Maybe he is working for a bounty hunter before or he already read some of the bounty thread and notice the changes on pay rate compared before.

I work with freelancer in the past for my translation work and article writing bounty due to heavy loads of pending work . I just split my bounty 50/50 to them for doing there job. We continue this kind of setup for 1 year. Eventually, The guy decided to participate on bounty for himself rather doing freelance with me so I understand this guy if he is really telling the truth.

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Being a bounty hunter now is a waste of time. You will stumble on many scam project and you will waste a lot of time on working for them without any payment. It is better to accept freelance job right now because it will give you a sure profit.