Is Fiverr Legit? How To Stay Safe From Scammers?

Last Updated: September 1, 2021

Are you interested in buying or selling services on Fiverr, but not completely sure whether it’s a legitimate, safe, and trustworthy platform?

If so, you’ve landed on the right post.

I’ve used Fiverr part-time for more than a year and earned over $689 from it so I am going to share my experience with you.

Here’s what I am going to cover in this article:

• Is Fiverr Legit?
• Can You Get Scammed on Fiverr?
• Tips To Avoid Getting Scammed on Fiverr
• Is Fiverr Safe?
• Are Fiverr Reviews Real?
• How To Find Reliable Sellers on Fiverr?
• Can You Cancel an Order on Fiverr?
• Types of Services You Should Avoid

So without further ado, let’s begin with the main question.

RELATED ARTICLE: How To Cancel Order On Fiverr – The Complete Guide

Is Fiverr Legit?

Fiverr is definitely a legit freelance marketplace for both buyers and sellers. However, there are possibilities of getting scammed on Fiverr if you don’t know the signs to look for before dealing, but that doesn’t mean the platform itself is not legitimate.

Additionally, the company isn’t new to take your money and run for the hills, never to be seen or heard from again. 

It has been in business since 2010 and has more than 2.1 million active buyers and 830,000 sellers from over 160 countries which further proves its legitimacy.

Apart from all that, I also earned more than $689 through Fiverr and you can trust my words.

However, it’s important to bear in mind that you’re not dealing directly with Fiverr, rather you’re dealing with the sellers or buyers on their platform. 

Basically, Fiverr works as a middleman to protect the buyer’s payment and seller’s work and in exchange, it gets its commissions from both sides.

To sum it up, I can say with confidence that it’s a completely legit platform but that doesn’t mean you’re entirely safe, you must know the signs to look for before dealing which I am going to cover in the upcoming sections.

As I mentioned earlier, you can get scammed on Fiverr, so let’s talk more about it and how to avoid scams.

Can You Get Scammed on Fiverr?

Yes, there are possibilities of getting scammed on Fiverr if you don’t know the signs to look for before dealing with a seller or buyer but this does not mean that Fiverr itself is a scam.

As I said earlier, Fiverr acts as a middleman between the buyer and seller and while it has many rules meant to protect both buyers and sellers, it is also your responsibility as a buyer or seller not to commit mistakes that could lead to fraud or scams.

So, what are those mistakes and tips to avoid getting scammed on Fiverr? Let’s dive right in.

Tips To Avoid Getting Scammed on Fiverr

The majority of scams occur when buyers and sellers fail to spot the red flags that lead them to be scammed.

No matter whether you’re a buyer or seller, below are some of the most important tips for you that can help you prevent scams, identify red flags, and determine whether a seller or buyer is legitimate.

First, let’s begin with the tips for buyers.

Tips For Buyers

1. Always check the seller before dealing
2. Nevel deal outside Fiverr
3. Review the order within 3 days of delivery
4. Do not mark orders as completed

1. Always check the seller before dealing

Before dealing with any seller, make sure to check his/her reviews and ratings given by other buyers to know the quality of service the seller is providing (more on finding a reliable seller later).

2. Nevel deal outside Fiverr 

One of the main reasons why most buyers get scammed on Fiverr is because of dealing outside the platform just to avoid Fiverr’s commission. 

It is against Fiverr’s terms of service and they clearly mentioned that any payments outside of their platform are not guaranteed.

So never deal outside and if a seller or buyer forces you to deal outside of Fiverr then it’s a red flag and you are most probably looking at a scam.

3. Review the order within 3 days of delivery

If you placed an order but not responding to the seller’s messages or queries may be due to your busy schedule but chances are some sellers might try to scam you by delivering your order without actually completing it.

Because the sellers know that your order will be marked as complete automatically after 3 days if you didn’t mark the order as complete or ask for revision and Fiverr will release the buyer’s payment to the seller.

However, Fiverr has a grace period of 13 days after an order has been marked completed and during that period they can cancel your order for you.

Make sure to review the order within 3 days of delivery and once you’re satisfied with the service then mark the order as completed and review the seller.

4. Do not mark orders as completed

Similar to the previous tip, if you’re new to Fiverr, some scammers (sellers) may ask you to mark orders as completed without actually completing them.

As you might know, Fiverr doesn’t release buyer’s payments to sellers unless the order is marked as completed.

So you should never mark your order as completed unless it is actually finished and the service has been provided.

Tips For Sellers 

1. Nevel deal outside Fiverr
2. Be Transparent In Your Gig

1. Nevel deal outside Fiverr

As I already mentioned, the buyers should never deal outside Fiverr but the same goes for the sellers as well.

Dealing outside the platform can be a big problem for sellers as compared to buyers. The buyers may only lose their money, but the sellers may lose their accounts on which they put a lot of effort.

However, this doesn’t mean that the buyer’s account can’t be banned since they’re also violating Fiverr terms of services but the buyer can create a new account in minutes.

In contrast, if the seller has good reviews and the gigs of the sellers are ranking then it will be hard for them to get orders quickly on a new account.

2. Be Transparent In Your Gig

It’s your duty as a seller to be transparent about everything in your service and what buyers can expect if they order your service.

In case, something goes wrong between you and the buyer, for example, a buyer expects too much from your service that wasn’t described so you can prove yourself right to Fiverr’s customer support team and avoid the negative impact on your account and get your payment as well.

In my experience, Fiverr gives high priority to the buyer as compared to the seller so it’s extremely important for sellers to be transparent in their gig and describe everything the buyer will get if they order your service to avoid any issues.

For more safety tips, check out this infographic below from Fiverr:

Is Fiverr Safe?

Fiverr is safe and secure unless the transactions are conducted within their platform. It has strong encryption, latest data security, and high tech anti-fraud measures in place to keep your transactions and personal details safe.

All your personal details are completely protected as long as you have a secure internet connection and transaction and communication are done only through Fiverr, payments outside of their platform are not guaranteed.

Other than that, it complies with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is the world’s most robust privacy and security law.

Any site compliance with this law means you’ve control over accessing or deleting your personal data stored on that website and since Fiverr complies with GDPR, you can delete or access your personal details any time you want.

Are Fiverr Reviews Real?

The reviews on Fiverr are undoubtedly real because they can only be given by the buyer or seller who actually did the deal. 

However, some sellers order fake Fiverr reviews either from Facebook groups or create an account as a buyer and then give 5-star reviews to his/her own account to gain the buyer’s trust.

Now, let’s talk about identifying such sellers and how you can find a reliable seller for your projects.

How To Find Reliable Sellers on Fiverr?

To find reliable sellers for your projects, make sure to follow these tips before buying their services:

• Check the reviews and read what other people are saying about the seller’s service. Always hire a seller with at least 100 reviews and more than 4.7 star ratings.
• Carefully read the description of the gig you’re interested in ordering to know what you’ll get if you order the service.
• Read the FAQ section of the gig to clear your doubts about the service or if you didn’t find an answer to your question then contact the seller and ask that question before dealing.

The most important thing is to check reviews first and if the reviews of the seller are good then pay attention to the rest.

In addition, it is always helpful to contact the seller before submitting an order so they can fully understand what you are looking for and deliver the best service possible.

Apart from that, you must check the joining date of the seller because it will help you in identifying whether the seller has real reviews or not.

Let’s say if a seller joined in July 2020 and has more than 30-100 reviews in the same or next month then chances are, that seller might have fake reviews.

As an example of a reliable and legit seller, here is what their profile looks like.

Fiverr also has a level system for the sellers and when a seller provides great customer satisfaction, delivers high-quality service, and maintains strong ratings then the seller will earn level one, two, or top-rated badges based on the performance of their services.

A seller who has any of these three badges will usually be a legitimate seller and hopefully able to satisfy your needs.

Can You Cancel an Order on Fiverr?

No matter whether you’re a buyer or seller, you can cancel your order on Fiverr but you must have a fair reason for cancellation.

You should have any legitimate reason like the delivered service isn’t as described in the gig by the seller or the buyer is requesting additional work that wasn’t described in the gig.

When it comes to cancelling an order, you will face one of these two situations:

1. Both sellers and buyers agree to cancel the order – If both agree to cancel the order then you’ve to visit the resolution center from your order page. From there, select the reason and submit the order cancellation.
2. Seller agrees but the buyer doesn’t or buyer agrees but the seller doesn’t – In this situation, if the buyer/seller doesn’t agree to cancel the order but you have a legitimate reason then you’ve to contact Fiverr customer support team and they’ll manually review the situation.

Overall, when it comes to cancelling an order, Fiverr gives high priority to the buyer as compared to the seller.

RELATED ARTICLE: How To Cancel Order On Fiverr – The Complete Guide

Types of Services You Should Avoid on Fiverr

Some gigs on Fiverr should be avoided at all costs because you will not only waste your money, but those services might also harm your online business.

1. Web Traffic & YouTube Views Gigs

It isn’t easy to drive traffic to your website, YouTube channel, or any other platform, so some buyers use Fiverr services and expect real traffic.

There are tons of sellers on Fiverr offering website traffic and YouTube views services but it is not a good idea to buy these services from them because the traffic you will receive will be generated by automated fake traffic bots or software.

When you buy their services, you’ll see the traffic in numbers but no real person will actually be using your website or watching your YouTube channel since the numbers of visits were generated by automated fake traffic software or bots.

2. Off-Page SEO Gigs

If you are familiar with SEO, then most probably you’re aware of on-page and off-page search engine optimization.

There are some good sellers providing on-page and technical SEO services.

However, you should avoid off-page SEO services at all costs because most of these services are worthless, the backlinks you’ll get will be spammy and it will hurt your website rankings in the long run.

Google is smarter than ever at identifying spammy backlinks, so you should avoid buying off-page SEO services.

3. Shoutouts & Promotion Gigs

Never buy shoutouts or promotions gigs because of very low engagements.

However, there are very few legit shoutouts and promotion services that are worth buying but most of them are worthless because of very low engagements on the seller’s Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, or any other platform.

So avoid shoutouts and promotions gigs or research the page on which you will be getting a shoutout before ordering.

Conclusion

If you have been on the fence regarding buying or selling services on Fiverr then I hope this article clears up most of the questions that you might have.

To sum up this whole article, here are my final thoughts:

Fiverr itself is a legitimate, safe, and secure freelancing platform and it has many rules meant to protect both buyers and sellers but there are possibilities of getting scammed as well if you don’t know the signs to look for before dealing with a seller or buyer.

To avoid getting scammed on Fiverr, the buyers must follow these tips:

• Always check the seller before dealing
• Nevel deal outside Fiverr
• Review the order within 3 days of delivery
• Do not mark orders as completed

And the sellers must follow these tips:

• Nevel deal outside Fiverr 
• Be Transparent In Your Gig

By following these tips, your chances of getting scammed on Fiverr are pretty much impossible.

Got questions? Let me know in the comments.

FURTHER READING

• How To Cancel Order On Fiverr – The Complete Guide
• Is Mercari Legit And How to Stay Safe From Scammers?
• Is Payoneer Safe? 8 Tips To Know Before Using It
• Is Filmora Safe, Secure, or A Virus?
• Is TubeBuddy Safe And YouTube Certified?