| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Do you think it's a scam? Client wants to pay by check way before delivery Thread poster: Julie Fragkaki
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jyuan_us 
United States
Local time: 08:01
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
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| This post is different but it makes a lot of sense | Sep 14, 2010 |
Samuel Murray wrote: Panagiota Julie Fragkaki wrote:
...now he asks for my details so he can send a check by post (way before delivery). I often find that clients who have never used translation services before believe that payment has to be made in advance. Perhaps your client thinks the same. There is nothing wrong witn payment in advance -- especially not for a large project. What you need to do is ask your bank if they can pay out the money of the cheque only *after* they've validated that the cheque is valid and that the money is really available in the person's account. Some banks treat international cheques on an honour system (i.e. they don't care if the sender has the money as long as the sender's bank is trustworthy) or they pay out the money before the cheque really cleared (if the bank manager decides to, in his discretion), to save the recipient some time. So make sure your bank doesn't pay out the money into your account until the cheque has truly cleared. Explain to your bank manager that you don't mind if the money takes a few weeks to arrive. Also, make sure the cheque is for the exact amount that you had agreed with the client. If the client cancels the job and asks for some or all of his money back, tell him "no problem but I can only do that at the end of next month", to give yourself time to verify that the cheque is real. If the first job is a success, apply the same caution to subsequent jobs, no matter how trustworthy you believe the client had made himself.
The client might just be trying to give you a peace of mind by paying you in advance.
[Edited at 2010-09-14 21:03 GMT]
| | | | Wolf Kux
Brazil
Local time: 09:01
Member (2006)
German to Portuguese
+ ...
| "... the Brazilian banking system now looks like science fiction to any foreigner." | Sep 14, 2010 |
From Lamensdorf:
"Due to 3-digit inflation up to a couple of decades ago, the Brazilian banking system now looks like science fiction to any foreigner."
To give others a look on our science fiction banking system - you need to know TED. TED (Transferência eletrônica disponível - available electronic transfer) is a system that integrates all (I repeat: all) brazilian banks, in order to send money from one account from bank A to another account from other person on ban... See more From Lamensdorf:
"Due to 3-digit inflation up to a couple of decades ago, the Brazilian banking system now looks like science fiction to any foreigner."
To give others a look on our science fiction banking system - you need to know TED. TED (Transferência eletrônica disponível - available electronic transfer) is a system that integrates all (I repeat: all) brazilian banks, in order to send money from one account from bank A to another account from other person on bank B.
Bank A may be at Oiapoque, a city at northern Brazil, at the most southern border to the European Union, (aka - French Guyana), and Bank B may be at Chuí, on the south border Brazil-Uruguay.
To do this transfer on a distance greater that 4.000 kilometers, our banks ask for..... 30 minutes! Yes, I said "thirty minutes to send money" at this long distance! Sometimes it goes a bit faster, only 15 minutes. For us, not science fiction, but for foreigners ...
The counterpart who receives such a TED may go out of his/her banking office carrying money, after those transfer time.
I have to say, this is done by greater amount of money, starting on R$ 5.000,00. In near future this minimum amount may become less. An the fare is usually R$ 20,00 - R$ 30,00, or fewer.
Not only because of this TED, our banking system is absolutely strong. The other side of the coin is that we also pay the highest interest rates...
We can not say the same about banking industry on other countries !! They may have much to learn from us!!! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | scam: one thing is sure, he wants to transfer money | Sep 14, 2010 |
Panagiota Julie Fragkaki wrote:
I got an offer for a very interesting project, the client send me the file (ca 50 pages), we agreed on a price and now he asks for my details so he can send a check by post (way before delivery). There is no Blue Board record on him and his e-mail is on gmail (also registered with MySpace and Facebook). How do you think should I proceed? After all it is a very interesting project and the money is right.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
[Edited at 2010-09-14 11:23 GMT]
Hi Panagiota Julie,
I received an offer (possibly the same one with a shorter document) a couple of days ago, also suggesting payment by certified bank cheque (what currency wasn't mentioned).
I tried to engage the person in a dialogue about who he is, who the author of the source text is, what he thought of certain unclear words in the source text, who his target audience is, that he had to sign a contract etc. and that I would have to have all that information before I would accept the job. He did not specify when he would send the cheque he was talking about.
In his first email he asked for a discounted price. I suggested a price without discount but I was fair.
I never received any answer to any of my specific questions.
He only sends an email (and he sent the same exact response twice because I had sent him a PS to my email reply) accepting the price and then asking for the information he wants: Full Name : Full Address : City : State : Zip Code : Phone Number :
Sounds like somebody is in need of transferring money. That's all I can say.
I did not reply to that and he has not emailed me since.
Other warning signs: never engages in a dialogue, his English is bad, he does not address you personally (only writes: Hello.) and the name he uses for himself in the email appears spelled slightly different in his gmail address.
If you are unsure, put the text of the email or the sender's email address into the google search bar - if it has been used before it will probably come up.
This one did.
Best wishes,
Bernhard
| | | | milinad
Local time: 17:31
German to English
This could be one of the ways to convert black money into white. The client will pay you the full money in advance. After a few days he would cancel the order and request you to refund the money and keep some percentage for your trouble. So the money you send is white. This normally happens with interpretations job where person is planning to visit the country and needs interpreter for the duration and at the last moment the trip is cancelled.
[Edited at 2010-09-15 12:25 GMT]
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| i think it was a false alarm after all! | Sep 15, 2010 |
The client told me he would sign the agreement and that I should wait for the check to arrive prior to starting work on the project! It's more likely like Samuel said:
Samuel Murray wrote:
I often find that clients who have never used translation services before believe that payment has to be made in advance. Perhaps your client thinks the same. There is nothing wrong witn payment in advance -- especially not for a large project.
| | | | | Wait for the cheque to CLEAR! | Sep 15, 2010 |
Panagiota Julie Fragkaki wrote: The client told me he would sign the agreement and that I should wait for the check to arrive prior to starting work on the project! It's more likely like Samuel said: Samuel Murray wrote:
I often find that clients who have never used translation services before believe that payment has to be made in advance. Perhaps your client thinks the same. There is nothing wrong witn payment in advance -- especially not for a large project.
Of course, it's possible that you have an honest person who's never used a translator's service before and assumes he has to pay up front. But normally people like this have no idea how much a translation actually costs and would be scandalised at any realistic quote for a 50-page document. That's what sets the alarm bells ringing for me.
| | | | | Please ensure that the cheque has actually cleared | Sep 15, 2010 |
Marie-Hélène Hayles wrote:
Wait for the cheque to CLEAR!
"CLEAR" does not equal showing up on your bank statement. The actual clearing process can take weeks, or even months. Just because you can see the amount on your bank statement does not mean it's cleared.
And do not ever return any "over payments" or similar to a client who has paid you by cheque, Western Union or similar.
Dos and don'ts when/if returning money to clients:
- Always make sure the money you received has actually cleared (see above)
- Never return money by cheque or Western Union (or similar)
- Always return payments by the same means that was used for the original payment and to the same account/card
Failure to to ensure the above might lay you open to charges of money laundering and/or abetting theft.
| | | | | money transfer... | Sep 15, 2010 |
to my Greek account will take 35 days after I deposit the check, presuming of course that the check is cleared. :S The deadline for the project is 2 months from now, so I suppose that I should start working on it just a little before the 35 days are over. The client is fine with this, he even suggested himself to wait for the check to clear before I proceed. I think he's legit afterall... It's just incredible how difficult it is though to be safe...
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| I would still be careful! | Sep 15, 2010 |
Panagiota Julie Fragkaki wrote:
I got an offer for a very interesting project, the client send me the file (ca 50 pages), we agreed on a price and now he asks for my details so he can send a check by post (way before delivery). There is no Blue Board record on him and his e-mail is on gmail (also registered with MySpace and Facebook). How do you think should I proceed? After all it is a very interesting project and the money is right.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
[Edited at 2010-09-14 11:23 GMT]
Dear Julie,
For some of the reasons you mentioned (and i put them in bold above):
check by post: wait for the arrival of the check (it could get lost in the mail) and then check with your bank if the check is legit (it should be in YOUR currency!)
No blueboard record: did you look because the client says they are a translation company? A professional company would not have a gmail email.
registered with MySpace and Facebook: that is no criterion for honesty
a very interesting project: to make it sound legit and gain your trust.
I would not start working on this until I have received the money.
In addition, a cheque by mail is not the way professionals pay for a big job (50 pages).
I am not saying it's a hoax but one has to be very careful.
It's a jungle out there.
Best of luck,
PS: let us know what happens.
Bernhard
[Edited at 2010-09-15 22:13 GMT]
| | | | Samuel Jiménez
Spain
Local time: 14:01
Member (2010)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Be EXTREMELY careful.... it sounds like the typical overpayment scam. Try suggesting another payment method (just to see what happens).
Best regards and always take your anti-scammer rocket launcher with you xD
| | | | | This is a scam and ProZ should post a warning | Sep 23, 2010 |
Don't even try and cash these cheques as you will have to pay expensive bank charges. Your account may be credited for several weeks before finally being debited.
If you still are not convinced you can ring up the payee bank straight away and give them the details about the cheque.
I think Proz should post an official warning about this scam as young translators are ideal victims. What is more if you read the forum there are lots of cases this week of the same scam
| | | | | scam afterall!!!! | Oct 1, 2010 |
So yesterday I come back home to find the check in my mail. Only it was for 2000$ more than agreed, so our guy IS A SCAMMER! Too bad! My question now, how should I proceed? Tear the check up and just forget about it? Report it to some official? If so where? (please don't say police cause my village policemen will look at me like crazy - again - so I won't go to them with this!!)
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| Phone the police? | Oct 1, 2010 |
Is there some national police number (not an emergency number, obviously) you could call, if you don't want to go to your local police? Or a specialist fraud section or something? Or maybe you should ask in the Greek language forum for specific advice.
I've never had this happen to me, so I'm not sure what you should do, TBH. I wouldn't just tear it up and forget about it though - it should definitely be reported IMO.
[Edited at 2010-10-01 12:09 GMT]
| | | | | Go to your bank | Oct 1, 2010 |
Julie Fragkaki wrote:
So yesterday I come back home to find the check in my mail. Only it was for 2000$ more than agreed, so our guy IS A SCAMMER! Too bad! My question now, how should I proceed? Tear the check up and just forget about it? Report it to some official? If so where? (please don't say police cause my village policemen will look at me like crazy - again - so I won't go to them with this!!)
In any country concerned with money laudering, fraud, etc. banks are always on the lookout for not getting trapped either as an accessory after the fact, or as the patsy who will pay out from ghost funds and be left holding the (empty) sack. This is essential for their survival.
So your account manager should be able to give you advice on how to proceed, or to refer you to someone who can.
| | | | | Another solution | Oct 1, 2010 |
Mail the cheque back to him and tell him you won't proceed until you get a cheque for the correct amount. Then watch how quickly he disappears.
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