Scammed on Upwork Translation Job—Requested Payment for Fake Bank Fees

I took my first job on Upwork to translate a 60-page literary work from English to Turkish, with a promise of $1,800 in payment. I was directed to Telegram by someone named Sonia James for communication. She provided all the project details and seemed trustworthy. After completing the project, I received positive feedback within 12 hours. Then I was introduced to Patrick Weil from the finance department, who requested my IBAN, SWIFT code, bank name, full name, country, email, and phone number. I was told I would receive a support email from the bank. Everything seemed normal until the email arrived, asking for $95 for transaction fees and my personal ID information. When I researched the supposed bank (Trustbnkconnect), I realized it didn’t exist. They even sent a fake photo of the payment process. I later learned that all communication and payments should happen strictly through Upwork. I didn’t get paid for my work but feel lucky I avoided a bigger loss. Be cautious when asked to move communication off Upwork.