| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7] > | Racism and Human Trafficking (Michael Horn / John Burroughs)- False demand Thread poster: Mathieu Jacquet
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| Myriam Sales scam | Feb 16, 2013 |
Thank you very much to all fellow translators! I received exactly the same letter. It was suspicious to me and short search confirmed this feeling.
| | | | limingpals 
United States
Local time: 07:28
Chinese to English
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| I got the same thing | Feb 25, 2013 |
On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 3:51 PM, Julia Davids wrote:
Hello ,
Thank you for your urgent respond to my request.looking for a translator to work on the pair stated for the new book am working on.I have checked your CV and i am pleased to tell you that i have chosen you to work on the project for we are in-between a new business.I attached a part of the work tittles project, just want you to have understanding of what we are about to do together.
Bellow is my Name an... See more On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 3:51 PM, Julia Davids wrote:
Hello ,
Thank you for your urgent respond to my request.looking for a translator to work on the pair stated for the new book am working on.I have checked your CV and i am pleased to tell you that i have chosen you to work on the project for we are in-between a new business.I attached a part of the work tittles project, just want you to have understanding of what we are about to do together.
Bellow is my Name and Address
Myriam Sales
12112 4th Ave W #2-304
Everett, Wa. 98204
(832) 543-3009 (text message only)
Now i guess you have an idea of the whom you about to start work with, attached is a part of the project. The delivery date is negotiable but must be before April 5th, 2013.
The total number of the words are ... 15,300 words, the project is not as big for the time range given, that is because i plan ahead of time.
do state Your best price should be restated and total calculation and also your mode of payment.
I hope we can come to term for success of this project. Thank you
Best regards. ▲ Collapse
| | | | limingpals
United States
Local time: 07:28
Chinese to English
+ ...
They even mailed a check before I realized it is a scam.
The project is worthy of $1000 and they mailed me a check of $2850. Not sure what this is all about.
Anyone has this same experience?
| | | | | A little word of warning | Feb 26, 2013 |
It seems that there are plenty of scams going around and it's really a shame when honest people lose their time and money as a result of this.
Yes it's true that spelling mistakes can often indicate that the person addressing you is not a language expert but then, by definition, some of our clients can't speak our language anyway so it's not the ONLY way to spot these scammers, although it does serve as a clue or a reason for further research.
I am surprised though that nobo... See more It seems that there are plenty of scams going around and it's really a shame when honest people lose their time and money as a result of this.
Yes it's true that spelling mistakes can often indicate that the person addressing you is not a language expert but then, by definition, some of our clients can't speak our language anyway so it's not the ONLY way to spot these scammers, although it does serve as a clue or a reason for further research.
I am surprised though that nobody spotted that somebody called Michael should at least know that it's not written Micheal.
I must say that I sometimes flinch a little when I see that a colleague has responded to a scammer along the lines of: "I've seen information about you on proz.." or "I only work with such and such clients" or "You should learn how to spell first" etc.
Without wishing to offend anybody, I can't help thinking that these comments only serve to educate these scammers. Please remember that there is really no logical motive for you to explain to the scammer your reasons for not being scammed into working with them. It seems that we're all so used to being polite when dealing with clients, that we forget that when we're dealing with scammers, these niceties are at best not a good idea.
As soon as you suspect that someone is a scammer, however tempting it is to wreak some sort of revenge, the best advice is simply to stop communicating with them. It's simply a numbers game for them. They don't care about you and your feelings.
If you don't suspect an interlocutor at first, that's OK, just ask ask ask. Ask for a telephone number, ask for a skype, ask for an address, ask for a company registration number, ask for a blue board record, ask to connect with them on LinkedIn, ask to speak to other translators they have worked with before. Just don't tell.
I wouldn't like to see the day when scammers have learned to spell correctly in English or find out how to accurately fake all the requirements we have of a 'normal' client.
I can't help noticing that these scams are ever more sophisticated. They now specify a language combination rather than asking for a translation and then asking your language combo and I can't help thinking that this could be the result of translators often querying these people and stating that they should know their language combo if they needed a translation.
And another small detail for people who don't live in the UK: if you ever ask for someone's contact details and they give you a number beginning +44 070 IT'S A FAKE. Just google 070 number + UK and you'll find plenty of information about this. WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T RING THE NUMBER.
Anyway thanks everyone for informing us all about these scams! ▲ Collapse
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I've just received a mail from this lady and found out it's a scam. Apparently she's back in action.
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I have just received the e-mail, too! Watch out. She sent it to me via Translator's Cafe message board.
| | | | | Three part payment Scam by Sandra Willson | Mar 15, 2013 |
I am fairly new as a freelance here in the US, I did it for over 6 years in my country but it was always local work never over the web.
I received an email with this offer from a lady named Sandra Willson asking to translate a book on homeschooling. Being new and NAIVE I agreed without doing much research. I started the translation with the first part of the book she sent me, since I finished it rather quickly I sent her an email asking her for the rest of the material. She took a ... See more I am fairly new as a freelance here in the US, I did it for over 6 years in my country but it was always local work never over the web.
I received an email with this offer from a lady named Sandra Willson asking to translate a book on homeschooling. Being new and NAIVE I agreed without doing much research. I started the translation with the first part of the book she sent me, since I finished it rather quickly I sent her an email asking her for the rest of the material. She took a few days to respond, I found it odd and with a little research I found about the scam. She emailed back with the reply I expected, that they made a mistake with the check and that the amount was over the price we had agreed upon. I replied that I was not going to do the translation and that I would send back their check. Now this person is getting really aggressive about it. And what I don't like about it is that they have my address.
What should I do?. I know it was very irresponsible of me not to do the research before accepting, but I guess that is how you learn.
Should I just send the check back or is there a place where I can report it?.
Thanks and your advice is appreciated.
Maria ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The scam process | Mar 16, 2013 |
limingpals wrote:
They even mailed a check before I realized it is a scam.
The project is worthy of $1000 and they mailed me a check of $2850. Not sure what this is all about.
Anyone has this same experience?
The scam process:
- The scammer contacts you with a project (say, $1000 worth).
- You answer indicating your interest in the project.
- They send you a check for an excesive amount (say, $2,850), "by mistake".
- They say they trust you, you can keep your fair payment for the translation job, just please deposit the check and send immediately the overpaid amount ($2,850 - $1,000 = $1,850) back to them by Western Union.
- You buy the $1,850 Western Union money order and send it to them.
- Two weeks later your bank contacts you to let you know that the $2,850 check you deposited has been rejected for Non Sufficient Funds.
- You try to contact the scammer, only to find out that they are nowhere to be found.
- You contact the police, they tell you that this is an extremely common scam and that it is impossible to track down the criminals.
- The scammer made $1,850, you lost $1,850, and your time and effort doing the translation "assignment".
- You cry over your lack of care.
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| NEED YOUR LANGUAGE PAIR | Mar 19, 2013 |
I got the same kind of a message - with the name NEED YOUR LANGUAGE PAIR - from Istanbul, by Sandra Kenth Willson - however, after reading all your comments, I do not suppose this is her proper name.
Her e-mail:
...... the title is How to successfully teaching your child
at home.. i want it from English to Spanish it contain 10878 words
with 24 pages i can attach and send the document if you are interested
in doing it for me.
thanks,
... See more I got the same kind of a message - with the name NEED YOUR LANGUAGE PAIR - from Istanbul, by Sandra Kenth Willson - however, after reading all your comments, I do not suppose this is her proper name.
Her e-mail:
...... the title is How to successfully teaching your child
at home.. i want it from English to Spanish it contain 10878 words
with 24 pages i can attach and send the document if you are interested
in doing it for me.
thanks,
I recognized the number of words does not go together very well with the number of pages, so I wrote her that the price would increase. Instead of reacting, she asked for my personal details, which was very weird!!!
One must be very careful!!!
I am probably lucky because in our country they do not cash a check until they check that there are enough money on the account which it is paid from. And checking that takes up to 3 weeks.
I wish you were as lucky as I was! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Another new name came up: Louis Gerrard | Jul 25, 2013 |
Thank God for ProZ.com!!
I received an email 2 days ago from a person named Louis Gerrard (from Liverpool, UK) and the email is VERY, VERY similar to the ones posted here.
Here's the copy of both of his emails to me:
FIRST EMAIL:--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello ,
My name is Louis GERRARD from Liverpool, I will need your service for translation of an article worth 15,065 words from ENG > PT, which would b... See more Thank God for ProZ.com!!
I received an email 2 days ago from a person named Louis Gerrard (from Liverpool, UK) and the email is VERY, VERY similar to the ones posted here.
Here's the copy of both of his emails to me:
FIRST EMAIL:--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello ,
My name is Louis GERRARD from Liverpool, I will need your service for translation of an article worth 15,065 words from ENG > PT, which would be needed for a 5 days seminar in Brazil between Monday September 2nd through Friday 6th September, 2013.
Please confirm to me on your availability for this project including the following so i could make deposit payment to reserve this spot for me from your schedule.
* Your price rate per source word
* Terms and conditions that surrounds your service.
I await your mail while I furnish you every necessary further information needed.
Waiting to read back from you at your best convenience.
Thanks,
L. G
SECOND EMAIL:--------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Maggie,
Thanks for your response and your availability for the translation of the document, Attached with the email is the document i want you to work on, I would like you to go through the document and get back to me with your total asking price for the translation of the document... The document would be needed for the Annual Global combine seminar on Immorality and Human trafficking, The seminar is to change the orientation of the Africans on the subject matters, the seminar is holding between 2nd - 6th September, 2013.
Here are the details for the document:
* Subject: Child trafficking
* Source Language: English
* Total Word Count: 15,o29
* Deadline Date: 30th August, 2013.
I want the translated document submitted on or before the deadline date stipulated in my first mail (30th August, 2013).
I wish to inform you that advance 50% of the total asking price for the translation of the document would be paid for via bank transfer direct into your bank account and I will like you to get back to me if you are OK with the payment method.
I wish to have your reply if you are interested in handling the translation of the document.
Thanks,
From the desk of:
Louis GERRARD
26 Forthlin Rd
Liverpool L18 9TN,
United Kingdom
Email: louis.gerrardxxl@gmail.com
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I decided to research his name, address and profile on Google and nothing shows up, then I researched "louis.gerrardxxl@gmail.com" and "Annual Global combine seminar on Immorality and Human trafficking" and the 1st on the list was the alerts on the ProZ forum.
Thanks everyone for denouncing these scams before anyone actually gives these people our bank details.
I hope this information helps any other colleague of mine who encounters the same email.
Take care everyone!
Maggie Santos ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Scam re translation for seminar Racism and Human Trafficking | Jul 25, 2013 |
Hi,
Thank you all for your comments, I also got exactly the same request for Spanish yesterday.
As every cloud has a silver lining, the positive side is that I have registered with proZ
all the best
Marta Cano
| | | | | Louis Gerrard strikes again!!! | Jul 29, 2013 |
Thank you all for this scam report!!! I got exactly the same two e-mails from Louis Gerrard as Maggie. I had already done some research on Louis Gerrard and had found nothing but today, when I googled his name + address, I found this thread. In my first e-mail I had asked for Paypal payment but then I got the same answer (2nd e-mail) as Maggie did, saying he would pay by bank transfer...
Take care, dear colleagues!
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AlexandraC
Local time: 13:28
Spanish to Portuguese
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| Louis Gerrard scam | Aug 15, 2013 |
Hi I received the same contact from the Louis Gerrard account.
Luckily I found the email exchange strange and when he/she suggested the sending of the check I said I would only accept bank transfer or PayPal. He never replied.
Now I was surfing the web trying to find out more about this and found the messages on the forum here. I will immediately tell everyone about this scam. Thanks for posting all these alerts. They are extremely useful.
Best regards
| | | | rfw
Switzerland
Local time: 14:28
English to French
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| Louis Gerrard - still going strong | Aug 21, 2013 |
My turn to be contacted. Unfortunately I fell for it and spent over 2 weeks working on his (interesting) document. When I started wondering why the promised 50 % downpayment had not arrived, I was given a weak excuse and offered a cheque, which I turned down, asking for PayPal instead. I haven't heard from him since....
Unfortunately In my first Internet research, this website did not turn up. It would have saved me a lot of time....
One never stops learning....
| | | | airmailrpl
Brazil
Local time: 11:28
Member (2005)
English to Portuguese
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| What happened with the deposited checks?? | Sep 5, 2013 |
Several people reported actually receiving the checks from the scammers.
If some of you actually deposited the checks - I am curious of what the results were
- how long did it take for your bank to give you the bad news that the checks were no good, etc. ??
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