| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Possible scam from an Italian translation agency Thread poster: Bogdan Dusa
|
|---|
Jeff Whittaker 
United States
Local time: 07:10
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Possible scam | Jan 10, 2013 |
Maybe someone should send an e-mail to PayPal. I am sure this is against their policies somewhere.
| | | | JaneD
Sweden
Local time: 13:10
Member (2009)
Swedish to English
+ ...
| Unique Selling Point | Jan 10, 2013 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
And their slogan on ProZ.com is "A Translation that suits your nedds!". All of these things say "steer clear".
Not if you've got nedds with particular requirements that you haven't been able to fulfil elsewhere (and let's face it, nedds can be tricky things to satisfy) - then it would be a perfect slogan.
| | | | | Scam I fell for | Jan 10, 2013 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
Nelida Kreer wrote:
I thought that as the payment required through PayPal was only 1 usd, there was no harm done and no great loss in trying. The payment was confirmed by PayPal as usual.
Were you asked (as Chiara was) to provide your credit card details?
Thanks for asking, Samuel. As I posted under my follow-up comment (under "Additional comment"), by that time I had started having some strong misgivings, and I simply quit the site without noticing the "continue" button mentioned by Chiara. So fortunately no, I did not provide any financially sensitive info, such as credit card details etc. I am going to contact PayPal however, and let them know that this is allegedly a scam.
My only worry is that I sent them my CV and street address, but I don't think that their scam focuses on impersonation, rather on financial gain.
| | | | | Mail to PayPal | Jan 10, 2013 |
I have just sent the following mail to PayPal:
"I just made a payment of US.D 1 (one US dollar) to XXX Translations which was confirmed by you as having been made to one Mr. XYZ. This is to report that according to a forum of ProZ translator colleagues, this is most likely a scam, and wish to denounce it as such.
If there is the possibility to stop the payment I will appreciate it, but if it is not, then I would recommend that you flag this payee as an alleged scammer. ... See more I have just sent the following mail to PayPal:
"I just made a payment of US.D 1 (one US dollar) to XXX Translations which was confirmed by you as having been made to one Mr. XYZ. This is to report that according to a forum of ProZ translator colleagues, this is most likely a scam, and wish to denounce it as such.
If there is the possibility to stop the payment I will appreciate it, but if it is not, then I would recommend that you flag this payee as an alleged scammer. For your reference, please see the above mentioned thread at the ProZ forum:
Possible scam from an Italian translation agency (Scams) http://bit.ly/U7F9aB
Best regards and thank you for your understanding and for any action that you see fit to undertake."
Just so that PayPal is aware of the problem and may do something about it and save other colleagues from putting their foot into it, as I did.
[Edited at 2014-01-07 20:01 GMT]
[Edited at 2014-01-07 20:03 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Bogdan Dusa
Romania
Local time: 14:10
English to Romanian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Scammers usually look for credit card details | Jan 10, 2013 |
You shouldn't worry, Nelida. No scammer (in case this is a scam) would pay attention to post address or other similar info. They only try to steal money from bank accounts - that's why they ask for credit card details.
| | | |
Samuel Murray wrote:
kiara kiaora wrote:
I had a look at their website and noticed the following:
1) The only people who can register are PayPal accounts holders.
Well, the PayPal payment page does have a link for people without PayPal accounts, but since they want to pay translators via PayPal anyway, it would make sense to register with them only if you have a PayPal account.
2) The link for the registration must be copied and pasted or it doesn't work. Isn't this strange?
No, that is not true. In the actual e-mail, the link is clickable and it works.
Just to clarify:
I do not have a paypal account, so what that page tells me is that only paypal account holders can apply for registration. If other type of accounts are accepted then why not make that more obvious.
Regarding the link:
I didn't use the link provided in emails nor forums. I went straight to the company website and it didn't work. I had to copy it from their website and then paste it.
| | | | | Alleged scam | Jan 10, 2013 |
Bogdan Dusa wrote:
You shouldn't worry, Nelida. No scammer (in case this is a scam) would pay attention to post address or other similar info. They only try to steal money from bank accounts - that's why they ask for credit card details.
Thank you, Bogdan, I believe that you are right. One thing that one must never, under any circumstance whatsoever, is to reveal banking or credit card information other than to a bona fides provider, and never ever any passwords either.
All the same, I feel like slapping myself, real hard.... It leaves such a bad aftertaste, knowing that you have been duped!
| | | | | Definitely a scam... | Jan 10, 2013 |
This "company" posted a job for all pairs and specializations in order to draw people to their website; I happened to see the post, dug out a little info, and submitted a support request to alert Proz's staff. The job was banned less than 10 minutes after (since it's against site rules to solicit payment for bidding on a job). However, since no action was taken against the individual profile of the job poster (at the time), he/she went on to contact translators using the email lists.
... See more This "company" posted a job for all pairs and specializations in order to draw people to their website; I happened to see the post, dug out a little info, and submitted a support request to alert Proz's staff. The job was banned less than 10 minutes after (since it's against site rules to solicit payment for bidding on a job). However, since no action was taken against the individual profile of the job poster (at the time), he/she went on to contact translators using the email lists.
It's a neat scam I must say: mass-spam Proz's 400.000 users, get a meager 1% response and yet walk away with 4 grand
Things to look out for next time:
1) No actual contact information on their website.
2) High-rate offered regardless of language pair and specialization.
3) Website copy that shows up in multiple other websites.
4) Suspicious whois info for the domain.
Hope it helps! ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
| Definitely a scam | Jan 10, 2013 |
Rossana Triaca wrote:
However, since no action was taken against the individual profile of the job poster (at the time), he/she went on to contact translators using the email lists.
Hope it helps!
This is precisely the way I was contacted, by direct mail. (Which shouldn't have happened).
Thanks for your suggestions, they are indeed helpful. In my case, I did see the telltale signs, only for some reason my mind didn't register them and I acted in haste and stupidly. I usually never fall for this type of thing, this just wasn't my day! Lesson learned.
| | | | | The scammer is on a worldwide hunt, it seems | Jan 10, 2013 |
I have just received a mail notice from a translator's database, [...removed...] (from whom I had not heard in ages, and where I never was a paying member and in fact they ceased to consider me as registered as far back as 2009) with a job posting restricted to English to Spanish, but replicating verbatim the mail I had received earlier today.
So I took it upon myself to contact the website's support team and alerted them about this being a likely scam and indicated as reference a l... See more I have just received a mail notice from a translator's database, [...removed...] (from whom I had not heard in ages, and where I never was a paying member and in fact they ceased to consider me as registered as far back as 2009) with a job posting restricted to English to Spanish, but replicating verbatim the mail I had received earlier today.
So I took it upon myself to contact the website's support team and alerted them about this being a likely scam and indicated as reference a link to this forum, suggesting they withdraw the posting and alert their membership. This guy ought to be stopped, and colleagues warned, wherever they may be. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Further to scammer's new attempts | Jan 10, 2013 |
The support team at [...removed...] responded immediately that they had been suspicious of the IP but that the website seemed on the level, and confirmed that they had blocked the posting and the address, and thanked me. This feels good.
| | | | | I agree, it's a scam | Jan 11, 2013 |
Last night I received an email from GoTranslators, a database where I inscribed some time ago. In over one year, they have just sent me 2 emails with job proposals, so this must mean that this "agency" sent their offer worldwide.
I am totally sure that it is a scam for several reasons that have been already mentioned, but specially because I made the attempt of going directly to the payment button without introducing any of my data and it worked! I could have paid my $1 without prob... See more Last night I received an email from GoTranslators, a database where I inscribed some time ago. In over one year, they have just sent me 2 emails with job proposals, so this must mean that this "agency" sent their offer worldwide.
I am totally sure that it is a scam for several reasons that have been already mentioned, but specially because I made the attempt of going directly to the payment button without introducing any of my data and it worked! I could have paid my $1 without problem. Honestly, since when can an application remain empty??
I will send an email to GoTranslators and hope that they can clip their wings a bit.
Best wishes,
Marta ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Clarisa Moraña
United States
Local time: 06:10
Member (2002)
English to Spanish
+ ...
| New attempt today | Jan 14, 2013 |
Mr. Tom Orlando, from the same "Italian" agency, invited me to send my application form via the website.
Regards
Clarisa
| | | | | Scam attempt | Jan 14, 2013 |
Marta T. wrote:
I will send an email to GoTranslators and hope that they can clip their wings a bit.
Marta
Don't bother, Marta, I already did and they confirmed having blocked the guy.
| | | | Carsten Mohr
Germany
Local time: 13:10
Member (2007)
Italian to German
+ ...
| yellow/white pages | Jan 15, 2013 |
Hello,
just read this thread and then checked in the yellow and white pages - no such agency there.
Carsten
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Possible scam from an Italian translation agency | Pastey | Your smart companion app
Pastey is an innovative desktop application that bridges the gap between human expertise and artificial intelligence. With intuitive keyboard shortcuts, Pastey transforms your source text into AI-powered draft translations.
Find out more » |
| | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
