Customers may go through the phone verification workflow a few different ways:
- When a new freelancer signs up for an Upwork account
- When a freelancer tries to apply to a job
- When a client posts their first job,
They’ll be asked to enter their phone number to go through a phone verification flow. This flow is known as “onboarding phone verification” and asks the customer to enter in a 5-digit pin number that they would have received by text message.
Important: If the pin/code is a 6-digit number, this is not considered “onboarding phone verification” and is based on our 2SV (2-step verification) process, so please see **User Login Trouble for those cases.
When a customer goes through the “onboarding phone verification” flow, they receive an automatic text message (to the phone number they added in when creating their account) which includes a verification code/pin that’s 5-digits long. The customer should enter the code/pin on the “verify your phone number” page.
If customers have any trouble with this process, follow these steps:
A customer may have trouble a few different ways:
Scenario A: stating they are having trouble receiving the 5-digit phone verification code (not receiving an error message, just simply not receiving the code texted to them)
- See the “Not Receiving Code Handling” below
Scenario B: receiving an error message that states “You attempted to change your phone number too many times”
- Ask the customer specifically which phone number they’re trying to verify (don’t assume it’s the one in their Identify section of OBO as this may not be the case)
- Go to Identity > wrench icon > Phone Verification > click “Create Phone Verification” > fill in proper CSS Notes including the CAUSE as “customer did not receive PV code via text due to ‘attempted to change too many times’ error not allowing sent, resending here” (there’s a checkbox for “voice” if they’d like a voice call vs. SMS) - you just sent through a new code to the customer; ask them to enter the code and/or try phone verification again if they weren’t able to add the new code in time
- If this works, stop here
- If the issue persists, there may be something larger at bay, so please send to Tech Support for assistance (FL / HV FL agents - see #cs-freelancersupport):
-
- Update “Assignee” to Technical_Support_AE315
- Add “Internal Notes” including:
- the customer is not receiving the 5-digit pin trying to verify their phone number
- list the phone number they’re trying to verify
- include the term “TASK 181” if a FL account and “TASK 138” if a CL account
- Choose Task under “Type”
- Set ticket to “Open”
Scenario C: receiving an error message that states “already in use”
- Ask the customer specifically which phone number they’re trying to verify (don’t assume it’s the one in their Identify section of OBO as this may not be the case)
- In OBO, go to the Identify section > wrench > phone verification > click “Show Telesign Data”
- The exact phone number with country code / format the customer is trying to verify will populate
- Using that number, open Task 81 here
- Enter in the number and click “Search” > UID for customer will populate (it’s important to use the phone number from the Telesign logs and not the number in the Identity section)
- This will showcase what accounts are associated with this phone number (you’re looking for the ones that say SMS as that means they have the onboarding PV associated)
- Once you’re able to confirm which account the number is associated with, choose the option below that matches the situation.
If the customer has another Upwork account - Let them know they have another Upwork account where their phone number is already verified. Walk them through accessing that account (either helping them to login or re-opening) + helping them to close out their new account.
- If they insist on keeping their newer account - we want to avoid allowing them to proceed with their newly opened account and focus on the original. Per Terms of Service, users are only allowed to have one account, not allowed to manipulate the feedback system, and not allowed to take action moving around our policies. This implies that they can't just "start fresh". In most cases, customers will have just simply forgotten they had an older account and think it’s easier to continue with the new, but a little guidance that focusing on the original will get them back up and running quick can help! & if needed, you can send the ticket to CE for a quick review / explanation on policy for the customer.
If the customer’s phone number is connected to another customer’s account -
This can happen in situations where Customer A verified their phone number and later got a new phone number, but never updated in their account. Customer B acquires that same phone number, but when they try to register, they receive an error that it’s already in use. Customer B is likely who will reach out to CS for help.
Check the OBO account for Customer A to determine when the last time they used Upwork was - User Actions in OBO can help determine last login -
- If the last login was within the last 6-months, please see a Lead to report. Leads, see CS Leadership channel so management can look into this further with our T&S team as this should be a very uncommon scenario.
If the last login was 6+ months ago, please see an SA / Lead to remove the phone verification from Customer A which will allow Customer B to verify (if Customer A comes back to Upwork, they’ll redo phone verification with their new number, as well). SA / Lead, follow “Removing Phone Verification” process in the SA / TL only drop-down.
If this is related to an “already in use” error message, please do not follow this process and refer to “Scenario C” in the above processes. It’s also possible they see a “Verification limit has exceeded” error, but it’s important to continue with all the below to ensure their number is accurate.
Make sure the number the customer is trying to verify matches what is listed on their account:
- Ask the customer specifically which phone number they’re trying to verify (don’t assume it’s the one in their Identify section of OBO as this may not be the case)
- Once their phone number is confirmed, in OBO, go to the Identify section > wrench > phone verification > click “Show Telesign Data”
- The exact phone number with country code / format the customer inputted to verify will populate
- Confirm the number shown and country code are correct based on what the customer shared with you they’re trying to verify (be sure that all digits are there), + ensure the format is showing correctly (should be no spaces / dashes) - see here.
- If the format / digits were incorrect, click “Show PV logs” to see how many attempts they have had, see here (if less than 3, they can try again by entering the proper digits / format, but if more 3 attempts, go straight to “If all the above is accurate and they’re still not receiving the code” below)
- If the format / digits were correct, continue to step 5
- Confirm if the PV is “expired” - click “Show PV logs” to determine if the verification shows as “Expired” like here
- If expired, see SA / Lead to delete the PV; once completed, the customer can try again
- If NOT expired, continue to step 6
- Verify “score” is equal or lower than 801
- If equal or lower than 801, continue on to “If all the above is accurate and they’re still not receiving the code”
- If higher than 801, text messages are blocked for this number (internal only). This should be very rare, but if it does happen, please request the customer uses a different number
If all the above is accurate and they’re still not receiving the code -
- Go to Identity > wrench icon > Phone Verification > click “Create Phone Verification” > fill in proper CSS Notes including the CAUSE as “customer did not receive PV code via text, attempting resend” (there’s a checkbox for “voice” if they’d like a voice call vs. SMS) - you just sent through a new code to the customer; ask them to enter the code and/or try phone verification again if they weren’t able to add the new code in time
- If this works, stop here
- If the issue persists, there may be something larger at bay, so please send to Tech Support for assistance (FL / HV FL agents - see #cs-freelancersupport):
- Update “Assignee” to Technical_Support_AE315
- Add “Internal Notes” including:
- the customer is not receiving the 5-digit pin trying to verify their phone number
- list the phone number they’re trying to verify
- include the term “TASK 181” if a FL account and “TASK 138” if a CL account
- Choose Task under “Type”
- Set ticket to “Open”
Remove Phone Verification Process (TL / SA Only):
Removing Phone Verification:
This should only be used in a situation as outlined in “Scenario C” > “Customer’s phone number is connected to another customer’s account” OR if the PV was shown as “Expired” in the PV log.
- Open Task 81 here
- Enter the country code and the phone number without spaces and click “Search” > UID for customer will populate (it’s important to use the phone number the agent received from the customer and not the number in the Identity section as this may not necessarily be the number the customer is trying to verify)
- Choose the proper next path based on the situation
If “Scenario C” > Customer’s phone number is connected to another customer’s account:
- Check off the SMS & 2FA option (if avail) > enter proper CSS Notes with the inclusion of:
- CAUSE = Customer [Customer B OBO URL] holds this phone number now - deleted PV with current number from this account as customer hasn’t used Upwork in [insert timeframe]
- NEXT STEPS = If this customer starts using Upwork again, they’ll need to do PV again using their new, current number
- Click “Delete Selected”
- Open the OBO account for the customer where PV was just deleted and add a suspension of “Phone Verification is needed” > enter proper CSS Notes similar to the ones above
- Share with CS agent this is all set so they can share with their customer to try the PV again.
If “Scenario A” > PV “Expired”:
- Check off the SMS & 2FA option (if avail) > enter proper CSS Notes with the inclusion of:
- CAUSE = Customer PV expired, deleting to allow them to try again
- Click “Delete Selected”
- Let agent know the customer can try again + ensure the customer understands they’ll need to go to their security settings, as well, to add back the two-step verification, if they’d like to