Potential scam, not sure Thread poster: Cristina Pereira
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Hello,
I received this morning an email asking me to translate almost 34,000 words, for a presentation to be done in 5 weeks. I sent my usual reply, asking for more details and the potential client (just a name, no company, an aol email address) replied the following:
"Thanks for getting back to me. I already attached the document so you can view for your perusal and send me your proforma invoice/charges. I'm willing to pay prepayment of 50% upfront because we've neve... See more Hello,
I received this morning an email asking me to translate almost 34,000 words, for a presentation to be done in 5 weeks. I sent my usual reply, asking for more details and the potential client (just a name, no company, an aol email address) replied the following:
"Thanks for getting back to me. I already attached the document so you can view for your perusal and send me your proforma invoice/charges. I'm willing to pay prepayment of 50% upfront because we've never worked together and I want to use the document for a project seminar and its not a copyright. In addition, the reference shouldn't be translated because I just need the body of the text. FYI, My name is [Name and Surname], [address in London], United Kingdom to draft the invoice. And I'm willing to make payment for your service through a certified check or bank direct deposit but not via paypal because I've got some absurd experience about it in the past through Ebay so I had to shut it down, I hope you understand. I'm ready to pay 50% upfront and make the full payment at the mid of the job. Please get back to me. Thanks once again."
When I saw the words "upfront" and "check" I was almost certain it is a scam. But since he also mentions "bank direct deposit", I'm in doubt. My instinct tells me this is a scam, anyway, but can anyone help me to decide? Maybe other people received this same email too?
Many thanks in advance,
Cristina ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Scam for sure. | Dec 17, 2018 |
Yes, it is a scam. The same wording in first and second email several colleagues received a few weeks ago, myself included. Even the same excuse on PayPal. Do not proceed, just delete it and move on.
| | | | | Looks very similar to other scam reports I've read here recently... | Dec 17, 2018 |
For instance:
https://... See more
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There have been many scam reports in the Proz forum recently, in English as well as French. There's no doubt that this is another one. If there is no verifiable company behind this and it's simply sent from an AOL address, there's no way it's genuine.
What the scammers do when they ask for a bank account number is to deposit a counterfeit cheque directly, probably trying to hide that it isn't a bank transfer. Then they make up a pretext to ask for a refund, and after you have refund... See more There have been many scam reports in the Proz forum recently, in English as well as French. There's no doubt that this is another one. If there is no verifiable company behind this and it's simply sent from an AOL address, there's no way it's genuine.
What the scammers do when they ask for a bank account number is to deposit a counterfeit cheque directly, probably trying to hide that it isn't a bank transfer. Then they make up a pretext to ask for a refund, and after you have refunded, the cheque bounces. ▲ Collapse
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Thayenga 
Germany
Local time: 19:21
Member (2009)
English to German
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The file he's sent you can probably be found on the Internet and copyrighted.
The problems he's had with PayPal are irrelevant, so why mention them?
That he also offers bank transfer sound like he's trying to get to your bank details.
The instinct is seldom wrong, so just trust it whenever you're in doubt.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:21
Member (2008)
Italian to English
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No doubt about it. The volume of 34K words and an offer to pay 50% upfront smells scamish at 34K miles!
I'm sure you are the world's best translator, but no-one in their right mind would send 50% of the value of that volume without the slightest guarantee (no reference to having come through word of mouth, etc.). It's the standard type of intro for the overpayment scam (where there is a deliberate overpayment and you have to ... See more No doubt about it. The volume of 34K words and an offer to pay 50% upfront smells scamish at 34K miles!
I'm sure you are the world's best translator, but no-one in their right mind would send 50% of the value of that volume without the slightest guarantee (no reference to having come through word of mouth, etc.). It's the standard type of intro for the overpayment scam (where there is a deliberate overpayment and you have to pay back the overpaid amount to find out that the cheque bounces or that the transfer is cancelled/not honoured).
I bet that if you look for the text online, you'll find it.
[Edited at 2018-12-17 22:25 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Cristina Pereira
Local time: 18:21
Member (2005)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thank you, everyone, for confirming! | Dec 17, 2018 |
I did search the IP address, it was from Miami, the name given also didn't return any reliable result and, yes, the file could be found on the Internet.
Thank you all again,
Cristina
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Eva Stoppa
Germany
Local time: 19:21
English to German
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| The problems he is mentioning concerning Ebay are very important here | Dec 18, 2018 |
[quote]Thayenga wrote:
The problems he's had with PayPal are irrelevant, so why mention them?
I disagree here. The problems he is mentioning he has had with Ebay and Paypal can be very helpful in this context. This information can mean that on Ebay, he also pretended to be selling some item which, after payment has been made, never arrived at the client. Thus he has been banned from Ebay and Paypal. Another proof for the scam theory here.
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Eva Stoppa wrote:
This information can mean that on Ebay, he also pretended to be selling some item which, after payment has been made, never arrived at the client. Thus he has been banned from Ebay and Paypal. Another proof for the scam theory here.
It just means he needs a bad excuse for not using PayPal. The whole thing is fiction. We cannot believe a word in such emails.
| | | | | Just a pretext | Dec 18, 2018 |
Eva Stoppa wrote:
The problems he is mentioning he has had with Ebay and Paypal can be very helpful in this context. This information can mean that on Ebay, he also pretended to be selling some item which, after payment has been made, never arrived at the client. Thus he has been banned from Ebay and Paypal. Another proof for the scam theory here.
I think that the whole story is completely made up, including the Ebay part. It's just a pretext to rule out Paypal payment from the start, because the scam will probably not work with Paypal.
You could summarize that whenever the person seems more interested in the payment process than in the actual translation work, it strongly smells of scam.
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 13:21
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
[quote]Eva Stoppa wrote:
Thayenga wrote:
The problems he's had with PayPal are irrelevant, so why mention them?
I disagree here. The problems he is mentioning he has had with Ebay and Paypal can be very helpful in this context. This information can mean that on Ebay, he also pretended to be selling some item which, after payment has been made, never arrived at the client. Thus he has been banned from Ebay and Paypal. Another proof for the scam theory here.
A scammer won't mention Ebay if he has conducted any scamming activity on Ebay. If he does, he is telling people that he is a scammer.
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Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 13:21
Japanese to English
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| Potential scam | Dec 20, 2018 |
A hallmark of scammers is that they "can't pay by PayPal because of some absurd problem on their end".
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