As all netizens know, there are a huge number of swindlers on both sides of the barricades. In order not to be deceived when cooperating on the Internet, you need to know the deception schemes, which you can familiarize yourself with right now.
The situation with Shaun Ferguson is far from unique and not the first in the history of mankind. Considering that his claims against both companies (NIX Solutions, Xicom Technologies) are practically the same, we can conclude that he is clearly fraudulent (you can compare claims and see screenshots of the sites created on the home page). Some people call this type of scam "friendly scam".
Friendly scam
This name usually means the purchase of a product/service with the aim of a further refund. The contractor does his job, after which the attacker makes a claim to the bank/intermediary, claiming that the service was not performed/performed poorly.
In our case, Upwork prevents such situations. The system saves the complete history of the interaction between the client and the contractor, and therefore an attacker can only win in court.
Falsification of payment orders
Suppose a company receives a rush order to build a website and the customer has already made a prepayment. Naturally, the company gets to work. Having sent an invoice to the client, the contractor receives a payment order and does not check the availability of money in the account. After successfully completing the work, the company discovers that the money has not arrived in their account.
In this case, the scammers focus on the contractor's negligence when checking payments, plus they leave applications at an inconvenient time for the contractor: the end of the working day/week, the time when the bank branches are already closed.
Documents and sites forgery
Hiding behind a non-existent company, the client pays for the services of contractors not from the company's account, which can be traced, but from an individual. The buyer convincingly explains that it is more convenient this way. The contractor, who has already received part of the amount, calms down and does not notice the threat hanging over him. As soon as the client receives the completed work, it immediately disappears and then it becomes clear that the documents and signatures were fabricated.