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Client wants cheque deposit before proceeding with translation Thread poster: linadia
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Hello,
The client has asked for a quote and agreed in it. Then he offered to send a deposit before proceeding with the translation. I asked for $100 and received a cheque with $3000. I am not sure what is going on here, but the client asked me to deposit the cheque before sending the document to be translated. Can you please let me know what do you think the best thing to do about this?
Many thanks
Nadia
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imatahan 
Brazil
Local time: 18:03
English to Portuguese
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I've read a lot of similar stories in ProZ foruns and this uses to become a trick. Don't be another victim. First verify if the company really exists. Ask their telephone number and address and try to confirm them.
Research about their website and if other translators know the company.
Or you may work for them as a volunteer...
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| Free money? Christmas already? | Feb 26, 2011 |
If you are not working for Santa Claus, this is a 100% scam.
Just ask yourself: who - besides Santa, of course - would give you $2900 free?
And then your "client" will ask you send him back the difference.
Just throw away the cheque and finish talks with this person.
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Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 22:03
Member (2007)
English
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| Better still ... | Feb 26, 2011 |
Alexandre Maricato wrote:
Just throw away the cheque and finish talks with this person.
Inform the police and give them the cheque and all the correspondence.
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Krzysztof Kajetanowicz (X)
Poland
Local time: 23:03
English to Polish
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| how does this scam work? | Feb 26, 2011 |
Just curious. The Nigerians want to you pay them money in order to receive money; how does this one work?
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| Quite simple | Feb 26, 2011 |
The scammer sends a cheque for a higher sum and asks you to send the difference back to him. It may take as long as a month to cash a cheque and most victims send their money immediately, usually a few weeks before they realize that the cheque has bounced.
If you write to the scammer that you are going to wait until the cheque is cashed, you will most probably never hear of him again.
[Upraveno: 2011-02-26 08:03 GMT]
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 23:03
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| How it works | Feb 26, 2011 |
Krzysztof Kajetanowicz wrote:
Just curious. The Nigerians want to you pay them money in order to receive money; how does this one work?
The cheque is fake, but the bank will pay it out sooner. So the victim sends the scammer $2900, and a week or two later the cheque bounces, and then the bank expects the victim to pay back the value of the cheque. By that time, the scammer can't be reached (or comes up with another excuse and dupes the victim a second time).
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Roy OConnor (X)
Local time: 23:03
German to English
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 23:03
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Cleared, not cashed | Feb 26, 2011 |
Stanislav Pokorny wrote:
If you write to the scammer that you are going to wait until the cheque is cashed, you will most probably never hear of him again.
1. Don't wait until the cheque is cashed. Wait until it had cleared. The bank may cash the cheque long before they've cleared it (if the victim has a good credit record, etc). A foreign cheque may take a month or two to clear.
2. Don't assume that if you hear from the scammer again, that he is possibly not a scammer. A good scammer won't run away at the first sign of a savvy victim.
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Keep a photocopy of the check but destroy it. Inform the "customer" that you have destroyed the check and that you don't want to continue discussing the job. Tell the customer that if he gets in touch again by any means you will report the case to the police.
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| The devil is in the check!!!! | Feb 26, 2011 |
Samuel Murray wrote: Stanislav Pokorny wrote:
If you write to the scammer that you are going to wait until the cheque is cashed, you will most probably never hear of him again. 1. Don't wait until the cheque is cashed. Wait until it had cleared. The bank may cash the cheque long before they've cleared it (if the victim has a good credit record, etc). A foreign cheque may take a month or two to clear.
NO, NEVER!!! Never try to cash the check. Police authorities are not as dumb as they look, and keep close track of these money laundering schemes. They know that launderers use innocent people and freelance professionals for their scheme, but the fact is that IF YOU DO ANYTHING WITH THE CHECK YOU WILL BE IN TROUBLE SOONER OR LATER!!
Just destroy the check, inform the scammer that you have done so, and carry on with your normal life.
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linadia wrote:
The client has asked for a quote and agreed in it. Then he offered to send a deposit before proceeding with the translation. I asked for $100 and received a cheque with $3000. I am not sure what is going on here, but the client asked me to deposit the cheque before sending the document to be translated. Can you please let me know what do you think the best thing to do about this?
Nadia, I hope we catch this before you do any damage to yourself with this.
Let me ask you this: How is it possible that, with so much information available in Proz.com and so many other places, you are not aware of these scams? It really puzzles me.
Hasn't anybody told you in your life that nobody gives a tenner for a dollar? Didn't it immediately strike you that a customer wants to pay in advance? If someone you don't know wants to pay in advance, there must be some catch in it, wouldn't you think?
Good luck!
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it was with travellers checks (4000€). they wanted me to send 3000€ back from my own account, I didn't. The travellers were fake, I realized soon enough.
good luck - Marie
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 23:03
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Samuel Murray wrote: Stanislav Pokorny wrote:
If you write to the scammer that you are going to wait until the cheque is cashed, you will most probably never hear of him again. Don't wait until the cheque is cashed. Wait until it had cleared. The bank may cash the cheque long before they've cleared it (if the victim has a good credit record, etc). A foreign cheque may take a month or two to clear. NO, NEVER!!! Never try to cash the check.
My response was actually not meant as general advice but as a comment to what Stanislav had written. My own approach to this matter would be the same as yours -- don't cash the cheque. Tell the client that you have a policy not to send money back to clients.
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| Thanks Samuel | Feb 26, 2011 |
Samuel Murray wrote: Stanislav Pokorny wrote:
If you write to the scammer that you are going to wait until the cheque is cashed, you will most probably never hear of him again. 1. Don't wait until the cheque is cashed. Wait until it had cleared. The bank may cash the cheque long before they've cleared it (if the victim has a good credit record, etc). A foreign cheque may take a month or two to clear.
Hello, Samuel, and thanks for the clarification. Checks are very unusual in my country and I have been very successful in avoiding them so far...
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