Scammers exist in a variety of industries, including the translation industry, unfortunately. They are the scourge of real translators and hiring managers alike, damaging reputations and wasting time and money. But now, one well-organized group is fighting back.

What’s the Scam

In the basic version of the scam, scammers steal CVs from real translators and then change the listed email address to a free email address the scammer controls. They may also partially change the CV, or cobble several stolen CVs together to “create” a new one. They then offer their “translation” services under the stolen or made-up identities.

Unfortunately, these scammers depend on uninformed clients, project managers and hiring managers not doing their due diligence and making terrible hiring decisions.

Once a scammer secures a job, the translation is done very shoddily or with Google Translate, for example, in the hopes that the manager, client or company doesn’t notice fast enough. But if someone complains, the scammers make threats or vanish, and then quickly move on to a new victim.

At a minimum, these scammers are guilty of identity theft and fraud.

No Scammers

Working in the communications industry for several decades, I’ve found real translators to be a pretty passionate bunch: about language, about communication and about finding just the right words to express a thought.

Unfortunately, translation scammers are making it more difficult for good, hardworking translators to fight through the noise and make a living. At the same time, scammers are making it more time-consuming for translation agencies to find the right, qualified translators.

In fact, we’ve received many fake CVs (and very terrible cover letters) from scammers over the years, but the professionalism and rigor of our hiring managers has ensured that we have never hired one of them.

Responsive Translation has a thorough vetting system for all new translators we hire — not to mention the quality assurance practices we have in place throughout the translation process.

Some of our translation projects are created by teams of translators, but absolutely every translation we do is checked and improved by several editors to ensure that no errors (and definitely no scammers) have gotten into the mix.

Exposing the Scammers

Slator recently wrote about the Translator Scammers Directory. This website, compiled by the volunteer Translator Scammers Intelligence Group, exposes the activities of translation scammers. There they make public (and Googleable) fake CVs, fake profiles and the email addresses some scammers use. They also provide tips on spotting fake CVs and how to fight back.

They hope that by shedding light on the scammers’ practices and promoting awareness, they will help to reduce the damage scammers are causing around the world.

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