Every freelance scam attacks the same moment: the handoff of work or money before either is secured. Learn the seven recurring patterns, what a legitimate client never asks you for, how to verify one in five minutes, and exactly what to do in the first hour after you realise something is wrong.
Not about your tax return — about the document you send and the terms printed on it. Which document you are actually issuing, what every invoice should carry, a numbering series that survives being asked about a year later, terms people honour, and a three-step follow-up ladder for a late payment.
You do not need a twenty-page agreement. You need seven things named clearly and a record that both sides agreed to them. The clauses that matter, how to write exclusions that prevent an argument rather than start one, what “IP transfers on final payment” means in practice, and what to send the client who will not sign anything.