In the same way would I write for sites that promotes terrorist views or genocide or child molestation. You have to draw the line when it comes to how you work and where you find the work to do as a freelancer.

7 years ago

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wallet

wallet

Hi, Artois my advice for you is to avoid any illegal site. It is enough that we may encounter different problems on the way when we are joining new sites and if you want to work on a site it is better to check if that site is legit and it worth for you to join.

7 years ago

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PinkTurtle

PinkTurtle

I don't think I would like doing anything illegal. I think to beginwith, I wouldn't take any job that doesn't match my moral beliefs because I
wouldn't feel comfortable doing it. But I guess it's up to every person and
their needs too. I think needs would influence this decision in a big way
because there are times you really need the money and you can’t judge a person
for it.

7 years ago

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fishmonk

fishmonk

Yes, I will refuse to do things for illegal sites. I will not feel easy when doing work for such websites. Even if the pay is good, I am not going to accept such job offers as there's always a chance that trouble will catch onto you later.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

I was born and raised in a home of law abiding people. My parents would always tell us to avoid going near illegal places and avoid people of ill repute. In the internet, there are crimes although in a different dimension. I fully agree with your cancellation of work order. At least you are safe from getting involved in an illegal business.

7 years ago

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jaymish2

jaymish2

I agree that if you know that the site is illegal you should absolutely refuse to take their order, however much money they offer you to work for them. However the problem is that not many people would not be able to tell if the site is illegal or not. Speaking from personal experience, I would not be able to tell.Also many people will not give you a link to their site, they would just tell you to write something.

6 years ago

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Artois52

Artois52

This is good point jaymish2. I once wrote content for a site that I later found out was a scam. If feel awful about the fact that I may have contributed to some people losing their money. But, sometimes, you just don’t know if a site is legit or not.

6 years ago

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stbrians

stbrians

A phising site is just a phishing site whatever you think of it. What is the best option to do if you find out?

.Remove your subscription from the site.

. Request to leave the site.

. Incase they refuse then report them.

6 years ago

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