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IDENTITY THEFT BY SCAMMERS - PUBLIC ORGANISATION PROCEDURES RESEARCH
Thread poster: Andrea Carroggio Diaz-Plaja
Andrea Carroggio Diaz-Plaja
Andrea Carroggio Diaz-Plaja  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:15
Member
English to Spanish
+ ...
Sep 27, 2019

Good morning everyone,

I am using the Forum to report and warn you all about an identity theft I've been victim of: some people are using my name to scam other translators. The scammers send, under my name and from a fake email address ([email protected] - which is not my email address), a translation request to many translators from Proz's directory, in which they say they need a 44 pages translation to be done and they promise they will be paying by means of a certified
... See more
Good morning everyone,

I am using the Forum to report and warn you all about an identity theft I've been victim of: some people are using my name to scam other translators. The scammers send, under my name and from a fake email address ([email protected] - which is not my email address), a translation request to many translators from Proz's directory, in which they say they need a 44 pages translation to be done and they promise they will be paying by means of a certified check. At the end, the check turns out to be fake (obviously).

I will be reporting the identity theft to my country's police today since I do not want to be blamed on something I have not done. Nevertheless, I just want to raise awareness on this, since I know lots of translators from this site have received this scam, and from many different senders. I also received it months ago, except from a different sender (in my case the supposed scammer was called Nancy Bill). I attach for your reference the email they are sending (which a colleague forwared me to warn me about the identity theft).

Forwarded messageP

Many thanks in advance!!!
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Camila Neslin
Douglas Smith
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:15
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
My sympathies Sep 27, 2019

That must be a horrid thing to live through .

This forum is probably monitored closely but you should really report this directly to the Scam Centre so they can send us all a warning (at least to those of us who are signed up to receive alerts).

Also, can I suggest adding a note to your profile? I'm sure that's where most translators will go when contacted by "you". If the first thing they see is a mess
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That must be a horrid thing to live through .

This forum is probably monitored closely but you should really report this directly to the Scam Centre so they can send us all a warning (at least to those of us who are signed up to receive alerts).

Also, can I suggest adding a note to your profile? I'm sure that's where most translators will go when contacted by "you". If the first thing they see is a message about identity theft by that email addressee, they'll be immediately warned.
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AVAT
Yolanda Broad
Hedwig Spitzer (X)
Philip Lees
Josephine Cassar
Laura Kingdon
 
GermaninTexas
GermaninTexas
United States
Local time: 06:15
English to German
+ ...
Just got an email with the same text to get translated Sep 27, 2019

Here is the email I got.

Hello,
I'm pleased to know you are interested in handling this project. However, I will require your service to translate the attached document. In the mean time, could you also confirm your charges per page, per source word or for the entire translation? The deadline for this Project is 1 month starting from 28th/October/2019.Finally, I'm proposing a Cashier Check.and it will clear your bank before you send the document .? I look forward to
... See more
Here is the email I got.

Hello,
I'm pleased to know you are interested in handling this project. However, I will require your service to translate the attached document. In the mean time, could you also confirm your charges per page, per source word or for the entire translation? The deadline for this Project is 1 month starting from 28th/October/2019.Finally, I'm proposing a Cashier Check.and it will clear your bank before you send the document .? I look forward to reading from you soon.

Regards.

Debby


Attached was the same 44 page document. Thanks for posting it here. I already thought that I won't take a cashiers check since they are used in many scams.
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Juan David A Aquino Marquez
 
Juan David A Aquino Marquez
Juan David A Aquino Marquez  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 05:15
Member (2019)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Just received it Oct 11, 2019

Hello,
I'm contacting you in regard to an English, content document with 11,643 words (44 Pages). I need this document translated to Spanish. I would like to know if you are interested and available to get this done for me. Please get back to me as soon as you can

Thank you.

Best regards,
--------

Wow, that was a close shave!

I just got one and even sent my quote on that. Since it is a free email, I asked for a down payment, and it
... See more
Hello,
I'm contacting you in regard to an English, content document with 11,643 words (44 Pages). I need this document translated to Spanish. I would like to know if you are interested and available to get this done for me. Please get back to me as soon as you can

Thank you.

Best regards,
--------

Wow, that was a close shave!

I just got one and even sent my quote on that. Since it is a free email, I asked for a down payment, and it seems that give them pause, just before I came here to BlueBoard it and found this thread.
Thanks!
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Liviu-Lee Roth
Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 07:15
Romanian to English
+ ...
It shouldn't have been ”a close shave!” Oct 12, 2019

Juan David A Aquino Marquez wrote:

Hello,
I'm contacting you in regard to an English, content document with 11,643 words (44 Pages). I need this document translated to Spanish. I would like to know if you are interested and available to get this done for me. Please get back to me as soon as you can

Thank you.

Best regards,
--------

Wow, that was a close shave!

I just got one and even sent my quote on that. Since it is a free email, I asked for a down payment, and it seems that give them pause, just before I came here to BlueBoard it and found this thread.
Thanks!



This scam is been around for more than 5 years, and to my surprise, there are still colleagues who fall for it! Amazing!

Keep safe!

[Edited at 2019-10-12 22:02 GMT]


Fatine Echenique
 
Alejandro Garcia-Quismondo Cartes
Alejandro Garcia-Quismondo Cartes
Spain
Local time: 12:15
Member (2010)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Stil using it... Oct 16, 2019

Hi Andrea,

Just to let you know that I got the same message yesterday:

------------------
Hello,
I'm contacting you in regard to an English, content document with 11,643 words (44 Pages). I need this document translated to Spanish. I would like to know if you are interested and available to get this done for me. Please get back to me as soon as you can
Thank you.
Best regards,
-------------------


 
Alexandra Hirsch (X)
Alexandra Hirsch (X)  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 12:15
English to German
+ ...
Thank you for the heads up! Oct 16, 2019

Thank you, Andrea, for warning us. I think you are wise to inform the police, but be aware that you could be held liable for damages. I'm not an expert on the matter, so perhaps you should consult with one, but if the email address is not actually linked to you in any way, I don't think you are in danger of violating any laws.

I get funny requests as well such as the one from a "George Micheal" [sic] (who turned out to be entirely fake) and loads from people who baulk as soon as th
... See more
Thank you, Andrea, for warning us. I think you are wise to inform the police, but be aware that you could be held liable for damages. I'm not an expert on the matter, so perhaps you should consult with one, but if the email address is not actually linked to you in any way, I don't think you are in danger of violating any laws.

I get funny requests as well such as the one from a "George Micheal" [sic] (who turned out to be entirely fake) and loads from people who baulk as soon as they realise that they have to identify themselves.

Good luck!
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Xingtao Zhu
Xingtao Zhu
Canada
Local time: 07:15
Chinese to English
+ ...
I thought it was a work need to be done! Nov 3, 2019

Hey everyone,

I thought this is a real translation job so I sent 'her' my estimate with my company name, address, phone number, and email address. 'She' asked the full name on the pay cheque, company address, and phone number. Then 'she' asked which bank should the cheque deposit to. At this point, it raised my attention, because in my county we don't need to mention the deposit bank to deposit the cheque!

What will be the worst situation if 'she' knew my company name,
... See more
Hey everyone,

I thought this is a real translation job so I sent 'her' my estimate with my company name, address, phone number, and email address. 'She' asked the full name on the pay cheque, company address, and phone number. Then 'she' asked which bank should the cheque deposit to. At this point, it raised my attention, because in my county we don't need to mention the deposit bank to deposit the cheque!

What will be the worst situation if 'she' knew my company name, address, phone number, and email address? Any reply helps.
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Alan Arellano
Alan Arellano
United States
Local time: 07:15
Spanish to English
+ ...
Close call Dec 4, 2019

Hey Andrea,

Sorry to hear about this, but I just got hit with it on Monday (December 2), I'm happy to post the text on here, but it's the same basic template, just thought I would let you know.


 
Cristiano Lima
Cristiano Lima
Brazil
Local time: 08:15
Russian to Portuguese
+ ...
Thank you for warning Dec 5, 2019

Andrea Carroggio Diaz-Plaja wrote:

Good morning everyone,

I am using the Forum to report and warn you all about an identity theft I've been victim of: some people are using my name to scam other translators. The scammers send, under my name and from a fake email address ([email protected] - which is not my email address), a translation request to many translators from Proz's directory, in which they say they need a 44 pages translation to be done and they promise they will be paying by means of a certified check. At the end, the check turns out to be fake (obviously).

I will be reporting the identity theft to my country's police today since I do not want to be blamed on something I have not done. Nevertheless, I just want to raise awareness on this, since I know lots of translators from this site have received this scam, and from many different senders. I also received it months ago, except from a different sender (in my case the supposed scammer was called Nancy Bill). I attach for your reference the email they are sending (which a colleague forwared me to warn me about the identity theft).

Forwarded messageP

Many thanks in advance!!!


Thank you for warning! I noticed that scam does not seems to be something rare among us.


 
Lynda Prince
Lynda Prince
United States
Local time: 07:15
English to Spanish
Happened here too Jan 9, 2020

Hi Andrea,

Thank you for posting this. I received the email as well and have been in communication with "you" this week. I started translating some today and received the check today as well with instructions to text the number in order to cash the check... I am wondering what it is that these people get out of doing this? I haven't sent them the text yet but I did send them my name and address, anyone have any input on why they do this?

Thank you again,


 
Camila Neslin
Camila Neslin
Local time: 07:15
I received the same request Jan 9, 2020

I received the same request and I agreed to do the job...already thinking it was fishy how quickly and easily "Maria" accepted my terms. She told me she would mail me a Cashier's check and that she did not expect me to deliver the translation until I cashed the check and made sure the money was in the bank.Then this morning she sends me an email, letting me know that they are considering using me for "phase 2" and that she went ahead and calculated the total cost based on my rate. Not 20 minutes... See more
I received the same request and I agreed to do the job...already thinking it was fishy how quickly and easily "Maria" accepted my terms. She told me she would mail me a Cashier's check and that she did not expect me to deliver the translation until I cashed the check and made sure the money was in the bank.Then this morning she sends me an email, letting me know that they are considering using me for "phase 2" and that she went ahead and calculated the total cost based on my rate. Not 20 minutes passed and I received a FEDEX envelope with a check for the total amount she told me she sent. This elevated the request from red flags to sirens blaring! I started doing research on check scams and sure enough, if I had continued to play along, they would have probably asked me to send them the difference back or something like that. Good grief! If they put that much energy into a legit business, they would be making a killing! I will be also reporting this to my local PD.Collapse


Lynda Prince
Douglas Smith
 
Lynda Prince
Lynda Prince
United States
Local time: 07:15
English to Spanish
Reply Jan 9, 2020

Hi Camila,

Exact same scenario here. I also reported to the local PD


 
Douglas Smith
Douglas Smith
United States
Local time: 04:15
Japanese to English
+ ...
Thanks for the warning -How do we stop this? Jan 10, 2020

I haven't read everyone's posts yet, but I'm waiting for the fake check to arrive. Same job pitch - and I noticed a couple of "non-native English" aspects to the e-mails. (kinda wondered if it might be an AI research project.) As I was discussing this job with my wife, I mentioned the scam where they pay more for something you're selling than what it's worth, etc. Why is it so easy to make fake bank checks/money orders, or whatever they use?

I plan to turn the check over to
... See more
I haven't read everyone's posts yet, but I'm waiting for the fake check to arrive. Same job pitch - and I noticed a couple of "non-native English" aspects to the e-mails. (kinda wondered if it might be an AI research project.) As I was discussing this job with my wife, I mentioned the scam where they pay more for something you're selling than what it's worth, etc. Why is it so easy to make fake bank checks/money orders, or whatever they use?

I plan to turn the check over to the police rather than try to deposit it.


Hey - next time someone gets this pitch - bid the job at $45,000,000.00 and see if they accept!!

Thanks again for the warning.
v/r,

[Edited at 2020-01-10 01:16 GMT]
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Lynda Prince
Lynda Prince
United States
Local time: 07:15
English to Spanish
Reply Jan 10, 2020

I'm glad that you also realized what was happening before it was too late. I took the check, envelop and note to the police and was told that it is extremely difficult to prosecute these people, the phone lines, email addresses and addresses can all be untraceable or traceable to a foreign country.

I was told the best thing to do is not to deposit the check and block the email/phone number they have used to contact you.

I really do wish there was a way to stop it thoug
... See more
I'm glad that you also realized what was happening before it was too late. I took the check, envelop and note to the police and was told that it is extremely difficult to prosecute these people, the phone lines, email addresses and addresses can all be untraceable or traceable to a foreign country.

I was told the best thing to do is not to deposit the check and block the email/phone number they have used to contact you.

I really do wish there was a way to stop it though.
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Douglas Smith
 
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IDENTITY THEFT BY SCAMMERS - PUBLIC ORGANISATION PROCEDURES RESEARCH







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