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New form of Internet Scam. Be on the look.
Thread poster: Javier Moreno Pollarolo
Javier Moreno Pollarolo
Javier Moreno Pollarolo
United States
Member (2009)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Feb 8, 2018

Be on the Look! This person tried to scam me (see email trend). If she got my info from ATA, why did she send me an email via Craigslist's message service?
________________________________
Hello

I'm pleased to know you are interested in handling this project.
However, I will require your service to translate the attached English document. In the mean time, could you also confirm your charges per page, per source word or for the entire translation? The deadline for
... See more
Be on the Look! This person tried to scam me (see email trend). If she got my info from ATA, why did she send me an email via Craigslist's message service?
________________________________
Hello

I'm pleased to know you are interested in handling this project.
However, I will require your service to translate the attached English document. In the mean time, could you also confirm your charges per page, per source word or for the entire translation? The deadline for this Project is 1 month starting from 02/8/2018.

Finally, what would be your preferred mode of payment? Though I'm proposing a certified bank draft, a cashier check or bank certified check. Please do not hesitate to confirm if this is okay with you? I look forward to reading from you soon.

Best Regards,
Paula Smith

On 2/8/18, craigslist 6441385368 wrote:
> Hi Paula,
>
>
>
> Please call me at xxxx so we can talk.
>
>
>
> Javier
>
>
>
> _____
>
> From: Paula Smith
> [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2018 14:59
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: SPANISH Translation Service for Denver!
>
>
>
> My name is Paula Smith, I got your contact from the American
> Translators Association and I'm contacting you in regard to an
> English content document worth 11,643 words (44 Pages). I need this
> document translated into Spanish.
> I would like to know if you are interested and available to get this
> done for me. Please get back to me as soon as you can. Thank you.
>
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
>
>
>
>
> Paula S
>
>
>
> https://denver.craigslist.org/wet/d/spanish-translation-service/644138
> 5368.h
> tml
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Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 19:22
German to English
Making the rounds Feb 8, 2018

Apparently "Paula" has been a busy girl!

Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Javier Moreno Pollarolo
Javier Moreno Pollarolo
United States
Member (2009)
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Indeed. Somebody else told me she got the same scam by "Paul S". Feb 8, 2018

So there! Just be on the look guys!

 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 20:22
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
A new scam indicator Feb 8, 2018

This has nothing to do with the case at hand, however it could be used as an additional nail to a scammer's coffin.

I got a request from a "new" (to me) translation agency in the UK. As the job was relatively small, and the end-client was a top-notch global company I have translated for through a bunch of different agencies in the past, I didn't bother to do due diligence.

I gave them my cost estimate in USD, and they agreed by e-mail to one of the payment term/method o
... See more
This has nothing to do with the case at hand, however it could be used as an additional nail to a scammer's coffin.

I got a request from a "new" (to me) translation agency in the UK. As the job was relatively small, and the end-client was a top-notch global company I have translated for through a bunch of different agencies in the past, I didn't bother to do due diligence.

I gave them my cost estimate in USD, and they agreed by e-mail to one of the payment term/method options I offered.

Then they sent me a PO. I found it strange that it showed my USD amount figure in GBP, however I thought it was because the UK form already had the £ symbol there. They'd probably notice it when I sent them my invoice in USD. I found it even stranger that they failed to mention the agreed payment term and method there, but it was on an e-mail.

The job was a quick one, though the content was quite important, a message from the CEO to all employees. I did it, delivered it with my invoice and, two weeks later as agreed, they didn't pay. One month later they hadn't paid yet. Their last e-mail was a "received, thank you" after my delivery. No response to my messages afterwards.

Then I took the time to check on them. Their web site was down, they were using Gmail, no longer their domain. They have been forbidden to post jobs on Proz, and their LWA can't get much lower.

For me, it's a good warning to brush up my scam-spotting skills, my second non-payer in four decades.

The general lesson here is that if the client is careless about currencies, this could be a red flag indicating their intent of defaulting on payment. Indeed, according to Google, GBP 'X' is worth 38% more than USD 'X'. If they didn't intend to pay anyway, the currency would be irrelevant.

I am forbidden to mention the name of the agency here, however it is easy to spot it on my profile.
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Javier Moreno Pollarolo
Javier Moreno Pollarolo
United States
Member (2009)
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you VERY MUCH! Feb 8, 2018

Thank you for letting us know about this form of scam. I'm sure they got their money from the big client and then vanished or changed their name.

 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 23:22
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Algorithms and indicators... Feb 8, 2018

José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:

This has nothing to do with the case at hand, however it could be used as an additional nail to a scammer's coffin.

I got a request from a "new" (to me) translation agency in the UK. As the job was relatively small, and the end-client was a top-notch global company I have translated for through a bunch of different agencies in the past, I didn't bother to do due diligence.

I gave them my cost estimate in USD, and they agreed by e-mail to one of the payment term/method options I offered.

Then they sent me a PO. I found it strange that it showed my USD amount figure in GBP, however I thought it was because the UK form already had the £ symbol there. They'd probably notice it when I sent them my invoice in USD. I found it even stranger that they failed to mention the agreed payment term and method there, but it was on an e-mail.

The job was a quick one, though the content was quite important, a message from the CEO to all employees. I did it, delivered it with my invoice and, two weeks later as agreed, they didn't pay. One month later they hadn't paid yet. Their last e-mail was a "received, thank you" after my delivery. No response to my messages afterwards.

Then I took the time to check on them. Their web site was down, they were using Gmail, no longer their domain. They have been forbidden to post jobs on Proz, and their LWA can't get much lower.

For me, it's a good warning to brush up my scam-spotting skills, my second non-payer in four decades.

The general lesson here is that if the client is careless about currencies, this could be a red flag indicating their intent of defaulting on payment. Indeed, according to Google, GBP 'X' is worth 38% more than USD 'X'. If they didn't intend to pay anyway, the currency would be irrelevant.

I am forbidden to mention the name of the agency here, however it is easy to spot it on my profile.


Out of curiosity and just to be on the secure side, I’ve checked them and the funny thing is that they have been banned from posting, they “earned” 1.4 for the past 12 months and 2.7 for the last 5 years and yet the sentiment of comments is “slightly positive”. Something is very wrong with these BB indicators…


 
Marcella Marino
Marcella Marino  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 00:22
Member (2016)
English to Italian
+ ...
Thank you for sharing Feb 9, 2018

Hi Javier,

thank you for sharing this information!


 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 00:22
Member
English to Italian
Machines judging "sentiments" and "feelings"... Feb 9, 2018

Teresa Borges wrote:

Out of curiosity and just to be on the secure side, I’ve checked them and the funny thing is that they have been banned from posting, they “earned” 1.4 for the past 12 months and 2.7 for the last 5 years and yet the sentiment of comments is “slightly positive”. Something is very wrong with these BB indicators…


Personally, I've always found those "indicators" useless and potentially misleading since they were announced. What is wrong is that we're having machines do things they shouldn't be doing... In this specific instance it's even more apparent (as per subject) than with (machine) translation.


 
songhan
songhan
United States
Scam Feb 10, 2018

I got the exact same email from "Paula" yesterday too! "She" even sent me the same thing AGAIN today for my other Craiglist post in another city.

 
RicardoAMorales
RicardoAMorales
United States
Local time: 19:22
English to Spanish
+ ...
Thanks for the heads up!! Apr 3, 2018

I received an email like the one posted. Appreciate the heads up.

 
Disciple Sian
Disciple Sian
United States
Local time: 18:22
English to Chin
+ ...
Thank you for your info Apr 6, 2018

Thanks for the information.

 
Rachel Braff
Rachel Braff  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:22
French to English
+ ...
Here's the follow-up if you reply to that e-mail. Apr 27, 2018

I got an e-mail with the same wording from one "Brittany" (sent from an address with a different--male--name). I had gotten an e-mail out of the blue asking for an estimate for a 12,838-word "French content document" (no information about subject matter). I replied with my rate and a timeline (no mention of deadline in the initial e-mail), and said I could give them a better idea on the rate if I could see the document or a sample of it. They sent me back a more or less legitimate looking docume... See more
I got an e-mail with the same wording from one "Brittany" (sent from an address with a different--male--name). I had gotten an e-mail out of the blue asking for an estimate for a 12,838-word "French content document" (no information about subject matter). I replied with my rate and a timeline (no mention of deadline in the initial e-mail), and said I could give them a better idea on the rate if I could see the document or a sample of it. They sent me back a more or less legitimate looking document, an academic paper about workplace management (using "academic" somewhat loosely here).

The e-mail with the wording in question also included a proposed timeline, which made it look more legitimate; but her stilted English combined with the weirdness of signing "her" name to an e-mail that had previously been signed by a "Kelvin" (okay, so she's his assistant?) made it seem weird.

I had forgotten about it but just got a follow-up e-mail from them, asking once again for the total price ("But what would be your full price for the job?")* even though I'd already specified that, and proposing to pay me in advance by check "so you know you have my job with you". They asked for my name, address, and phone number, and even threw in "their" own address, in Miami (street view shows a cute little house probably belonging to some unsuspecting granny).

So that's what happens if you respond. I was suspicious, but there were some elements of the whole thing that could have matched a scenario of a foreign student with no experience getting things professionally translated; so I can see how someone of a more positive, optimistic nature could be taken in by this.


*Also scammy, but experience selling things on Craigslist has taught me that even non-scammers are incredibly likely to ask questions that were previously answered.
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Javier Moreno Pollarolo
 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 19:22
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Proz Scam Alert Page Apr 27, 2018

https://www.proz.com/about/translator-scam-alerts

 
Rutie Eckdish
Rutie Eckdish  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 19:22
Hebrew to English
+ ...
BEWARE - scammers using ProZ. Com. as of FEB 2020 - scam still going on Feb 19, 2020

It is not over.
I just received an invitation to translate a document "LAST CHANGED: JULY 2017. Document name: PUBLIC ORGANISATION PROCEDURES RESEARCH PHASE 1. Translation due - one month from now, and payment: "I'm proposing a cashier check or bank certified check for the payment."
The writer also requested ". In the mean time, could you also confirm your charges per page, per source word or for the entire translation?"
Since it came via ProZ.Com - I was tempted to accept,
... See more
It is not over.
I just received an invitation to translate a document "LAST CHANGED: JULY 2017. Document name: PUBLIC ORGANISATION PROCEDURES RESEARCH PHASE 1. Translation due - one month from now, and payment: "I'm proposing a cashier check or bank certified check for the payment."
The writer also requested ". In the mean time, could you also confirm your charges per page, per source word or for the entire translation?"
Since it came via ProZ.Com - I was tempted to accept, and last minute realized the bad guys are getting as sophisticated as we are...
so, no, [email protected]. Until I hear differently - I will NOT send you any more correspondence.
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Javier Moreno Pollarolo
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 00:22
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
"It came via ProZ.com" Feb 19, 2020

Rutie Eckdish wrote:
Since it came via ProZ.com, I was tempted to accept, and last minute realized...


Remember, anyone can write you an e-mail "via ProZ.com". The fact that it comes "via ProZ.com" means nothing in terms of reliability. It only means that the person had visited your profile page and clicked a button on it.

If you receive any scam e-mails via ProZ.com, please report it.

* If it is a personal message, then at the bottom of the e-mail there is a line:
Unsolicited advertising? Spam? Click here: http://www.proz.com/?sp=ef&report_spam=[number]
* If it is a jobs post, go to https://go.proz.com/help and scroll down, click the "Submit a support request" button, and select "Report abuse" in the "Type of issue" dropdown list.


Javier Moreno Pollarolo
Yolanda Broad
Liviu-Lee Roth
 
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New form of Internet Scam. Be on the look.







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