I see your point, in that if they allowed freelancers to keep the money, carders could launder money money via upwork. But here's the thing: generally it's a pr

I see your point, in that if they allowed freelancers to keep the money, carders could launder money money via upwork. But here's the thing: generally it's a principle of good law for a risk to be laid on the party that can mitigate it. How can you, as an upwork worker, mitigate the risk of a client using a stolen card? Answer: you can't because you are not the one processing the card. So there is a moral hazard in that choice too.