New email letter scam targeting interpreters Thread poster: Johanna Timm, PhD
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Dear colleagues,
A warning of the following letter scam was just forwarded to me by my regional translator’s association. It is much more personal than previous scams and specifically targeting
translators and interpreters.
Gooday,
> My Name is Benny cdeli.My fiancee Mary and i will be getting married at St Ann Church,Cincinnanti,Ohio on APRIL 17th,2005.Mary my fiancee is from Spain and speaks Spanish and she does not speak English and i would require t... See more Dear colleagues,
A warning of the following letter scam was just forwarded to me by my regional translator’s association. It is much more personal than previous scams and specifically targeting
translators and interpreters.
Gooday,
> My Name is Benny cdeli.My fiancee Mary and i will be getting married at St Ann Church,Cincinnanti,Ohio on APRIL 17th,2005.Mary my fiancee is from Spain and speaks Spanish and she does not speak English and i would require the service of a professional interpreter like you to help interprete whatever she says on the wedding day to make things convenient for her,myself and the officiating ministers along with the invited guests.I would want you to get back to me with your pricing
package for this task and if you are out of Ohio,state what it will costs to make the trip to the venue of the event on the specified date along with your charges for the required service.I will be making the payment with a cashiers check.
At this moment,Mary and i just arrived Amsterdam, Holland for a 8 weeks Pre-Wedding honeymoon and will be back soon and when we get back to the states,i will give you a call to finalise every other details of the wedding.
Do send me your pricing details along with your Full names,Address,Telephone number where a cashiers check will be made out to as soon as possible. Hotel Accomodation will also be provided for as well if you are out of Ohio. I look forward to reading from you soon.
Benny cdeli.
Take care,
johanna ▲ Collapse
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Apparently the sting is with the cheque. They will engage the interpreter for 4 days, send an international cheque to cover costs and a few days later call and say they have changed their minds. The job will only be for 2 days and can they please have a cheque back to cover the difference. Your cheque will be promptly cashed while the international one they sent will bounce after the event. Clever and nasty. I have been warned too.
| | | | Monika Coulson 
Local time: 10:34
Member (2001)
English to Albanian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | It happened to me several months ago | Feb 22, 2005 |
I received this weird offer from someone who told me that she needed Spanish interpretation services in my area. I explained to her that I only offered English-Albanian-English interpretation and told her to find Spanish interpreters. Then she changed the story and told me that they needed Albanian interpretation services, because one of the participants spoke both Albanian and Spanish!!!
To make things stranger, she made up a story that her partner had already sent me the payment ... See more I received this weird offer from someone who told me that she needed Spanish interpretation services in my area. I explained to her that I only offered English-Albanian-English interpretation and told her to find Spanish interpreters. Then she changed the story and told me that they needed Albanian interpretation services, because one of the participants spoke both Albanian and Spanish!!!
To make things stranger, she made up a story that her partner had already sent me the payment for this service and that she wrote the check for double of the amount of money that we had agreed upon. She asked me to wire the extra amount of money immediately, via Western Union. At that point I knew that there was something really fishy about this story and I talked to a friend (who is a federal investigator) about it. He asked me to play along, so I did, but unfortunately, their check never made it to my home. I even wrote to her and told her that I was still waiting for her check and I would send her the extra money back right away, as soon as I received their check, but I did not get any response anymore from this scam.
I still have their information; however, without them acting upon this scam, there is nothing to do against them...
Monika ▲ Collapse
| | | | Yolande Haneder (X)
Local time: 18:34
German to French
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| I received it without beeing an interpreter... | Feb 23, 2005 |
So don't think they are only targeting interpreters. They send it to whoever has an e-mail adress tied to a place where interpreters are usually meeting.
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| a quick explanation for you all about all these types of scams | Feb 24, 2005 |
The standard way many of these things work I gleaned from the pages of www.419eater.com - along with some hilarious stories of getting back at the scammers.
A mass emailing is sent to members of a wide variety of groups, forums, email addresses etc (spam). The email often includes a second address within it for you to write back to (a type of filing system for the scammer). The quickest way to deal with al... See more The standard way many of these things work I gleaned from the pages of www.419eater.com - along with some hilarious stories of getting back at the scammers.
A mass emailing is sent to members of a wide variety of groups, forums, email addresses etc (spam). The email often includes a second address within it for you to write back to (a type of filing system for the scammer). The quickest way to deal with all of these is to "show headers" on the message and then forward it to abuse@whatever email provider they are abusing (i.e. [email protected]). In the subject line you just write "internet fraud" or "advance fee fraud" or some similar note
Whatever stories they tell, and there are a wide variety, including many scammers now doing this on ebay and such sites, the bottom line is often you will be asked to send them some money, usually suggested to be via western union. Western union requests from strangers in general should now send up a red flag. Take a look at the site I mentioned when you have some free time. It's a good laugh. ▲ Collapse
| | | | nickim
Local time: 17:34
English
I received this email in November last year (2005). I am based in Ireland, he was also looking for people in Italy and UK.
Greetings from Dubai,
I am Prince Hamad Bin Maktoum from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. i'm
planning a vacation trip to Ireland, Europe.
I will like to employ your services as a translator during my visit
to Ireland, with members of my family.
We intend to employ your service for 5 hours daily beginning from 12... See more I received this email in November last year (2005). I am based in Ireland, he was also looking for people in Italy and UK.
Greetings from Dubai,
I am Prince Hamad Bin Maktoum from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. i'm
planning a vacation trip to Ireland, Europe.
I will like to employ your services as a translator during my visit
to Ireland, with members of my family.
We intend to employ your service for 5 hours daily beginning from 12
noon to 5pm and for 8 days, to translate to slow English to enable us
enjoy this trip.
Please kindly acknowledge if you will be available from
3rd - 10th December, 2005 at the requested hours and possibly
quote your hourly charges so we can discuss.
Thanks,
Prince Hamad Bin Maktoum.
In the light of truth...INSHALLAH
[THE ROYAL COURTS]
55 AL-BARAHA ROAD
DEIRA, DUBAI - UAE
I played along, because I couldn't figure out what the fraud might be. I was sent a cheque with more money than requested. I did not deposit the cheque becuase the visit was cancelled. He came back to me this week asking me to deposit the cheque and western union half of the money to his travel agency in London. I have refused to do this until the cheque clears which will take another two weeks, although after reading your posts I doubt the cheque will clear. Has anyone come across this particular email before. I want to confirm that it is a fraud as soon as possible so that I can inform the bank. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Magda Dziadosz
Poland
Local time: 18:34
Member (2004)
English to Polish
+ ...
| Please read other threads about it | Jan 24, 2006 |
nickim wrote:
I played along, because I couldn't figure out what the fraud might be. I was sent a cheque with more money than requested. I did not deposit the cheque becuase the visit was cancelled. He came back to me this week asking me to deposit the cheque and western union half of the money to his travel agency in London. I have refused to do this until the cheque clears which will take another two weeks, although after reading your posts I doubt the cheque will clear. Has anyone come across this particular email before. I want to confirm that it is a fraud as soon as possible so that I can inform the bank.
Hi,
there have been many threads about this particular e-mail, such as this one and this: http://www.proz.com/topic/26069
I'm afraid, someone tries to rob you from money - steer clear from them!
Magda
| | | | | Prince Hamad Bin Maktoum | Feb 13, 2006 |
I received this email in January 2006...same text and same offer. After several correspondences, he offered to wire me funds which I am not accepting. I'm grateful that I found this site with this information. THANK YOU!!
Regards,
Sonia
nickim wrote:
I received this email in November last year (2005). I am based in Ireland, he was also looking for people in Italy and UK.
Greetings from Dubai,
I am Prince Hamad Bin Maktoum from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. i'm
planning a vacation trip to Ireland, Europe.
I will like to employ your services as a translator during my visit
to Ireland, with members of my family.
We intend to employ your service for 5 hours daily beginning from 12
noon to 5pm and for 8 days, to translate to slow English to enable us
enjoy this trip.
Please kindly acknowledge if you will be available from
3rd - 10th December, 2005 at the requested hours and possibly
quote your hourly charges so we can discuss.
Thanks,
Prince Hamad Bin Maktoum.
In the light of truth...INSHALLAH
[THE ROYAL COURTS]
55 AL-BARAHA ROAD
DEIRA, DUBAI - UAE
I played along, because I couldn't figure out what the fraud might be. I was sent a cheque with more money than requested. I did not deposit the cheque becuase the visit was cancelled. He came back to me this week asking me to deposit the cheque and western union half of the money to his travel agency in London. I have refused to do this until the cheque clears which will take another two weeks, although after reading your posts I doubt the cheque will clear. Has anyone come across this particular email before. I want to confirm that it is a fraud as soon as possible so that I can inform the bank.
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