| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] > | Scammers impersonating agency and asking for money "to verify translators identity" Thread poster: Valeria Burova
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Valeria Burova wrote: Enrique Cavalitto wrote: Valeria Burova wrote:
I have found the entry for them with the feedback from translators starting 2004 and ending 2014.. How do I report them?
[Редактировалось 2015-08-18 19:53 GMT] How do you know if the message you received came from this company, given that it was sent from a Gmail address? Regards, Enrique I have received another message after - from corporate email - and the documents attached to it indicated that the person contacted me from gmail account was a recruiter.
In this case I advise you to send a support request.
Regards,
Enrique
| | | | Irina Latushkina (X) 
Belarus
Local time: 05:31
English to Russian
| Check the second e-mail | Aug 18, 2015 |
I was contacted by these scammers, too.
The second e-mail was also from a gmail adress - please, recheck, and you will see it too, I am sure.
When I started reading their e-mail, I thought that their language and style was very suspicious - I have undergone a training in NLP, so I recognize the patterns used by scammers:
- urgency - "if you don't accept the offer by tomorrow, we will pass the offer to the next successful candidate";
- praise/emphasis on your... See more I was contacted by these scammers, too.
The second e-mail was also from a gmail adress - please, recheck, and you will see it too, I am sure.
When I started reading their e-mail, I thought that their language and style was very suspicious - I have undergone a training in NLP, so I recognize the patterns used by scammers:
- urgency - "if you don't accept the offer by tomorrow, we will pass the offer to the next successful candidate";
- praise/emphasis on your success - "you have been selected among HUNDREDS of other candidates";
- promise of unbelievably huge money with some elaborate explanation, why it is true, etc.
I am sure, that these scammers have nothing to do with the real translation agency with that name.
I asked why they are using a gmail account, and that's what they replied:
"Our corporate addresses are reserved to client and company to company communication - we do not provide personal addresses to our team members."
Brilliant!
Anyway, I think we should report these scammers to Proz and maybe to the Translation Company, too. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Valeria Burova
Indonesia
Local time: 10:31
Member (2014)
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER
Irina Latushkina wrote: I was contacted by these scammers, too. The second e-mail was also from a gmail adress - please, recheck, and you will see it too, I am sure. When I started reading their e-mail, I thought that their language and style was very suspicious - I have undergone a training in NLP, so I recognize the patterns used by scammers: - urgency - "if you don't accept the offer by tomorrow, we will pass the offer to the next successful candidate"; - praise/emphasis on your success - "you have been selected among HUNDREDS of other candidates"; - promise of unbelievably huge money with some elaborate explanation, why it is true, etc. I am sure, that these scammers have nothing to do with the real translation agency with that name. I asked why they are using a gmail account, and that's what they replied: "Our corporate addresses are reserved to client and company to company communication - we do not provide personal addresses to our team members." Brilliant! Anyway, I think we should report these scammers to Proz and maybe to the Translation Company, too.
Yes, thank you very much, I corrected the information I sent - it is really not corporate one. Agree on the style, a lot of suspicious info that forces to hurry - like starting working in 3 days after the registration and the need to sign the contract within 48 hours otherwise they choose another candidate, I just started to read their contract and decided to check immediately..
I feel sorry I cant find the offers they posted at Proz :/ it would be useful..
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:31
Serbian to English
+ ...
| have you tried | Aug 18, 2015 |
to contact directly that agency using their published contact email and / or their published phone number?
It's BASIC due diligence even with the most reputable agencies ...
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| They contacted me too | Aug 19, 2015 |
Dear Valeria,
They contacted me too. Their job posting was in Proz.com, but when I tried to open the link, it wasn't there anymore. After I replied to their job posting, the first person contacted me and promised to let me know their decision in a couple of days. The second person just sent me an email with a good news and required me to sign a translator agreement and read their employment information.
This is what they wrote in their Employment Information and what c... See more Dear Valeria,
They contacted me too. Their job posting was in Proz.com, but when I tried to open the link, it wasn't there anymore. After I replied to their job posting, the first person contacted me and promised to let me know their decision in a couple of days. The second person just sent me an email with a good news and required me to sign a translator agreement and read their employment information.
This is what they wrote in their Employment Information and what could be a red flag for possible scammer (aside from the fact that both of the contact persons are using gmail accounts):
"Due to a large amount of spammers fraudulently infiltrating our members panel for scraping and other illegal activities you will have to secure your position and verify your identity by signing and uploading the Management Agreement attached to your Employment letter, as well as deposit a retrievable 30$ fee to secure your position. This fee is returned to you once you have verified your legitimacy as a Freelance Translator, as soon as you complete your account registration.
However, if you are found to be a spammer and/or scam artist after you have created your ac-count and have gotten back your deposit, your account will be immediately terminated and your information forwarded to your local Authorities."
They also provided a link to a registration portal and there it is...the same requirement to pay $30 is on the portal;
"You can proceed in registering your account by fulfilling the form below.
IMPORTANT: Due to a recent increase in fraudulent and spam registrations, you will have to deposit a retrievable 30$ fee either by Credit Card or Paypal - following that, you will be manually validated by our Administrators before being able to log-in. This process can take up to 24 hours and you will receive an email when completed - please make sure to fill all of the following information accurately. Finally, please finish configuring your profile once validated and start working ASAP."
If this is a scam then they are really good. They chose a very reputable translation company (4.9 Blue Board score), they used the names and pictures of the people working in that company, and they could put up the same requirement on the portal login. ▲ Collapse
| | | | ant--trans
France
Local time: 04:31
Member (2015)
English to French
+ ...
| They got me !!! | Aug 19, 2015 |
Hello everyone
As a new freelance translator I received this email and checked about apex on the Blue board and thought that everything was OK. I paid the amount through my paypal account. I dug deeper to find out it's a scam thanks to this forum. How can I report them?
Thanks for your advice
| | | | airmailrpl
Brazil
Local time: 23:31
Member (2005)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| 5 Apex companies on the Blue Board | Aug 19, 2015 |
There are 5 Apex companies on the Blue Board - the one in Canada has been banned by ProZ from posting jobs
| | | | Irina Latushkina (X)
Belarus
Local time: 05:31
English to Russian
| Report them to Proz support and contact Paypal/your bank | Aug 19, 2015 |
ant--trans wrote:
Hello everyone
As a new freelance translator I received this email and checked about apex on the Blue board and thought that everything was OK. I paid the amount through my paypal account. I dug deeper to find out it's a scam thanks to this forum. How can I report them?
Thanks for your advice
First of all, you can try contacting Paypal support and cancelling your payment due to the fact that the beneficiary of the payment is a scammer. Do it as quickly as possible. Also, if the money for the payment was withdrawn by Paypal from your credit card (if you didn't have money on the Paypal account at the moment), you can also try contacting your bank and stopping the payment before it's authorised.
Maybe you could also try going to the police to report a fact of fraud. I'm not sure if it's of any use. But theoretically it may be possible for them to contact the website hoster company and find out the IPs of the guys who created the website, block the website and find the persons behind the IPs.
I have contacted the Company by e-mail with description of the situation and a link to this discusssion.
I think you should also report this to Proz support - I guess you should use the top menu About - Support Center - Submit a Support Request.
[Edited at 2015-08-19 08:08 GMT]
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 04:31
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 03:31
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| @ Enrique or other staff member | Aug 19, 2015 |
If I'm right in thinking that we have an agency listed on the Blue Board that has had its identity stolen, then there surely ought to be a warning on that agency's record so that (a) freelancers are alerted to the risk and take measures to check further details about the 'job offer', and (b) the company's reputation is protected.
I thought that was standard ProZ.com practice.
Edited to add that I see now that this second report has come hard on the heels of the first so... See more If I'm right in thinking that we have an agency listed on the Blue Board that has had its identity stolen, then there surely ought to be a warning on that agency's record so that (a) freelancers are alerted to the risk and take measures to check further details about the 'job offer', and (b) the company's reputation is protected.
I thought that was standard ProZ.com practice.
Edited to add that I see now that this second report has come hard on the heels of the first so there has been little time for action. No doubt Enrique is already onto it.
[Edited at 2015-08-19 09:03 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Valeria Burova
Indonesia
Local time: 10:31
Member (2014)
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER
Daryo wrote:
to contact directly that agency using their published contact email and / or their published phone number?
It's BASIC due diligence even with the most reputable agencies ...
I did contacted them by email, but corporate mail is checked not that fast when it comes to general mail boxes indicated on a site, might take some time..
| | | | ant--trans
France
Local time: 04:31
Member (2015)
English to French
+ ...
| Paypal and Proz warning | Aug 19, 2015 |
Irina Latushkina wrote: ant--trans wrote:
Hello everyone
As a new freelance translator I received this email and checked about apex on the Blue board and thought that everything was OK. I paid the amount through my paypal account. I dug deeper to find out it's a scam thanks to this forum. How can I report them?
Thanks for your advice
First of all, you can try contacting Paypal support and cancelling your payment due to the fact that the beneficiary of the payment is a scammer. Do it as quickly as possible. Also, if the money for the payment was withdrawn by Paypal from your credit card (if you didn't have money on the Paypal account at the moment), you can also try contacting your bank and stopping the payment before it's authorised. Maybe you could also try going to the police to report a fact of fraud. I'm not sure if it's of any use. But theoretically it may be possible for them to contact the website hoster company and find out the IPs of the guys who created the website, block the website and find the persons behind the IPs. I have contacted the Company by e-mail with description of the situation and a link to this discusssion. I think you should also report this to Proz support - I guess you should use the top menu About - Support Center - Submit a Support Request. [Edited at 2015-08-19 08:08 GMT]
Hello again everyone,
I contacted paypal and reported the scam with all the email messages I received from this scam. An investigation is being carried out. I also filed a support request on proz.
Thanks everyone for all your useful information and as a new freelance translator it's great to have such support on Proz.
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| Corporate replied | Aug 19, 2015 |
I received that mail too. I immediately sent an email to Apex and I have received their reply.
"Thank you for sending us the e-mail alerting us of the employment opportunities you received.
Please note that the e-mail you received is fraudulent and was sent by a Scammer who is impersonating Apex Translations, Inc., a legitimate translation company. We are doing everything possible to stop this scam.
DO NOT PAY THE $30 REQUESTED BY THESE SCAMMERS."
... See more I received that mail too. I immediately sent an email to Apex and I have received their reply.
"Thank you for sending us the e-mail alerting us of the employment opportunities you received.
Please note that the e-mail you received is fraudulent and was sent by a Scammer who is impersonating Apex Translations, Inc., a legitimate translation company. We are doing everything possible to stop this scam.
DO NOT PAY THE $30 REQUESTED BY THESE SCAMMERS."
So yes, they do know now about this impersonation. ▲ Collapse
| | | | ant--trans
France
Local time: 04:31
Member (2015)
English to French
+ ...
| Apex on the phone | Aug 19, 2015 |
Nicolás Flórez wrote:
I received that mail too. I immediately sent an email to Apex and I have received their reply.
"Thank you for sending us the e-mail alerting us of the employment opportunities you received.
Please note that the e-mail you received is fraudulent and was sent by a Scammer who is impersonating Apex Translations, Inc., a legitimate translation company. We are doing everything possible to stop this scam.
DO NOT PAY THE $30 REQUESTED BY THESE SCAMMERS."
So yes, they do know now about this impersonation.
I confirm what you wrote since I called them at 2h50 pm (Paris time zone). They are trying their best to stop this scam.
| | | | | I've also recieved an e-mail from these scammers | Aug 19, 2015 |
Thank you all who wrote here about these scammers. I realized it was a scammer who wrote to me, but I wanted to be sure. As a new frellancer I had some doubts about it and you all just proved my thoughts.
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