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A Terrible Experience with Malt - Freelancers, Stay Alert!

Hello fellow freelancers, my name is Salvatore. I’ve been a social media strategist for 10 years and have been a freelancer on Malt for many years, even achieving Super Malter status.I want to share my negative experience with Malt to protect others and help make sure what happened to me doesn't happen to you. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.On August 14th, I received a notification from Malt saying that my profile was matched with a Meta ads management project. It was right in my area of expertise, so I was quite excited. I reached out to the “client” via the Malt chat, and he told me I was exactly the kind of professional he was looking for. He asked for my email to give me access to his platform so I could evaluate his situation. Unfortunately, the link he sent me was fraudulent, and he ended up hacking into my professional Meta accounts, spending several thousand euros on my clients' ad accounts. Of course, I had to cover these charges myself, as I was the one who clicked the link, and my clients were in no way at fault.I immediately contacted Malt to report the scammer, as I suspected he was attempting to scam others with the same fake project. Since it was during a holiday weekend in France, I didn’t hear back from Malt until August 16th, two days later, which gave the hacker plenty of time to potentially scam other freelancers.The response I received from Dounia at Malt was deeply disappointing. She stated: "In recent days, we have detected attempts of phishing related to Meta Business Manager. These fraudulent emails or messages aim to recover your Meta login details via a fake link. To protect our community, our security team moderates users responsible for such incidents."In short, Malt was aware of a spike in phishing attempts targeting professionals in my field but did not see fit to warn freelancers—neither by displaying an alert on their website nor by sending a direct email. They could have, at the very least, notified freelancers who work specifically with Meta.I received no meaningful assistance from Malt. They could have offered guidance on how to handle the situation with Meta, referred me to a lawyer, or connected me with a technician to secure my accounts, but none of that happened. For a platform that prides itself on "creating a space where you can thrive, personally and professionally.," it would be nice if they took measures to prevent scammers from destroying a freelancer’s business.Since this unfortunate experience, I have continued to be matched with scam profiles, which I report diligently, but Malt still allows them to remain on the platform. Just yesterday, I reported a suspicious job listing through the Malt help center. Axel from Malt thanked me for reporting it and assured me that the profile had been suspended and the listing removed. However, as of today, the listing is still active in my project feed.Malt requires us freelancers to submit numerous official documents (e.g., compliance certificates, business documents). Meanwhile, it appears that any scammer can easily create a project and scam others without any verification. I believe Malt should implement a thorough document verification process before allowing anyone to post a job.It’s time for Malt to wake up and put in place a robust security system to protect the core of their platform: the freelancers. Malt, if you’re short on time, consider hiring people who would be more than happy to help you with this.Thank you,
Salvatore

Date of experience: Oct 01, 2024