No. If you experience scam in Upwork, just pick only 'top rated' freelancers, they won't scam you, expect to pay $30 an hour and above. If someone is better th

No. If you experience scam in Upwork, just pick only 'top rated' freelancers, they won't scam you, expect to pay $30 an hour and above. If someone is better than a typical Upwork 'top rated' freelancer, he or she is probably not interested in work for hire (at least not hourly on rates one can get/makes sense to pay online). They either work full time in big companies which provides job security and stock options, make their own startups, or freelance locally to the people they know (where a much higher level of trust can be built so a higher pay is justified) at rates north of $150 an hour. They won't go to any alternative. And yes, Upwork below top rated status just sucks.