Freelancer.com focused on employer only, they just want as many employer and project as they can regardless of their country, verification status and deposits. However all the restriction is for employee. This is the reason Freelancer didn't stop them to post project without deposit. Almost 90% projects are fake (either posted by freelancer itself or fake/fraud employers). You have to be careful. Keep following things in mind will prevent you from fraud much.
1. Don't work for Employers from India/Bangladesh/Sri Lanka/Nigeria/Israel
2. Don't work for Employers whose name looks like Indian
3. Once the project is awarded to you, don't accept it unless the employer created initial milestone. Wait for at least 12 hours after milestone creation then accept it.
4. Ask for release step by step, don't work on next milestone unless previous is not released
5. Withdraw money from freelancer as fast as you can.