He elaborated about his issues with the Connect-based bidding system, stating that "if scammers pay for proposals, that makes [Upwork] money as well. The proposal earnings is just a huge potential conflict of interest with what the site provides. Why root out scammers if you get paid per proposal?"Raised in Manilla, Ralph Ngo thought he'd won big when he landed a job with Upwork that promised him $5 for every page of a middle school science textbook he converted into a multiple-choice question. The Philippines, like many English-speaking foreign nations where workers can be paid far less than their U.S. counterparts, is a natural fit for a place like Upwork. Philippines-based outsourcing firms advertise the labor on offer — for prices as low as $3.33 per hour — and Upwork's Western "enterprise" clients get to shop at fire sale prices while Upwork merely hosts the connection.