Translation - art & business » Scams »
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What to make of this
Thread poster: Robert Rietvelt
Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 07:13
Greek to English
PowerPoint? Mar 1, 2019

Tina Vonhof wrote:

Always ask to see the original document, that gives you the best understanding of what you are getting into.


That's my policy, too. It seems like just basic common sense to me, yet some agencies appear to think it strange and unusual.

Apart from all the other things wrong with this job offer, why on earth would they want the target text in PowerPoint?

Barbara Carrara
Colleen Roach, PhD
MollyRose
Sandra & Kenneth Grossman
 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 06:13
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I don't think it was the same group Mar 1, 2019

Katarzyna Slowikova wrote:

Tom in London wrote:

but as H P Barnum put it "there's a sucker born every minute".



Still, the numbers of them on Proz are quite shocking (keep checking!).

Some months ago, in 2018, I was being bombarded with similar offers for translation of "religious" literature by a Proz member (until I replied to one of them sending them to hell in rather expressive words), if not on several fronts (Translatorscafe and LinkedIn may have been source too - I don't remember exactly now...). The same offers were also being published everywhere on internet, on Proz, Translatorscafe, Translators Directory (or what's the name of that fishy site), LinkedIn, I think I googled them even on Elance or something similar. Currently, when you google a fragment of the job description, you find only couple of ads on upwork, though they're quite new, so it may be just a beginning of a new wave.
In the previous offers, they were also looking for great many languages, and the description gave similarly unserious impression, though I don't think it was the same text and don't remember the company name being used. I did some googling back then that was inconclusive as to whether they're scammers. But it looked strongly like one of those modern US-based "prosperity gospels" which was enough to put me off, whether they're scammers (in the sense of the word being used here) or not.

Seeing the numbers of offers they keep receiving, I really can't help thinking about some form of Darwinism being at work here... I'm not sorry for people who fall for it (the potential for a bad experience in any form is imho high).

[Edited at 2019-02-28 15:51 GMT]


I remember them. I was also bombarded with mails, but they came directly from the American religious group in question. This one looks totally different.




[Edited at 2019-03-01 12:34 GMT]

[Edited at 2019-03-01 12:50 GMT]

[Edited at 2019-03-04 12:24 GMT]
 
Barbara Dalla Villa
Barbara Dalla Villa  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 06:13
English to Italian
delivery deadline Mar 1, 2019

Tina Vonhof wrote:

Barbara Dalla Villa wrote:

I am a newby in Proz, and I am still trying to understand how the whole thing works: in some jobs (take this one as an example), they give you a delivery deadline which is just a couple of days later than the quoting deadline, and you the amount of words is not even given: how can you know whether to quote or not?


Don't go by this job offer or others like it. It's a scam or, at the very least, false advertising. A legitimate company usually gives you more information, and if the job looks interesting and you need more information, you can ask. Always ask to see the original document, that gives you the best understanding of what you are getting into.


[Edited at 2019-02-28 22:38 GMT]

Thanks Tina. So are you suggesting that a serious company on Proz will not set a deadline before reaching an agreement with the translator, or at least before stating the amount of words to be translated?
 
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 22:13
Dutch to English
+ ...
@Barbara Mar 1, 2019

Barbara Dalla Villa wrote:


Thanks Tina. So are you suggesting that a serious company on Proz will not set a deadline before reaching an agreement with the translator, or at least before stating the amount of words to be translated? [/quote]

That's not quite what I meant. Often companies do give you a deadline and the payment details but once you have seen the source document and you have a better idea what it involves, you can always negotiate about what deadline works for you and what you want to charge. I believe proz.com has a webinar for translators who are just starting out, that may be very helpful for you. Check under Education. You're also welcome to email me if you have questions.

Barbara Dalla Villa
 
Katarzyna Slowikova
Katarzyna Slowikova  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 06:13
English to Czech
+ ...
Not to me Mar 6, 2019

Robert Rietvelt wrote:



I remember them. I was also bombarded with mails, but they came directly from the American religious group in question. This one looks totally different.


I understand this is a Ukrainian publishing house (right? I don't understand the language). So maybe the same religious group found a publisher which is now looking for translators on its own?
What is the likelihood of there being two translation projects in christian literature, from EN to great many of languages, both from EN, both sounding similarly fishy... less then a year apart... theoretically it's possible but my gut feeling tells me otherwise.
Apparently, the crowds that applied for these jobs don't waste time on googling their client, otherwise someone would have for sure taken a moment to reassure us here that everything's fine and they're "getting an excellent experience and highly paid work".
 
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