WARNING : YliaP STOLE MY MONEY SHE IS A THIEF

All Devshed members I am warning you from a lady her using this nickname "YliyaP" she is from Ukrain and she is a theif, she stole my money which I sent thru western Union to her to make a chatting system but she did nothing,
she started to ignore me on msn and telephone after she got the money.
and after sending a lot of e-mail messages and after a very boring weeks she gave me a very funny demo doesnt have even 5% of what i told her to do.
then i told her that I gaveup and i want my money back she said ok ok in 4 hours you will get your work done.
these 4 hours turned to weeks again.
and now she is ignoring me again and again.
but I told her that i know how to get my money back, I have my ways since i have her telephone number and I got her address lately.
and if she will not send my money back, I will give her a lesson that she will never forget, so she will never think to scam in such a good place like devshed.com and with an honest innocent people like us.

It's best to go to verified places rather making a post.

Thanks for sharing, though. It's hard to find great places on the Net.

Sorry to hear of that, a llot of scammers use western union, my advice to anyone is to excercise extreme caution when dealing with people usin western union or asking for wire tranfers. Although PayPal does suck, at least theres an amount of traceability and accountability with it.

How can I find safe places and safe developers ?
what do you recommend me as payment method ?
what is the common payment strategy or protocol between the developer and the hirer?
thanks, and please write any important notes you would like everyone to know.

Sorry to hear this. I did create a thread where users could post about positive/negative people they'd used for projects, but no one really posted in it so I ended up deleting it. If you're paying someone who you don't know and don't necessarily trust, I suggest you use an escrow service in the future. Don't just send them all the money.

Sorry to hear that =(

Well if you need somone that won't scam you to finish the project -- let me know.

My email is b*o*u*n*t*y*x*@*b*o*u*n*t*y*x*.*n*e*t*
and you can review my credentials at:
b*o*u*n*t*y*x*.*n*e*t*

(remove the *'s)

I can basically do anything you need done just request a quote or contact me via email. References from past clients are available as well. If you are located in the US then timezones shouldnt be a problem.

Sadly, advance fee scams are all too common. I recommend that you visit www.419eater.com, where scambaiters are tirelessly engaged in the disruption of scammer activities.

Bear in mind that many scammers operate as part of organised gangs. The scammer you dealt with might be at a low level of a much larger gang. These gangs are known to kidnap, and in some cases murder, their victims. It is inadvisable to try to teach a lesson to your scammer yourself, since they have your real address details.

Please, go to www.419eater.com and tell your story there. I can guarantee that you will be helped. I cannot say much more here, but trust me.

Well this does not sound like the Nigerian scam, but it's a scam never the less.

Her: I will do X for you for $$, but I've been scammed before so pay me first so I know you are honest.
You: I'm honest OK here's your $$.
Her: I'm not, hahaha sucker.

I would rather suggest that you ask for sample of work, websites, references etc, and never pay in advance upfront. No one honest would ask for payment before work is completed. If it smells like a fish, it probably is a fish. I had a guy want me to do work for him on his server. I said no, I do it on mine, you check it out, when you're happy you pay me and I install it on yours. He went off and found another victim, got his work done, never paid, then transferred it all to a server in a distant state.

asking for references, sample work and other types of background checks is fine, but suggestion not to pay up front is the worst suggestion i heard,
as a developer, i NEVER do a single line of code without some type of payment upfront.
I usually ask for about 25% up front, and the rest on completion, if a client is not willing to pay the 25% up front, i dont even bother because on number of occassions i have done the work, completed, and the client says "sorry i dont have the money to pay for the project anymore"
so the 25% at least gives u some HOPE.
anyways, being scammed sucks, been scammed as a developer as well as a online buyer of things,
not pretty, hope no one goes through it
and those that do scam people on a hire developer should be hanged then shot because it makes all of us honest developers look bad.

my 2 cents

I should have said "no one honest will require FULL payment in advance." The original poster didn't say whether he paid in full or not. Of course scamming can be a 2 way street. As a developer I don't begin without $$ either, but then I don't look for gigs from strangers on the internet. But from the client's point of view even 25% is a lot to be out if the project is in any way large. I might pay 25% up front to someone local whom I can demand a refund from and/or take to small claims court if they don't produce, but certainly not anyone in a foreign country where the laws of my country do not apply.

The more I hang out on the internet the more degenerate I find humans to be, in greater numbers than I ever thought possible. If most people were honest we could tolerate the occasional rotten apple. What I've found when dealing in cyberspace is that if there is any way people can get away with being thieves or scum in some other slimy way, they are as likely to do it as not, and that, my friends, is why I am paranoid and you should be too.

Hello,
I am CEO of Ukrainian based software company and your situation is very painful for me. Such rascals as mentioned programer create very bad impression regarding Ukrainian IT business.
So, as i wrote I'm in Ukraine and can try to find the thief. If you sent money via Western Union you must know his/her full name (Yliya is man's name, perhaps Yulia?) and address. Contact me by PM if you are intrested. Its for free.

Moved to Business Help.

Thanks for the heads up. I like using the US postal service and there money orders. I know it would not help you here but in the US and other G8 nations it's like having your own attorneys and police.

Not as cut and dry as that but much better than Pay Pal and Western Union. If some one is unwilling to accept a US Postal Money Order or other G8 Money Order it's probably because there not entirely legit.

thats a nice offer ProSoft-T... good to see fellow IT professionals helping out when they see injustice.. good on you mate