CS agents simply have to complete the AML suspicious activity referral form to report suspicious activities. No need to escalate tickets.
Anti-money laundering (AML) refers to the laws, regulations and procedures intended to prevent criminals from disguising illegally obtained funds as legitimate income.
Why Should We Care?
- Our customers expect Upwork to comply with AML laws.
- If Upwork were used to launder money, we'd lose our customers' trust, resulting in loss of customers and huge reputational harm.
- Our banking and payment partners expect Upwork to implement these safety measures and non-compliance could result in the loss of our banking and payment partners.
- It's the right thing to do. With billions of dollars flowing through our platform, It's only right that we minimize the chance that our platform is used as a means to launder illegally received gains.
Money laundering happens on Upwork? There have been instances of bad actors attempting to use Upwork for money laundering. But with our AML program and your help, we are better able to prevent these activities.
- Money launderers take illicit funds and disguise their illegal sources in order to use the funds to perform legal (or even other illegal) activities.
- These criminal and illegal activities include:
- Funding Organized Crime
- Terrorist Financing
- Trafficking/Illegal Trade
- Sanctions Evasion
- Cybercrime
What is CX’s Role in Upwork’s AML Program?
- Comply with OFAC requirements
- Call out suspicious activities
- Suspicious Activities
- At Upwork suspicious activity has two definitions, depending on the circumstances:
- Irregular or questionable customer behavior or activity that may be related to money laundering or other criminal offenses, or to the financing of a terrorist activity. For example, a transaction that is inconsistent with a customer’s known legitimate business, personal activity or the normal level of activity for the kind of business. OR
- Any use of Upwork where the apparent true owner/authorized user of a payment method attempts to move money from one account to another where there is no indication or evidence of work being done. Such activity is outside of the terms of use outlined in Upwork’s Terms of Service.
- In essence, if something doesn't look right, or if it doesn't make sense, it is considered suspicious activity. Please note that “suspicious activity” does not indicate that money laundering has taken place, however, it does point out an inconsistency that should be further investigated!
- As an Upwork team member it’s important to “Know Your Customer”, comply with OFAC requirements and call out suspicious activities or noted inconsistencies.
- A customer who attempts to bypass or avoid answering questions about who they are and what they are doing.
- A customer who is attempting to do business with a fake identity
- A customer who is attempting to do business with no clear purpose (payments are not business or work related)
- A customer who has adverse media, or web presence, indicating they have been involved in criminal activity.
- A customer who is attempting to pay with someone else’s payment method - who is unrelated to their company (as in, payments are coming from an unknown source)
- Suspected involvement of a sanctioned location (OFAC).
- Unjustified or unreasonable payments are being made or there is no clear indication of work being done.
- Payment amounts or size of payment is unusual for the type of work
- Many small payments are being made frequently to the same person
- Fixed rate contracts with multiple small payments rather than one large payment in a short amount of time.
- Hourly contracts with regular bonus or expense payments for no clear reason
- Payment or contract is inconsistent with customer’s known business
Also, please keep in mind that all accounts are subject to KYC and AML review regardless of size or status. Please report all suspicious activity on all account types.
Change in payment pattern
Client, ABC Company, is a high value client at Upwork with consistent freelancers and contracts. This client pays consistently in large manual wires of over $20,000 US dollars.
In the month of April, the client made a large number of small manual wire deposits in place of large and fewer deposits. Due to the consistency of payments from this client, this large sudden change in payment pattern is unusual. A large change in a consistent pattern (both an increase or decrease) that is unexplained should be considered suspicious. This activity should be sent to the AML team as a referral to clear the unusual payment activity.
Payment for questionable or no work
Client, Retail Sales R Us, hired freelance talent, Marian, for a contract titled “product testing”. Upon review of the client it was noted that the client was in the retail business and owned warehousing and storage that included import activities.
The client, Retail Sales, and the freelancer, Marian, had previously been reviewed and warned for a policy violation. However, since no clear evidence of wrongdoing was found, they were allowed to continue.
Flagged again for review, it was discovered that Marian’s profile was for work as a “translator” seemingly unrelated to retail or product testing. While not a violation and potentially normal for Marian, it is a red flag to note.
Additionally, while reviewing the contract terms between Retail Sales and Marian it was discovered that Marian would be responsible for ordering products abroad and tracking the timeline for shipment to arrive in the U.S. Marian would cover all expenses but be reimbursed a portion of the cost later and she would be able to keep the product ordered. Again, a red flag.
Although some proof of work was provided by the client and freelancer, AML concerns arise in that Upwork is being used to facilitate payments for work that can not be properly tracked or validated. As payments had been made between the client and freelance talent - this exposes Upwork to risk.
Due to the red flags and payment activity outside of the intended use of Upwork, these accounts should be referred to the AML team for review to ensure that money laundering or terrorist financing activities are not taking place.
More examples:
- For example: When an Upwork team member onboards a new customer, it is important not to jump or skip any steps within the verification and authentication process so Upwork can actually KYC.
- An example of pointing out suspicious activity includes:During the identity verification process an Upwork team member notices a freelancer who has had multiple name changes. Or If an Upwork team member comes across a profile of a website developer/designer trying to get a contract opportunity as a Virtual Assistant. The Upwork team member should not overlook these suspicious activities and should properly escalate their concerns.
Remember, if something doesn't look right, if it doesn't make sense, it's suspicious. “Suspicious” does not mean there is concrete evidence of bad acting, however, it does point out an inconsistency that should be further investigated.
AML Suspicious Activity Referral Form
Reporting suspicious activity through the proper channel can prevent Upwork from risk and can stop bad actors from bad activities. Preventing money laundering and other criminal activities requires teamwork. If you find suspicious activity that requires additional review please report it. If you are unsure if activity is suspicious but have concerns, report it. Reporting is easy.
The AML suspicious activity referral form is a quick and easy checklist and fact gathering form for you to use during your escalation or referral process.
CS agents simply have to complete the form. No need to escalate tickets.