Vigilance - there's a scam about! Thread poster: Setti Mulari
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Setti Mulari 
New Zealand
Local time: 18:46
Finnish to English
Dear all,
I have been contacted several times in the past week and there are more popping up every day now.
It appears that somebody somewhere (we suspect China) is trading as Setti Mulari of Interpretext Translations (e-mail address: [email protected] and [email protected]).
Now I am getting complaints be... See more Dear all,
I have been contacted several times in the past week and there are more popping up every day now.
It appears that somebody somewhere (we suspect China) is trading as Setti Mulari of Interpretext Translations (e-mail address: [email protected] and [email protected]).
Now I am getting complaints because no translator invoices were ever paid.
I doubt I am the only person who has been/will be impersonated in this manner so I suggest that people are particularly vigilant going forward. Who is to say that they haven't already picked another identity and using that one now.
I realise many of you are already doing this, but be careful when potential customers use free e-mail addresses when offering you work. Also, if they refer you to a particular agency's site and the e-mail that they are using is not the same domain as the agency's website, alarm bells should be ringing.
If you have received these scam e-mails, please can you contact me as I am investigating the matter.
All the best,
Setti. ▲ Collapse
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Thanks for your advice, Setti.
It´s true many strange things are occurring these days.
We must be more cautious than normal.
Hugs,
Gemma
| | | | lexical
Spain
Local time: 08:46
Portuguese to English
Yes, thanks for letting us know that, Setti.
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| Can't the other way round occur too? | Aug 30, 2009 |
Dear Setti,
I sympathize with your situation. Identity theft is a crime and I feel sorry for what happened to you lately.
While reading this forum, an idea popped up in my mind, telling me that can't something just the opposite happen?
What I mean here is that Setti's identity has been stolen and used somewhere with a free email address. But if there was someone, an outsourcer or agency, who from the beginning has no intention to pay the translators claim t... See more Dear Setti,
I sympathize with your situation. Identity theft is a crime and I feel sorry for what happened to you lately.
While reading this forum, an idea popped up in my mind, telling me that can't something just the opposite happen?
What I mean here is that Setti's identity has been stolen and used somewhere with a free email address. But if there was someone, an outsourcer or agency, who from the beginning has no intention to pay the translators claim that they are victims of identity theft? Don't get me wrong, I'm not having any doubts about what Setti posted above. These kind of agencies/outsourcers outsource jobs to translators, don't pay, and pretend that their identity was stolen, and it wasn't really "us" that outsourced the job. We are also victims too, you know, that kind of thing.
In this sense, I think identity theft could be abused or faked in the aforementioned method by people with ill intentions.
And I think this is scary too. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Setti Mulari
New Zealand
Local time: 18:46
Finnish to English
TOPIC STARTER
Alright then - so watch out if I you ever get an e-mail from me or someone pretending to be me as it could really be me, pretending that someone is pretending to be me. I'm not saying that I definitely am a scumbag, but I want you all to be aware of the fact that there is a real chance that I am a totally rotten criminal out to steal your money.
Just keep that in mind.
| | | | Haruki Kira
United States
Local time: 23:46
English to Japanese
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I actually did some work for the person who's name was Setti Mulari and his email address was [email protected] during last one or two months. The total caos eof the translations I did was $1,097.04.
Although it's been about two months, I haven't been paid. I sent a couple of emails to request the payment, but as of today no answer...
Any help will be very much appreciated.
<... See more I actually did some work for the person who's name was Setti Mulari and his email address was [email protected] during last one or two months. The total caos eof the translations I did was $1,097.04.
Although it's been about two months, I haven't been paid. I sent a couple of emails to request the payment, but as of today no answer...
Any help will be very much appreciated.
Best regards,
Haruki
[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2009-11-12 23:52 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 08:46
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Two different agencies, Daniel...? | Nov 13, 2009 |
I can see a ban notice for the first one, but not for the second one. The second one is a UK company with the same name as the first one.
The first one's page contains a notice from Staff for translators to check out the second one, but the ban notice is only on the first one, where there are many 1s and 2s in the gradings, and the second one has mostly 5s.
Why do you believe that both are banned, or that both are the same company, Daniel?
[Edited at 2009-11-13 09:36 GMT]
| | | | | It is our duty to check! | Nov 13, 2009 |
Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
What I mean here is that Setti's identity has been stolen and used somewhere with a free email address. But if there was someone, an outsourcer or agency, who from the beginning has no intention to pay the translators claim that they are victims of identity theft? Don't get me wrong, I'm not having any doubts about what Setti posted above. These kind of agencies/outsourcers outsource jobs to translators, don't pay, and pretend that their identity was stolen, and it wasn't really "us" that outsourced the job. We are also victims too, you know, that kind of thing.
I think that we translators must be more careful:
1. Be always suspicious of a company that does not use its own domain name in email addresses.
2. If they have a company name, first check the BlueBoard, where also the company's web domain name is usually listed. You can use that domain name to check their telephone number and call the company to talk to the person who is apparently offering the job.
3. If you cannot get an email sent from the company's domain name and/or cannot get in touch with the person using the telephone reported in their website, request an advance payment of 50% of the job.
It is as simple as that! Let's be cautious guys!
| | | | | Samuel, you are right | Nov 13, 2009 |
The entries are from two different companies, and the "poster banned" notice only appears in one of them. It's the linking feature that causes ambiguity, making it look as if they are related. So...
Why do you believe that both are banned, or that both are the same company, Daniel?
Three of the comments in the banned company’s BB record contain the name "Setti." One was answered by a company representative, who did not make any comment regarding a non-existing person.
Further investigation yields some curious results:
• The banned company's site is currently reachable, while the legit company's site is not.
• The banned company's address shows in Google maps as residing in a Houston mall.
• A reverse phone lookup yields a geographic location about 20 miles from that mall.
• According to the ProZ info, the legit company is in Portsmouth... but has a London telephone. A Portsmouth online directory I consulted does not show any results for the name, and neither does the London directory.
My conclusion? Setti’s company has an excellent payment record and I think it sets an example. It’s only its ProZ info that appears outdated. And the cross-linking messages should be clearer and state something like “These companies are NOT related.”
Regards,
Daniel
[Edited at 2009-11-13 22:58 GMT]
[Edited at 2009-11-13 23:01 GMT]
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John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 02:46
Member (2008)
French to English
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| Support ticket? | Nov 14, 2009 |
Setti, if you are linked incorrectly on the Blueboard with the company in Houston, perhaps you should open a support ticket to remove the link - perhaps clarify the distinction.
Furthermore, the Houston company seems to have payment issues, but is not otherwise illegitimate. Both companies' WhoIs record shows their respective domains as the same as their Proz registered addresses, so there isn't an identity issue in either case.
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