ProZ.com Translation Forums

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | Additional name included in translation request scam

Patricia Redlin (X) — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 19:31:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Patricia Redlin (X)
Post title: Additional name included in translation request scam

Silly me. I started the translation for this den of thieves, even though my suspicions were raised when "Stephen Gray" (same contact by email and translation request as noted in other posts here) said a check was being sent to me for payment (in advance) for the translation, but that his accountant had made an error and sent me a check for my payment and for payment of his travel agent. I was supposed to deposit the check and then send his "travel agent" the rest of the amount not due to me.

The check came, but my bank said not to deposit it because they suspect it's a scam check. Too bad my previous search online for "Stephen Gray" did not turn up any scams. However, one of the names on the check is "Roberto Torres" and a search for that resulted in this Scams forum. Thank you! And of course thanks to my bank teller for preventing me from depositing a phony check.

Red flags went up for me first because of the story about the accountant's error and that I would be getting a check for more than the amount due, etc. But even more red flags started flapping loudly due to this jerk's extremely poor English, given that his supposed name is Stephen Gray. If their scams work and they do get money from unsuspecting suckers who fall for the check thing, why can't they pay a translator to translate their emails into good English? I guess they wouldn't get to keep quite as much ill-gotten cash if they did that.

Good thing all I lost here was some time doing 1/3 of a translation that was actually kind of fun and very educational!

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | She tried to trick me this morning...

bunnie — Mon, 22 Feb 2016 20:30:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: bunnie
Post title: She tried to trick me this morning...

But honestly, a translator that writes her first name with lower case as in "tracy"?
And will not give you a single reference?
Really??
Puleeze!

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | Do you know what a joke is?

Katarzyna Slowikova — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 20:46:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Katarzyna Slowikova
Post title: Do you know what a joke is?

[quote]Tony M wrote:

Tempting as it may be to 'play' with these scammers, it is highly indavisable to respond in any way — to start with, it will have absolutely no effect whatsoever on them, it is just like water of a duck's back!

BUT if you reply, what you do is validate your e-mail addrs for them — which suddenly makes it a saleable commodity, thus ensuring that you WILL receive plenty more scam requests in the future. [/quote]

Yes, and this guy claims to communicate with a bunch of them since then. :D
But if you insist on taking it seriously, I personally wouldn't be much amused to waste my time like this. For those who already began some correspondence, you can take it to the next level and make a sketch. It's a good material, as you can see.

[Edited at 2016-02-03 20:51 GMT]

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | A spoonful of risk management

Enrique Cavalitto — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 20:21:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Enrique Cavalitto
Post title: A spoonful of risk management

NEVER accept a job from someone contacting you unless you get verifiable contact information AND you verify it.

NEVER accept a job that requires any kind of payment or refund of money from your part.

NEVER skip risk management verifications because the job offered is very urgent and there is no time for verification identities.

Emails from companies should come from corporate domains (what you get after @"). Check in the web page, and watch for typos.

Google everything!

Regards,
Enrique

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | Two voices of wisdom

Enrique Cavalitto — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 20:15:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Enrique Cavalitto
Post title: Two voices of wisdom

[quote]LegalTransform wrote:

I don't understand why people would consider for even one fraction of a second working for someone with a free email address (gmail, hotmail, etc.) and no other VERIFIED contact information.

Always ask for an alternative business email address, or verify their telephone number, or ask for mailing address documentation (id card, etc.).
[/quote]

[quote]Tony M wrote:

Tempting as it may be to 'play' with these scammers, it is highly indavisable to respond in any way — to start with, it will have absolutely no effect whatsoever on them, it is just like water of a duck's back!

BUT if you reply, what you do is validate your e-mail addrs for them — which suddenly makes it a saleable commodity, thus ensuring that you WILL receive plenty more scam requests in the future. [/quote]

Regards,
Enrique

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | Inadvisable to reply to scam e-mails

Tony M — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 20:05:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Tony M
Post title: Inadvisable to reply to scam e-mails

Tempting as it may be to 'play' with these scammers, it is highly indavisable to respond in any way — to start with, it will have absolutely no effect whatsoever on them, it is just like water of a duck's back!

BUT if you reply, what you do is validate your e-mail addrs for them — which suddenly makes it a saleable commodity, thus ensuring that you WILL receive plenty more scam requests in the future.

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | These scammers are a joke, so have fun with them

Katarzyna Slowikova — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 19:54:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Katarzyna Slowikova
Post title: These scammers are a joke, so have fun with them

[quote]LegalTransform wrote:

Do you happen to know how much money it costs these scammers to purchase, print and mail out a fake check? Perhaps if we all just said "Yes" and then cut off communication after we receive the check, we could cause them to waste a lot of money.
[/quote]

Don't know about the money but you can certainly cause them to waist some time and have some fun in the process:
[url removed]

ONE LOVE :D

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | I have a question for you.

Jeff Whittaker — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 17:51:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Jeff Whittaker
Post title: I have a question for you.

Do you happen to know how much money it costs these scammers to purchase, print and mail out a fake check? Perhaps if we all just said "Yes" and then cut off communication after we receive the check, we could cause them to waste a lot of money.

[quote]João Roque Dias wrote:

Published by the Translator Scammers Directory on Twitter:

[url removed] [/quote]

[Edited at 2016-02-03 17:52 GMT]

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | Never, ever accept work from...

Jeff Whittaker — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 14:21:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Jeff Whittaker
Post title: Never, ever accept work from...

... a client with just a gmail address. There is no need to point out individual scammers - the use of a gmail address is evidence enough to suspect fraud.

I don't understand why people would consider for even one fraction of a second working for someone with a free email address (gmail, hotmail, etc.) and no other VERIFIED contact information.

Always ask for an alternative business email address, or verify their telephone number, or ask for mailing address documentation (id card, etc.).

[Edited at 2016-02-03 17:49 GMT]

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | Tracy Johnson

Snow McDonald — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 20:24:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Snow McDonald
Post title: Tracy Johnson

I came across Tracy Johnson and had wasted $550 work and time there. Good thing that the bank clerk is well aware of this kind of scam and warned me ahead of time before I made decision to send out the money.

[email removed] was her email.

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | The same happened to me

DboxTSL — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 17:01:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: DboxTSL
Post title: The same happened to me

[quote]NataliaShevchuk wrote:

Apparently, this scammer has now different name, Sarah Moore. Her email is [email removed] . The IP was Swiss, [IP removed] , but she claims she is in NJ, USA. She sent me an attachment looking exactly like this web-page [url removed]

When I asked about a deadline, she replied: "Ending of November" =)

Beware.

[Edited at 2015-11-11 18:47 GMT]

[Edited at 2015-11-11 18:47 GMT] [/quote]

Hi Natalia,

The same happened to me, by Tracy Johnson, [email removed] .
I was asked to translate the same document. After I asked some detailed questions about translating the RE acronyms, I grew suspicious and found out this sender had been reported for scamming people, [url removed]

Everybody please be careful,
D.C.

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | smoore00725@gmail.com

CFCreative — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 19:58:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: CFCreative
Post title: smoore00725@gmail.com

Same thing here. Exact wording of some of the emails you've posted. Her language, lack of punctuation and the use of a gmail account were red flags for us, as was the spelling of her last name in all caps: MOORE Sarah. It was too obvious that she is not a native English speaker and yet her name was; she also spelled her last name in all caps, a very French thing to do, also common in other Western European countries.

She's currently offering the same: offering to pay about $25 over our quoted price, won't release her company name so we can issue an Invoice and keeps asking for our address to mail a check. I didn't like the direction in which this was going, and my partner looked her up and found this scam thread. The funniest thing is that I told her we were graciously declining her offer because of fraud concerns, and she's still insisting on getting our full, legal company name and address so she can send this check out in advance.

Thanks for sharing your war stories - this really helps all of us to identify scammers. What a good community service!

Peace to all.

Conchie

[Edited at 2015-11-16 21:38 GMT]

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | I fell for it!

Joanna Carroll — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 15:01:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Joanna Carroll
Post title: I fell for it!

[quote]NataliaShevchuk wrote:

Apparently, this scammer has now different name, Sarah Moore. Her email is [email removed] . The IP was Swiss, [IP removed] , but she claims she is in NJ, USA. She sent me an attachment looking exactly like this web-page [url removed]

When I asked about a deadline, she replied: "Ending of November" =)

Beware.

[Edited at 2015-11-11 18:47 GMT]

[Edited at 2015-11-11 18:47 GMT] [/quote]

I was in Poland last week when Sarah Moore contacted me asking for a quote and sent exactly the same document. Also asked for my address wanting to send me a cheque. Unfortunately, I only thought of checking this out here on Proz when she didn't reply to my request for her postal address so I can send her an invoice. I spent the weekend translating this fake agreement! Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Feeling bruised... :(

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | Here she goes again!

NataliaShevchuk — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 18:46:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: NataliaShevchuk
Post title: Here she goes again!

Apparently, this scammer has now different name, Sarah Moore. Her email is [email removed] . The IP was Swiss, [IP removed] , but she claims she is in NJ, USA. She sent me an attachment looking exactly like this web-page [url removed]

When I asked about a deadline, she replied: "Ending of November" =)

Beware.

[Edited at 2015-11-11 18:47 GMT]

[Edited at 2015-11-11 18:47 GMT]

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | Melissa again melissac12251970@gmail.com

ARKADIUSZ KACZOROWSKI — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 15:13:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: ARKADIUSZ KACZOROWSKI
Post title: Melissa again melissac12251970@gmail.com

Hi guys,
I am an old sucker and haven't read this forum before I committed to do a job for Melissa Cantor. Of course she has not paid and will not pay. I lost USD230 worth of time and effort.
Can proz.com just chase down this user or at least block this person from accessing the site?

You have been sent a message via ProZ.com.
Author: Melissa
[NOTE: The author is not a registered ProZ.com user or was not logged in when sending this message.] Author's IP address: [IP removed] Message type: Request for quote
-----------

Hi Dearest friend , how are you ? What 's your cost price per word ?

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | Mellisa Cantor's fake check

João Roque Dias — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 21:40:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: João Roque Dias
Post title: Mellisa Cantor's fake check

Published by the Translator Scammers Directory on Twitter:

[url removed]

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | fake checks

Meline Avetisyan-Monroe — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 19:21:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Meline Avetisyan-Monroe
Post title: fake checks

Hi everyone,

I have a similar story that first happened to me in February, but I am sure they are still acting somewhere.

All the same scenario: request for translation for about 167 USD and then you get 'a wrong' check for 2.200 USD.

Fortunately we did not send them a penny, trying to win time while scanning the check for being a fraud.
So, it was.
Since then I constantly receive job requests from suspicious people.
And they stop emailing me once I tell that I don't accept checks.

Here is the typical 'heart-breaking' moment of the correspondence:

''... I will give you details where you will return the difference fund to because the surplus is need to help the victim of Kashmir Valley Flood and Typhoon haiyan in Philippines also to provide cloth,food and shelter for less privilege kids.''

Glad to share some of those emails:

Terry James, [email removed]
Stephen Slevin, [email removed] , and of course
Melissa Cantor, [email removed] .

P.S. By the way, they are both on ProZ and Translatorscafe.com

Meline Avetisyan-Monroe

[Edited at 2015-09-28 19:36 GMT]

[Edited at 2015-09-28 19:36 GMT]

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | Natasha, thanks for posting this as well.

Elizaveta McCasland — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 14:49:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Elizaveta McCasland
Post title: Natasha, thanks for posting this as well.

I have read about this type of scam where they send you a fake check for more than you asked, then say it was a mistake and ask you to wire them the difference. Some people did send the money back to scammers! The key is to never even try to cash that check. I hope you didn't. These days, they can make them look like real thing.
[url removed]

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam! | Yes

Natasha Liberman — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 04:24:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Natasha Liberman
Post title: Yes

Elizaveta, thank you very much for your post!

I just came back from a trip and logged in to post about an extremely similar experience. The check I received seems to be genuine (although I can't really tell), but it is for $1,000 more than the price I quoted for the job. I did not ask for an advance payment, but the check came in before the supposed deadline.

Thank you again!

Natasha Liberman

Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!

Elizaveta McCasland — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 18:18:00 +0000

Forum: Scams
Topic: Warning: Advanced Payment Scam!
Poster: Elizaveta McCasland

Hi everyone,

I just want to warn you about a scammer that sends a fake check for a large amount of money as an advance payment.

This person asked me for a small translation without a deadline, then e-mailed me a purchase order with a
name of non-existent company ("Awareness properties management" with a non-existent address in a residential area in New Jersey and a phone number not working). When I asked for an advanced payment of 1/2 of my quote, I was mailed a forged check printed on a printer for a large amount of money (by certified mail). The check is mailed from PO Box 1304 in Eatontown, New Jersey.

The scammer used this name and e-mail: Melissa Cantor, [email removed] .

This person contacted me through ProZ.com.

The header of the message looked like this:

-----------
You have been sent a message via ProZ.com.
Author: Melissa [NOTE: The author is not a registered ProZ.com user or was not logged in when sending this message.]
Author's IP address: [IP removed]
Message type: Request for quote
-----------
Message: Hi friend , how are you , What's your cost price per word

This IP is traced to Romania.

Whatever you ask this person (what is your physical address, why you don't answer the phone, etc.), she will always find an excuse (I'm out of town, on a trip) or give an answer. It feels like a normal conversation but it's really a fraud.

[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2016-02-03 20:22 GMT]