| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Fake Travelers Cheques as Payment Thread poster: Valerie Marzac
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| Thanks for sharing! | May 29, 2012 |
Dear Paula,
Thanks for sharing this information with the community!
The fact that the checks were sent from Belgium makes me think that it could be the same operation described in our April 3 scam alert. Maybe you could consider submitting a support request including the ... See more Dear Paula,
Thanks for sharing this information with the community!
The fact that the checks were sent from Belgium makes me think that it could be the same operation described in our April 3 scam alert. Maybe you could consider submitting a support request including the messages received from the scammers.
Kind regards,
Enrique ▲ Collapse
| | | | Paula Tome (X) 
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:44
English to Portuguese
| Same address as the one used on previous traveller cheque scam | May 30, 2012 |
Dear Enrique, I just saw your message, many thanks. I will do so, but what I found more striking was that the address mentioned on that post is the same address this so called Marielle Khoury seems to have given me. I have given it to the police, who knows, it might lead somewhere. Best regards. Paula
| | | | | same scheme: "a private investor working on short time businesses" | May 31, 2012 |
The same happened to me, I was also contacted via Aquarius.net. The same scammer, who contacted Paula. His e-mail is [email protected].
He is still insisting on payment via travellers cheques, although I told him that I only accept payment via bank wire transfer or western union.
Be aware and never accept traveller cheques as payment.
Kind regards
Vedat
| | | | Paula Tome (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:44
English to Portuguese
| Fake cheques still | May 31, 2012 |
Vedat, I am sorry to hear, it makes me really angry. I thought it was over. I had written to this person saying that I had contacted the police, etc. She/he went quiet for a bit and today I got an email asking if I got my payment! I did not reply, what can we say?!
Are you still insisting on payment and did you stop answering?!
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Natalie
Poland
Local time: 17:44
Member (2002)
English to Russian
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MODERATOR SITE LOCALIZER | Rule No.1 when dealing with scammers: | Jun 1, 2012 |
Paula Tome wrote:
I had written to this person saying that I had contacted the police, etc.
DO NOT WRITE TO SCAMMERS!
| | | | Valerie Marzac
France
Local time: 17:44
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER | Ask for partial or upfront payment and/or a Purchase Order with new clients | Jun 7, 2012 |
Paula Tome wrote:
Dear Enrique, I just saw your message, many thanks. I will do so, but what I found more striking was that the address mentioned on that post is the same address this so called Marielle Khoury seems to have given me. I have given it to the police, who knows, it might lead somewhere. Best regards. Paula
Hello Paula,
I'm sorry I only had time to reply to your email and not on here.
I do think we have to insist on partial or upfront payment with new clients or at least on PO with detailed information such as name, address, tax number and so forth so that we can check who we are dealing with.
I was lucky not to have translated anything for the person who wanted to pay me using travelers' cheques simply because the so-called business woman who asked me for a translation sounded somewhat strange. She told me about her private life while she became increasingly aggressive when I refused to be paid via travelers'cheques. I eventually agreed while saying I wouldn't do any work unless I could cash the money. They tried to press me into cashing some cheques through Western Union by telling me that they had set me too much money. The whole thing was so badly organised thinking back while being aggressive wasn't the right approach. I feel sorry that you worked for nothing at all and I think all of us must be extra careful to be treated properly. A client who refuses to provide solid details and a PO at the very least is not worth our trouble.
And you are right, as you mentioned in your email to me, we do work in the dark and it's relatively easy to take advantage of us. Regarding your details, I'm glad your bank confirmed just like mine that those people won't be able to do much with them.
| | | | | Risk management | Jun 7, 2012 |
Valerie Marzac wrote:
I do think we have to insist on partial or upfront payment with new clients or at least on PO with detailed information such as name, address, tax number and so forth so that we can check who we are dealing with.
Please note that a PO with contact details adds little security if we don't investigate these contact details until we are sure they are clearly right (or clearly wrong). If the information is not enough for that, then ask for more and keep checking, or drop the candidate.
Valerie Marzac wrote:
And you are right, as you mentioned in your email to me, we do work in the dark and it's relatively easy to take advantage of us.
Since we are visible, it is easy to target us. They will take advantage of us only if we fail to perform our risk management homework.
Regards,
Enrique
| | | | Valerie Marzac
France
Local time: 17:44
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER | PO details must be investigated | Jun 7, 2012 |
[quote]Enrique wrote:
Valerie Marzac wrote:
I do think we have to insist on partial or upfront payment with new clients or at least on PO with detailed information such as name, address, tax number and so forth so that we can check who we are dealing with.
Please note that a PO with contact details adds little security if we don't investigate these contact details until we are sure they are clearly right (or clearly wrong). If the information is not enough for that, then ask for more and keep checking, or drop the candidate.
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I agree entirely, I believe I mentioned that PO details need to be investigated further. Otherwise there is no doubt that anyone might be able to produce fake POs and the like. You are right to point out clearly that further details may well be required until we can be absolutely certain that our client is real and likely to pay. It's always a bit of a gamble since certainty implies if only a slight amount of doubt but better less so than more so!
My latest issue was to do with a proofreader who didn't do any work except make spelling mistakes in the document I forwarded to her and then asked me for money. I didn't expect this at all and this is one of the problems. Sometimes we trust too much and it seems we simply cannot afford to be this way. Kind regards.
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| Fake travelers | Jun 13, 2012 |
We seem to have the same issue here in New Brunswick, Canada. I've been approached on two different occasions. The first one wouldn't give me much information about who she was and whom she was representing. I asked her if she had been referred to me, but she didn't answer. Hard nowadays to figure out if a client is a referral or not because numerous translators are on the lists of Associations, organizations, and such. I refused to do the job for the first person until she said that she would p... See more We seem to have the same issue here in New Brunswick, Canada. I've been approached on two different occasions. The first one wouldn't give me much information about who she was and whom she was representing. I asked her if she had been referred to me, but she didn't answer. Hard nowadays to figure out if a client is a referral or not because numerous translators are on the lists of Associations, organizations, and such. I refused to do the job for the first person until she said that she would pay me in advance. Of course, payments were made by Money Grams and my bank knew there was a fraud. On top of that, I was paid more than I was asking for. I referred the whole case to our National Police and to different organizations with which I am involved. That leads to my point. It is extremely important that you forward the name of these people to your respective associations of translators and interpreters. The more people know about such cases of fraud, the more we'll be protected. I worry about younger translators who work on their own and just starting... Although I didn't translate for any of the two people who contacted me, I wasted time going to the bank, looking on the Internet, and contacting the police and different organizations.
[Edited at 2012-06-13 17:32 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-06-13 19:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Daniele Heinen
Canada
Local time: 11:44
Member (2006)
English to French
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| Another appearance of Marielle Khouri with a gmail address | Jul 10, 2012 |
Stupid message this pm ( I am in North America) addressed Dear Translator ( that is the first sign you should pay attention to ) asking what language I translate (second BIG warning) and no signature, name , phone adress or anything that can look remotedely legit. (third big warning).
Not happy when I sent her packing in several languages swearing. l just deleted her reply and blocked the address.
I don't know how these people still think they can catch someone with such blatantly... See more Stupid message this pm ( I am in North America) addressed Dear Translator ( that is the first sign you should pay attention to ) asking what language I translate (second BIG warning) and no signature, name , phone adress or anything that can look remotedely legit. (third big warning).
Not happy when I sent her packing in several languages swearing. l just deleted her reply and blocked the address.
I don't know how these people still think they can catch someone with such blatantly clueless messages.
Please use common sense; that is enough to sniff out such frauds. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Travelers Cheques South Africa | Sep 16, 2012 |
Hi there,
Yes, I fell for the same scam. It was done really well. I am very careful by nature and when I saw some red flags, I asked around (friends/colleagues) but everyone said that it sounds legitimate. Well, I unfortunately did the translation and hence lost some money. But as soon as I received the travelers cheques in the mail, I found a thread here and decided to call American Express to verify them. Sure enough...the lady from American Express asked me to do some tests and t... See more Hi there,
Yes, I fell for the same scam. It was done really well. I am very careful by nature and when I saw some red flags, I asked around (friends/colleagues) but everyone said that it sounds legitimate. Well, I unfortunately did the translation and hence lost some money. But as soon as I received the travelers cheques in the mail, I found a thread here and decided to call American Express to verify them. Sure enough...the lady from American Express asked me to do some tests and they turned out to be fake.
I never cashed them because I wanted to do my research first. I know many of you think that one should have done the research earlier but I just fell for it because the scam was just like a normal business transaction you have with a new client. The story was the same - "my agent purchased the travelers cheques already in your name, would you be so kind and send the excess back to me." Yes, it sounded weird, but the client (the person who assigned the translation to me) said he had cancer and he needed the translated information for his treatment. Having cancer survivors in my family I totally fell for it. Feeling sorry for the client. Well, after I contacted American Express, the lady told me to report it to my local law enforcement agency.
They send an officer to my house within 30 min and he took all the evidence and gave me a case number. He also said that I could contact the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), United States Postal Inspection Service. I will do that and wanted to share the three agencies with those who have had the same experience. I will not be able recover my money, but I am going to support/provide the agencies with any possible information available on those scam organizations/individuals.
After I realized I was part of the scam I asked the "client" to provide me with the address where I can send the excess money to. I told them that I was able to cash the cheques and am eager to return the money for his "cancer surgery". He sent me detailed MoneyGram info and I provided the information to the officer.
DO NOT CASH/DEPOSIT those cheques! I learned my lesson and from now on I am going to approach clients with a different and more experienced attitude.
Thank you all for providing this thread! ▲ Collapse
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Even though I don't consider myself to be naive, I fell for the same "scammer". Supposedly from France, telling me he had cancer and wanted to have a general text about all sorts of cancers translated from English to German. I did the job and wasted two days of my time for that. After delivery he told me that his agent accidentally sent all the money for his treatment to my address, so I should resend the excess money to him. I have received the nice looking Traveller's cheques today and will pr... See more Even though I don't consider myself to be naive, I fell for the same "scammer". Supposedly from France, telling me he had cancer and wanted to have a general text about all sorts of cancers translated from English to German. I did the job and wasted two days of my time for that. After delivery he told me that his agent accidentally sent all the money for his treatment to my address, so I should resend the excess money to him. I have received the nice looking Traveller's cheques today and will print out all e-mails etc. to go to the local police and report the case. Oh well, you live you learn... ▲ Collapse
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| Always know who you are dealing with | Nov 2, 2012 |
As described in the scam alert center, this is an 'overpayment' category, where a 'client' contacts you with a translation request and (normally another person) sends you a fake check for a higher amount, asking you to wire back the difference.
When approached by a stranger with a business proposition your may discard it on the spot or decide to investigate it further. In this case you should ... See more As described in the scam alert center, this is an 'overpayment' category, where a 'client' contacts you with a translation request and (normally another person) sends you a fake check for a higher amount, asking you to wire back the difference.
When approached by a stranger with a business proposition your may discard it on the spot or decide to investigate it further. In this case you should always ask for verifiable contact information and then verify it. You need to really know who the other person is. At this point scammers will go away and leave you alone.
To better protect yourself against scammers you should have a look at ProZ.com's scam alert reports. ProZ.com members can subscribe to this service to receive via email each alert and/or a weekly digest.
Kind regards,
Enrique ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Almost the same story here! | Feb 22, 2013 |
Paula Tome wrote:
Dear all,
I was contacted via Aquarius.net by someone posing as an independent localization person called Marielle Khouri. After delivering my job with an invoice for £230.00 containing my address and my bank details I was sent 2000 dollars of fake traveller cheques by someone I never heard of in Belgium. I actually binned the cheques well before I realised that was meant to be the payment for the job. Having contacted the bank, Action fraud and CIFAS, I thought I'd drop a warning line in here as well. The project was an ebook on health tips. It is my first scam in 12 years of freelancing so am feeling a bit shattered. Oh well.
[Edited at 2012-05-23 21:49 GMT]
But I smelled a rat, looked here, and need no longer worry!
| | | | vtimp
Germany
Local time: 17:44
English to German
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| Spanish agency posting bogus translation job just a cheque scam | Apr 25, 2013 |
I have had a similar experience, doing a long translation from French into German for a purportedly Spanish agency. They then sent me a fake cheque, wanting me to reimburse them for the overpayment. I am most annoyed that I did a 17 page translation that is only a front for a cheque scam, as it was a fairly complex translation as well.
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