I had an uncomfortable experience with Upwork. I hired a freelancer to work on my project. I noticed some issues with honesty and ethics in his work and communication with me. I got a really bad feeling about him and we ended the contract.

Then I did some research on him and it turns out he is a convicted felon for distributing child ____. His case was covered extensively in international news. I alerted Upwork to this and also showed them proof of his dishonest behavior with me (all communication with him was within the Upwork messaging system). Yet as far as I can see nothing changed and he is still very prominently featured on their platform. (Also he has changed his name now.)

He left me a quite vengeful review & rating (turns out he does this with many of his clients). He was working on a sensitive area of my business. Feels stressful to have a conflict with someone like him. I felt nervous even reporting him.