Comment by jamil7

Two entities entering a contractual agreement over an agreed price doesn't in anyway meet the definition of a scam so I'm not sure where you're getting that from. You sound somewhat naive on how negotiations like this often go, clients will pull all kinds of tricks to try and low-ball or scam free or below rate work out of freelancers, it's par for the course. You learn early on ways to spot them and ways to avoid them, difficult clients are often also price sensitive ones (no not always) so it's a pretty common way of getting out quickly and avoiding having an awkward discussion.