Detecting and reacting to false job offers and other scams
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[[Category: Risk management]] | [[Category: Risk management]] | ||
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= Overview = | = Overview = | ||
Revision as of 19:32, 12 November 2010
|
Note: This article is a joint project of ProZ.com members and guests. All translators are invited to contribute freely.
(Click "Edit" above; you must be logged in.) |
Contents |
Overview
- This article is dedicated to scams, including those presented as translation jobs. The objective is to present them to translators in order to help them recognize these fraudulent activities and thus be better prepared to handle them.
- It is claimed that about 10% of all adults have been victims of scams. Scams come in many shapes and forms. Many target the weak and the desperate but there are other rather sophisticated and find victims among educated people who would be likely to believe that this could not happen to them.
- In the case of translators there are two basic categories: those who want to get a translation for free and those who are not interested in our professional services but simply in our money.
- To cover yourself from the first category you should do your homework relating risk management, especially when receiving job offers from a new potential customer or contact.
- For the other, more conventional scams, be basically suspicious of anybody who:
- Offers you something for nothing. If it looks to be good to be true, then probably it is fake.
- Asks you to pay for handling expenses or to buy some tool in order to get access to a very convenient opportunity in a contact that was not initiated by you.
- Asks you not to tell anyone about the dealing
- Tries to rush you into a decision.
- Some scams aim to get free translations by sending a job offer with contact data that later proves to be fake, and just disappearing after receiving the translated job.
- This kind of scammer may have the knowledge to look like a real outsourcer and translators should have risk management procedures to apply before taking a job from a new client.
- In some cases the scammers will claim to be project manageres working for a real and prestigious outsourcer but they will write to you from a free email domain such as Gmail or Yahoo. While it is OK for a translator to use this kind of email address, you should be suspicious of an outsourcer, especially a previously unknown one, who contacts you using a non-institutional domain.
- Sometimes the address resembles that of the legitimate organization. For instance (fictional address) a great agency can have a domain @great-agency.com and the scammed will write from the address @great_agency.com or @greatagency.con.
- You should visit the web page of any new contact and check the correct email domain at the "contact us" tab.
- A different kind of scammers are not related to translation but may try to engage you in fake job offers as an excuse, but they are not interested at all in the fruits of your work.
- They may for instance send you forged checks in excess of the agreed-upon amount and then ask you to wire back the excess payment (your loss once the checks are bounced) or request that you buy a discounted tool (and once you sent the payment you will never again hear of them).
- One frequent telltale sign of these scams is that the author goes to an exaggerated amount of trouble to make their offer look "authentic" with all sorts of details that a real enquirer wouldn't actually use.
- Most genuine enquiries I get just tend to say: "How much would you charge to translate this document into French?" or possibly "How much would you charge to get me this document translated by the 14th?". They don't tend to say: "I'll be needing a document translating into French because my mother, who's just come out of hospital after breaking her leg on holiday, is an avid trainspotter and needs to apply to her local French council for a wheelchair licence allowing her to use SNCF ramps more than the statutory 4 times a day, but sadly her French is limited, despite having lived in the country for over 4 years..."
- Other warning signals are:
- The alleged outsourcer is not interested in you expertise. You may read "Reply back with the language pair you are most comfortable working with"
- The job characteristics are unrealistic, such as "The Project fields of expertise vary from technical, legal, commercial, medical, poetry & literature"
- Unusual requirements such as "you will need to be able to read your email at least twice a day for urgent updates about the Project"
- Yet another category will be standard scammers completely unrelated to translation, including Nigerian scams, dating scams and phishing schemes.
Further reading
- For the normal risk management activities to be performed by translators see Risk management for translators and interpreters
- For the safe handling of emails see Risk management: Email
- Yahoo! Finance article on How to spot a scam
Nigerian scam
- This scam is at least as old as the end of the 19th century, when victims were invited to help smuggle out of a Spanish prison the child of a wealthy family (that would later handsomely reward the child's rescuers). Of course the poor "Spanish prisoner" remained in his non-existent dungeon year after year, scam after scam.
- The Nigerian scam started in the 1980s and, according to experts, the scammers manage to obtain hundreds of millions of Dollars per year from their victims.
- It is also known as "419 scam", where "419 makes reference to the relevant article of the Nigerian Criminal Code.
How it works
- Scammers will send a message apparently personalized (but in fact sent to many) promising an enormous amount in exchange for helping the scammer send a fortune (usually in the range of several million Dollars) out of their country (usually Nigeria or other African country).
- The recipient of the message is offered a large share of this fortune in exchange of their help.
- Details differ but some frequent variances are:
- A bank clerk or government official who has stolen or found a fortune
- The relative of a deceased millionaire (usually a deposed dictator or someone killed in a dictatorship) who has access to a hidden inheritance.
- The executor of a large fortune belonging to someone terminally ill or already deceased, without descendants (next-of-kin variant).
- A soldier who hit upon a hidden treasure
- If the victim answers the message and agrees to play along then some problems will arise. Some paperwork will be needed, some officials will have to be bribed, etc. and the victim will be requested a sum to afford them (a small amount when compared to the expected reward).
- If this payment is made new problems will arise requiring the transfer of additional "small payments that will enable the immediate transfer of the promised fortune".
- This will continue until the victim runs out of money (or of patience), but some victims have been even enticed into traveling to the country (usually in Africa) where the alleged fortune waits for them. In this case the trouble can escalate into kidnapping and violence.
A real life example
The following email was received by a ProZ.com member and submitted via support:
Dear XXXX,
I am Barrister ZZZZ, a solicitor at law, personal
attorney to Mr.P.B. XXXX , a national of your country,who
used to work with Shell Development Company in Lome Togo.
Here in after shall be referred to as my client. On the 21st
of April 2004, my client,his wife and their only daughter
were involved in a car accident along Nouvissi express
Road.
All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their
lives. Since then I have made several enquiries to your
embassy here to locate any of my clients extended relatives,
this has also proved unsuccessful.
After these several unsuccessful attempts to locate his
real relatives,I decided to contact you since you have the
same last name with my late client. I have contacted you to
assist in repartrating the fund valued at US$8.5 million
left behind by my client before it gets confisicated or
declared unserviceable by the Security Finance Firm where
this huge amount were deposited.
The said bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of
kin or have his account confisicated within the next twenty
one official working days. Since I have been unsuccesfull in
locating the relatives for over 2years now, I seek the
consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased
since you have the same last names, so that the proceeds of
this account can be paid to you.
Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall
then discuss the sharing ratio and modalities for transfer.I
have all necessary information and legal documents needed to
back you up for claim.
All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable
us see this transaction through.
I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate
arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the
law.
If you are in interested, please contact me through my
email address {email address here} so we can commence on all
arrangements and I will give you more information on how we
would handle this project.
Please treat this business with utmost confidentiality and
send me the Following information.
(1) Full names:
(2) Private phone number:
(3) Current residential address:
(4) Occupation:
(5) Age and Sex:
Awaiting to hear from you.
Best regards,
ZZZZ Esq.
Further reading
- Database of Nigerian scam alerts targeted at translators/interpretors, Payment Practices
- Snopes
- Snopes
- Wikipedia
- 419 eater
- Hoax-Slayer Newsletter
"Advance payment" / "overpayment" scam
How it works
- A scammer contacts the victim under the pretense of requiring some service that the victim offers.
- The scammer sends the victim a counterfeit (or value-less) bank check, money order or traveler's check for that service. This often causes the victim to believe that he/she has already been paid, in whole or in part, for the service that has been discussed.
- In some cases, the victim may even "cash" the check with a local bank, and the local bank may accept the check for a time. This reinforces the victim's belief that s/he has already been paid.
- The scammer then convinces the victim to send some amount of money "back" to the scammer. This payment is requested for a supposedly compelling reason, either because there has been an accidental overpayment, or because plans have changed, some emergency has come up, etc.
- Often the victim is told that s/he can keep a portion of the money for the inconvenience caused.
- Rather than reversing the payment s/he has received, the victim is convinced to send or wire money back to the scammer from his/her own account or funds.
- After the scammer has received some money from the victim, s/he becomes unreachable.
- The scammer's initial forgery is later discovered, by the individual or by the bank. If a transaction had initially gone through, it is reversed by the bank, and the victim is out whatever amount s/he sent to the scammer.
- This fraud is often, but not always, associated with a request for an interpreter.
- This scam has also been carried out under the pretense of needing testers for services provided by payment intermediaries Western Union and similar providers.
A variant that targets translators and interpreters
- A language service provider is contacted by a person requesting his/her services as a translator or interpreter.
- A quotation is asked and the payment is offered by cheque in advance.
- Payment is promptly received in one or more cheques, but the amount paid is far higher than the necessary amount (for instance double or triple) and the professional is asked to send back the excess amount.
- In some cases the professional is asked to wire the excess money to a third person that will "use it to cover for other expenses of the event".
- If that money is wired, it may be considered lost, and the professional may be in trouble for depositing fake or stolen checks.
- A variant has been reported where "agency" was in Nigeria and the payment was done by their "client" in USA directly to the translator's PAYPAL account.
- Once again, after the "excess payment" was sent back via Western Union, the "client" requested from Paypal the reimbursement of the payment arguing that they had not received the translation.
- PAYPAL automatically reimburses clients so the translator lost the money sent back and the time devoted to the translation.
A real life example
The following emails were received by a ProZ.com member and posted in the forums:
Hi, I am XXX from Liverpool, UK.I will need the service of an interpreter while i will be coming for a 4days program in SPAIN(Madrid).The service would be for duration of 2hours 10am-12pm daily from, June28 Monday through July1 Thursday,2010. I would want you to get back with the price quote for the service , so i could make deposit payment to reserve this spot for me from your schedule.I will furnish you every necessary further informations needed. Waiting to read back from you at your best convenience.
The second email stated:
All you will be doing for me is to interpret my speeches from English to Spanish without interpreting back to English. Consecutive interpretation will be okay for such purpose i guess!!!.Incase you stay a bit far from the location, include the charge for you accomodation and transportation in your final quatation and do get back to me asap. I will like you to know that I would have loved to come to your location and pay cash for your sevices but it will be time consuming and stressful for me, so I want you to know that the only method that will be easy and safe for both of us is to send you an international certified bank Cheque or money order which you will receive between 2-3 working days and thereafter you can proceed to the bank. Kindly get back to me with the following information for payment. Name to be written on the Cheque Your full address to send the Cheque Phone Number Regards, XXXX
Another case:
Hi, I am XXXXX from Liverpool, UK.I will need the service of an interpreter while i will be coming for a 4days program in GERMANY.The service would be for duration of 2hours 10am-1pm daily from, June28 Monday through July1 Thursday,2010. I would want you to get back with the price quote for the service , so i could make deposit payment to reserve this spot for me from your schedule.I will furnish you every necessary further informations needed. Waiting to read back from you at your best convenience. Rev. XXXXX
Another case:
Hi, I am XXXX XXXX from Chelsea, UK.I will need the service of an English to French Interpreter while i will be coming to grace a wedding ceremony in France as the Special Guest Speaker of the occasion on the Friday 16th and Saturday17 of July 2010.The duration will be from 2pm- 4pm on Friday and 10am-12pm on Saturday. If available for these days and hours, do not hesitate to get back to me with the fee involved so i work towards booking the space. Very Best Regards XXXXX XXXX
Further reading
- ProZ.com Spanish forum
- ProZ.com Money matters forum
- ProZ.com Business issues forum
- Hoax-Slayer Newsletter
- Wikipedia
"Work from home" scam
How it works
- In this scam people are offered the opportunity to make a good living from their homes and they are requested to make a starting investment to have access to this opportunity.
- Once this first investment was made usually the scammer was nowhere to be found.
- Also in some cases the fine print involved the authorization of monthly charges to the victim's back account or credit card.
- Many victims of this scam are people who have difficulties getting a normal job (and they are among the ones who can less afford to be cheated).
- Many recent scams have been made offering fake jobs for Google.
A variant that targets translators
- There is a variant where it is claimed that a CAT tool has to be bought by the translator to get jobs.
- This scam has been reported in ProZ.com forums as follows:
- A translator received an email from an alleged translation agency stating that they are recruiting service providers in the translator's language pair and/or speciality.
- When the translator answers, the "manager" of the "agency" interviewed him/her, sent a test translation and reported that all translators working for the agency had to use a not-very-common CAT tool. As the translator does not own it, the agency offers to sell it at a heavily reduced price (as a "subsidy" from the agency to get the translator in their work force).
- After receiving a passing grade in the test translation, the translator is requested to send the payment for the CAT tool in order to receive and start working immediately. Of course if the payment is sent no word will be ever received from the "agency" again.
- Some warning signs:
- The "agency" show little interest in the translator's experience or qualifications.
- The payment is requested to a personal account.
- Sometimes the payment is requested to Nigeria or other African countries.
- No web page (or cheap, free web page) for the agency.
- In order to avoid falling victim of this kind of scam remember that you should never pay a company to hire you, for whatever reason presented to you.
A real life example
- The following emails were received by a ProZ.com member and submitted via support:
Subject: Directory contact form {alleged name of outsourcer}
If you're a hardworking English to Romanian Translator and you'll like to
work with us on our current project.Let me know as soon as possible then i'll
give you details of the job.
The second email stated:
Dear XXXX, Thanks for your feedback..We require the business version of Systran and the cost is $389 but because of this project we decided to offer to translators for $290 and we can send it to you once you make payment by Paypal or Wester Union. I have attached our agreement form kindly review sign it and send it back to me. We make payments twice a month by Paypal,Western union and Direct bank deposit. I look foward to work with you.Thanks Regards,
The third email stated
Dear XXXX, I'll briefly give you details about the job then you can choose to continue or not.We have a long term project for translations and to topic areas are:Business, Medical, Legal,Technical,Humanities,History,Arts,Politics,Economics,I.T e.t,c we pay about 0.16 euro per word source.and we can offer as much as 3000 words 4 days in a week depending on how much work you can handle.And because of the kind of companies and the kind of project we are doing.We also require that you get Systran software...Even as you start work and we can send one for you at very good discount rate or you can get it by your self from a shop close to you.We make payments by Western Union,Paypal and Direct bank deposit.I'll be expecting your feedback on this so we an start the process.Thanks Regards,
- Notes:
- Systran is a legitimate company and is not related in any way with the scammers.
- In several real life cases investigated the IP for these messages was from Nigeria or other African countries
Further reading
Dating scam
How it works
- The scammer creates a fake personality complete with pictures (young and attractive), personality and history.
- Posing as this person the scammer contacts the victim posing expressing interest in exploring a possible romantic relationship.
- This may happen in a dates site, by addressing a database of emails or contacting the victim in an Internet site or chat room.
- The victim responds and the pair begins corresponding regularly, discussing family, job, shared passions and other issues designed to earn the trust and the affection of the victim,
- Once the illusion of a genuine and meaningful relationship has been established, the scammer will begin asking the victim for money.
- Typical examples include the cost of the airfare to meet the victim, or a family medical emergency.
- If the victim complies and sends money, he or she will probably receive further such requests until the victim discovers the scam, perhaps after waiting fruitlessly at the airport for a "lover" who, will, of course, never arrive.
Real life examples
The following emails were sent to ProZ.com members and reported vía support:
Hello dear new friend,
How are you today? I hope you are fine.
My name is Khady,I am kind, God fearing, caring, flexible, responsible, curious,
easy-going, romantic and sensual. I prefer active way of life style. My dream is
to spend time and share life with a partner, who will be my lover and friend,if
you're interested with my proposal here is my email address {email address} I will
be waiting for your email.
On my replying back I will reply you with some pics of me for more correspondence.
Hope to hear from you.
Thanks, Khady.
hello
My name is cynthia i saw your profile today at www.proz.com and i love it also became
intrested in you,i will also like to know you more,and i want you to send an email
directely to my email address so i can give you my picture for you to know whom i am.
Here is my email address{email address} i believe we can move from here.my love distance
or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life.i waiting to recive your lovely
reply soon,
Yours Love.
Miss cynthia
Further reading
Phishing "data verification" scam
- Message allegedly sent from a bank or other institution asking you to supply your personal information (including passwords).
How it works
- You get an email allegedly from a bank or other service provider claiming that due to some exceptional circumstance you need to reply supplying critical data to allow the supplier "to solve some critical problem that compromise the delivery of their service".
- The alleged reason may be congestion of service, changes of the operational environment, detection of unlawful activities, etc.
- The email may have convincing graphics that emulate the look-and-feel of the alleged institution.
- The links may ask you for your user name and password of your Internet bank account
- Some of the links can also direct you to dangerous places where you may get a virus or trojan.
- As a rule, no serious organization of any kind will ever ask you to provide your password.
Real life examples
Fake email allegedly from bank
Subject: Account Upgrade Notice Dear Standard Bank customers, This message has been sent to you from Standard Bank because we have noticed invalid login attempts into your account. Due to this we are temporarily limiting and restricting your account access until we confirm your identity. In order for your online account to remain active, you would have to upgrade your online account. Please use the button below to update your online banking account. Failure to adhere to this process may cause your online banking account to be suspended. Please go to [Link removed by Lu] Thank You Disclaimer | Conditions of access | Privacy and security statement | Site specs | Security centre | PAIA | Fica | NCA | © 2010 Standard Bank is a licensed financial services provider in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act.
- Of course this mail does not come from Standard Bank.
Fake email allegedly from email service provider
Dear Valued Member, Due to the congestion in all Yahoo users and removal of all unused Yahoo Accounts,Yahoo would be shutting down all unused accounts,You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Info below after clicking the reply botton, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons. UserName: ............................................ Password:.............................................. Date Of Birth: ........................................ Country Or Territory:............................... After Following the instructions in the sheet,your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal.Thanks for your attention to this request.We apologize for any inconvinience. Yahoo! Customer Care Case number: 8941624 Property: Account Security Contact date: 2009-04-28 While Viewing: http://info.yahoo.com/legal/e1/yahoo/ Form Name: http://help.yahoo.com/l/e1/yahoo/security/comentarios.html
Further reading
Reporting scam/phishing emails received via ProZ.com mail
To report any abuse or email spam/scams/phishing through your ProZ.com mail service, follow the steps outlined here.
Discussion related to this article
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