| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | I suspect scam from a seemingly legit agency Thread poster: Jennifer Adcock
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Hello,
Last month I accepted and delivered a job from a supposed agency called "[name of agency hidden]" -- invoice is now a week overdue and as I try to find more contact information from them the only thing I can find is a thread that was removed from the Proz scam forum, whose title was "[name of agency] will not pay you" which is really making me worry.
The agency's website seemed legit after a quick visit and I requested a PO before starting the translation, which they is... See more Hello,
Last month I accepted and delivered a job from a supposed agency called "[name of agency hidden]" -- invoice is now a week overdue and as I try to find more contact information from them the only thing I can find is a thread that was removed from the Proz scam forum, whose title was "[name of agency] will not pay you" which is really making me worry.
The agency's website seemed legit after a quick visit and I requested a PO before starting the translation, which they issued. But they never confirmed receipt of the job or of the invoice.
J
[Edited at 2012-11-14 16:27 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-11-14 16:30 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-11-14 17:02 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 18:11
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Jennifer, your post here risks getting deleted too, as rules forbid us from naming names (at least until after suspicious behaviour is proven!)
You should consider making an entry for this company under the BlueBoard, from where a call for entries may then be sent out.
I find it slightly suspicious that they use the .org website address, but appear to use .com e-mail addresses; however, they claim to be members of the ATC (Association of Translation Companies), which mi... See more Jennifer, your post here risks getting deleted too, as rules forbid us from naming names (at least until after suspicious behaviour is proven!)
You should consider making an entry for this company under the BlueBoard, from where a call for entries may then be sent out.
I find it slightly suspicious that they use the .org website address, but appear to use .com e-mail addresses; however, they claim to be members of the ATC (Association of Translation Companies), which might therefore be a good avenue for research?
http://www.atc.org.uk/member_list.html#m
WARNING SIGN!
Despite their claimed membership, they are NOT listed in the ATC members list!
I have contacted the ATC to alert them and seek further information.
[Edited at 2012-11-14 16:33 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jennifer Adcock 
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:11
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Not on Blue Board | Nov 14, 2012 |
Indeed, the company isn't listed on the ATC website and it is neither on the Blue Board. What's worse, I Googled the name of the company plus the word "scam" and found this, which is referring to the actual email address I was contacted by:
http://ip-address-lookup-v4.com/email/[email protected]
How can I make enquiries here without naming th... See more Indeed, the company isn't listed on the ATC website and it is neither on the Blue Board. What's worse, I Googled the name of the company plus the word "scam" and found this, which is referring to the actual email address I was contacted by:
http://ip-address-lookup-v4.com/email/[email protected]
How can I make enquiries here without naming the company? And are these things enough to prove suspicious behaviour? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 18:11
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | Making a BlueBoard entry | Nov 14, 2012 |
Jennifer Adcock wrote:
Indeed, the company isn't listed on the ... Blue Board.
No, what you need to do is yourself submit it as a new entry to the BlueBoard here:
http://www.proz.com/?sp=bb&action=add_outsourcer_form&sp_mode=add
If you are careful not to use potentially actionable language, your post should go through, and then anyone else who looks there will find it too.
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Natalie
Poland
Local time: 18:11
Member (2002)
English to Russian
+ ...
MODERATOR SITE LOCALIZER | Creating a BB record | Nov 14, 2012 |
Hi Jennifer,
While creating a BB record for a new outsourcer you should provide as much information as possible. You cannot just provide a company name and put "uknown" in all other lines. Do you have ANY contact details for this outsourcer, besides their email address? Please feel free to contact me via my profile to forward me their email(s).
Natalia
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 18:11
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | Obvious scam | Nov 14, 2012 |
Natalie wrote:
Do you have ANY contact details for this outsourcer, besides their email address?
Their website gives NO contact or location information whatsoever, and from the impossibly extravagant claims they make, as well as the astonishingly impressive portfolio of supposed clients they claim, I'm afraid it is clear that this is a scam of some kind... or at least a rather unprincipled company!
| | | | Jennifer Adcock
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:11
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | What can I do? | Nov 14, 2012 |
What can I do if I can't create a BB entry or name the agency on the forum?
Are there any actions I can take to avoid this happening to other translators?
Are there any chances in the world that I can track down the people behind the scam and request payment for my work? (For example debt collectors?)
They seem to be quite knowledgeable about the industry, is it likely they are actually making money out of this?
| | | | Natalie
Poland
Local time: 18:11
Member (2002)
English to Russian
+ ...
MODERATOR SITE LOCALIZER | Hi Tony, I know | Nov 14, 2012 |
Tony M wrote:
Their website gives NO contact or location information whatsoever...
That's why I have asked Jenny.
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| Was it sensible? | Nov 14, 2012 |
Tony M wrote: Natalie wrote:
Do you have ANY contact details for this outsourcer, besides their email address? Their website gives NO contact or location information whatsoever, and from the impossibly extravagant claims they make, as well as the astonishingly impressive portfolio of supposed clients they claim, I'm afraid it is clear that this is a scam of some kind... or at least a rather unprincipled company!
Hm... I wonder whether it makes sense to accept any work or order from a company who do not publish their address publicly for anyone to see? Quite clearly I would not do it.
| | | | Natalie
Poland
Local time: 18:11
Member (2002)
English to Russian
+ ...
MODERATOR SITE LOCALIZER
Hi Jenny,
Unfortunately, I have bad news for you... This was a reincarnation of a well-known Egyptian scammer:
http://www.proz.com/blueboard/20779 (I will add new information there)
You will find all available information at the BB record (see the other records listed there as well).
In the future, please always do the following:
1) Before rep... See more Hi Jenny,
Unfortunately, I have bad news for you... This was a reincarnation of a well-known Egyptian scammer:
http://www.proz.com/blueboard/20779 (I will add new information there)
You will find all available information at the BB record (see the other records listed there as well).
In the future, please always do the following:
1) Before replying to any offer from an unknown person perform a comprehensive search (website, name, availability of full contact details and their correctness, etc.)
2) NEVER accept any job from anybody who hasn't provided you with their full and verifyable contact details
3) Subscribe to scam center alerts at http://www.proz.com/about/translator-scam-alerts/ to avoid similar sad experience in the future.
Natalia
[Edited at 2012-11-15 16:39 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 18:11
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | Sadly, probably not! | Nov 14, 2012 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
Hm... I wonder whether it makes sense to accept any work or order from a company who do not publish their address publicly for anyone to see? Quite clearly I would not do it.
I couldn't agree more!
I have been through this process myself so many times, one soon becomes sceptical — and now the whole community is aware of the extent of this scamming that is going on all the time, it really is incumbent upon each of us to be very, very wary.
I received a poorly-written, uninformative e-mail enquiry from someone the other day — when I looked into it, it actually WAS legit; but I'm afraid it got binned with the rest as being not very professional people to work with...
If in doubt... run away!
| | | | Trudy Peters
United States
Local time: 12:11
German to English
+ ...
You said they issued a PO. Is there no information in it other than their name and email address?
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Tony M
France
Local time: 18:11
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Jennifer Adcock wrote:
The agency's website seemed legit after a quick visit...
Oh dear, I think your visit must have been a little too quick, Jennifer! I'm afraid I smelt a rat immediately I saw their site, and my first impression was only confirmed when I did a quick tour of the pages.
... I requested a PO before starting the translation, which they issued.
Ah, now surely that P.O. must have carried their contact details? If not, then I'm afraid that really ought to have rung BIG red warning bells for you!
However, you may have to consider putting this down to experience; you have already lost the time you spent on their translation, with virtually no hope of ever getting paid for it; so it is probably counter-productive for you to waste any further time on this issue...
Better luck next time!
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 18:11
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | Just a thought... | Nov 14, 2012 |
...from the document you translated, were you able to identify who the end client might have been? If so, you might be able to find out from them who THEY thought they had engaged to do the job, and working back from there, at least alert the intermediary to the dishonesty of the people they are dealing with.
I know this goes against all the rules of deontology in our profession, but in this case I think it is justified, inasmuch as the translation 'agency' concerned has clearly bee... See more ...from the document you translated, were you able to identify who the end client might have been? If so, you might be able to find out from them who THEY thought they had engaged to do the job, and working back from there, at least alert the intermediary to the dishonesty of the people they are dealing with.
I know this goes against all the rules of deontology in our profession, but in this case I think it is justified, inasmuch as the translation 'agency' concerned has clearly been dishonest right from the outset. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 18:11
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | Reply from ATC | Nov 15, 2012 |
I have just received a copy of the e-mail sent by ATC to the offending company:
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
It has been drawn to my attention that your company is falsely claiming to be a member of the Association of Translation Companies and displaying an old logo of ours on your website. It has also been drawn to my attention that you are commissioning work from translators and not paying them for their endeavours. As a consequence they are approaching the ATC in the bel... See more I have just received a copy of the e-mail sent by ATC to the offending company:
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
It has been drawn to my attention that your company is falsely claiming to be a member of the Association of Translation Companies and displaying an old logo of ours on your website. It has also been drawn to my attention that you are commissioning work from translators and not paying them for their endeavours. As a consequence they are approaching the ATC in the belief that we can exert pressure on you to adhere to our code of professional conduct.
While we have no direct influence over your activities, as you are not a member, we do take very seriously anything that damages our global reputation. Your company's dealings with fellow language professionals, while claiming to be a member of our association is extremely damaging to our reputation.
If our logo is not removed from your site within the next 24 hours from the time of sending this email, we have instructed our international lawyers to take up the matter on our behalf.
Please acknowledge receipt of this email and act immediately to remove our logo from your site. In the meantime, I am alerting other professional bodies around the world about [name hidden] so that they in turn can alert their translators networks to your activities and warn them not to accept any work from you.
Yours faithfully
Geoffrey Bowden
From: Geoffrey Bowden
General Secretary
Association of Translation Companies
Tel: 00 44 (0)1273 676777
Mobile: 07958 682 683
Fax: 00 44 (0)8450 582590
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.atc.org.uk
Twitter: @atc_translation ▲ Collapse
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