Contacted by non-existant agency Thread poster: Maria Belarra
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Hello all,
I received this message today, supposedly from an agency:
Respected Madam,
I am herewith attaching the sample documents, but you will be paiid for it.
Please send it by this evening.
Regards,
XXXXX
The "documents" are two files of more than 2000 words.
That is all. No purchase order, no nothing. Besides,... See more Hello all,
I received this message today, supposedly from an agency:
Respected Madam,
I am herewith attaching the sample documents, but you will be paiid for it.
Please send it by this evening.
Regards,
XXXXX
The "documents" are two files of more than 2000 words.
That is all. No purchase order, no nothing. Besides, the agency e-mail address is [email protected]
I looked for the angecy on the Blue Board-nothing. I Googled it- nothing either!
It sounds too fishy for me. What do you think? Better leave it?
Thanks a lot in advance.
[Edited at 2004-06-12 10:10] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Have a go.... | Jun 12, 2004 |
Maria:
It sounds strange but remember the 'not guilty until proven'...
Why don't you get back to them and ask them for the PO and more details...payment....rates...and everything..
I have had clients that seemed a bit weird at the beginning but are now good customers of mine....
Good luck...
| | | | | Did you check the attachment for virus? | Jun 12, 2004 |
If you get any unsolicited attachments, do check it for virus before downloading it.
If the test is negative, proceed then with further steps. Search for the agency's references in any of the payment practice lists.
Regards,
N.Raghavan
| | | | Maria Belarra 
Spain
Local time: 21:09
French to Spanish
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TOPIC STARTER | No viruses.. | Jun 12, 2004 |
Just two nice Word documents for an innocent translator to translate.
I followed your advice Jesus, and wrote back asking for details and a purchase order. I'll keep you posted.. but it still sounds fishy. I even don't know in which country are they based
Thanks a lot, Jesus and Narasimhan!
[Edited at 2004-06-12 11:16]
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Maria Belarra
Spain
Local time: 21:09
French to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Respected sir (I am not a sir!),
i am expecting this work but the client has still not confirmed. i can offer u an indian rate ie RS 0.75 as the client is offering in india if u are ready to work then it is ok .you can send me your account number of any private bank ex XXXX,XXX etc we will deposit the money in your account after 30 days of credit.
regards
I had asked specifically for a PO. Now it seems even fishier. Too unprofessional, in a... See more Respected sir (I am not a sir!),
i am expecting this work but the client has still not confirmed. i can offer u an indian rate ie RS 0.75 as the client is offering in india if u are ready to work then it is ok .you can send me your account number of any private bank ex XXXX,XXX etc we will deposit the money in your account after 30 days of credit.
regards
I had asked specifically for a PO. Now it seems even fishier. Too unprofessional, in any case. Fortunately, I'm busy enough this week to be able to say no.
But I'm curious now. Is the rate normal? Too low? Suspiciously high?
Strange...
[Edited at 2004-06-12 11:29]
[Edited at 2004-06-12 11:32] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | sounds like a scam | Jun 12, 2004 |
Very fishy. Don't send them your account number Pepa, whatever you do.
| | | | Richard Benham
France
Local time: 21:09
German to English
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In memoriam | At that rate, why even bother to wonder whether it's legitimate? | Jun 12, 2004 |
But I'm curious now. Is the rate normal? Too low? Suspiciously high?
Frankly, the rate seems too low even by Indian standards. In any case, I can´t see any virtue in someone living in Western Europe working for € 0.014 per word.
It was pretty obvious even from the initial approach that it was coming from an Indian agency. (I mean, "Respected Madam,..."?)
All in all, even if the agency is legitimate, which seems unlikely, do you really want or need to work at this rate?
| | | | Maria Belarra
Spain
Local time: 21:09
French to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Conclusion: better leave it | Jun 12, 2004 |
It does seem a legitimate agency (allegedly a Proz user although I cannot find them anywhere), but I said no, before I knew what the rate was. They seemed not at all trustworthy.
€ 0.014 per word.
I did not know the exchange rate between rupees and euros nor the usual rates in India. Of course it is not worth to work at such rates, but I was just curious.. This seems far too low!
Bad rates plus insecure work conditions is a certain way to lose translators trust.
Thanks, everyone, for sharing my amazement and offering good advice.
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| Currency converter | Jun 12, 2004 |
Maria Belarra wrote:
I did not know the exchange rate between rupees and euros...
Hi Maria,
Glad to hear that you let it go, it does sound very fishy.
By the way, there is a link to a currency converter here on proz.com. Go to the heading "Tools" click on "Utilities" and there you will see a sentence that says "You will find a currency converter here". Click on the word "here", and there you are. Convert anything that you want to your heart's content
Regards,
Gayle
[Edited at 2004-06-12 14:32]
| | | | Maria Belarra
Spain
Local time: 21:09
French to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks Gayle | Jun 12, 2004 |
It is very useful indeed! Although I still would have needed the help of lovely colleagues to know whether this was standard in the country of origin or not, i.e., if the agency was just abroad or really cheeky
Maria
| | | | Lia Fail (X)
Spain
Local time: 21:09
Spanish to English
+ ...
| stay away from them | Jun 13, 2004 |
you would be mad to follow that up:-)
take the position that you are a professional and that you will only deal with professionals....referring to the fact that we operate businesses and others expect of us that we behave professionally, so we should also expect others contracting our services to behave professionally
our professional commitment is that we turn in quality translations on time, in return we can/should expect purchase orders, even if emails, that give ful... See more you would be mad to follow that up:-)
take the position that you are a professional and that you will only deal with professionals....referring to the fact that we operate businesses and others expect of us that we behave professionally, so we should also expect others contracting our services to behave professionally
our professional commitment is that we turn in quality translations on time, in return we can/should expect purchase orders, even if emails, that give full contact details for the individual or company contracting our services
apart from that, we are very vulnerable to non-payment, and the only way to deal with that problem is to assess enquiries on the basis of their professionalism
my penny's worth:-) ▲ Collapse
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