Scam email request: "translate a document am to use for a presentation in 3 weeks"
Thread poster: Elizabeth Best
Elizabeth Best
Elizabeth Best
United States
Local time: 06:00
Member (2013)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Jul 1, 2019

I received two separate emails with identical text, different senders (both with gmail addresses, and no further info). Both were requesting translation for a presentation in three weeks. I answered the first, requesting details, but never heard back.

Watch out for this one!Kinda smells. So below is the entirety of the text:

"Good day , I would like to know if you will be able to translate a document am to use for a presentation in 3 weeks. Thanks Jeff."


Fatemah Elzahraa Taouli
 
Yiftach Levy
Yiftach Levy
United States
Local time: 03:00
English to Hebrew
+ ...
Red flag for me too Jul 1, 2019

I got an email via Proz reading
"Hello, I'm contacting you in regard to an English content
document worth 11,643 words (44 Pages). I need this
document translated into Hebrew . I would like to know if you are
interested and available to get this done for me. Please
get back to me as soon as you can via email
([email protected]). Thank you."

[I redacted the name in the email to avoid libel, but the five zeros at the end should have been
... See more
I got an email via Proz reading
"Hello, I'm contacting you in regard to an English content
document worth 11,643 words (44 Pages). I need this
document translated into Hebrew . I would like to know if you are
interested and available to get this done for me. Please
get back to me as soon as you can via email
([email protected]). Thank you."

[I redacted the name in the email to avoid libel, but the five zeros at the end should have been my first clue]

I responded asking about a timeline and got a response quickly that it would be "1 month starting from 2/July /2019," "proposing a cashier check or bank certified check for the payment," and with the entire 44 page document attached.

I responded with a quote and got a quick response accepting my rate without question, and (what finally set off my detector) saying "This project is a research paper being sponsor [sic] for a seminar coming up soon, so I would like to make an advance payment or make the full payment so you know you have my job with you" and asking for my name, mailing address, and mobile number.

I then Googled the IP address the ProZ request was sent from and saw that it had been reported for spam a bit over the last month or so, and finally thought to come here to look for similar experiences. I'm fairly convinced this is BS at this point, but would love to hear if anyone has other ideas.
Collapse


 
Marjolein Snippe
Marjolein Snippe  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 11:00
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Almost certainly a scam Jul 2, 2019

Over 11,000 words from a complete stranger, no questions about your rate, pre-payment suggestion, suspicious gmail address - almost certainly a scam.
If you google parts of the text, I suspect you will find large parts online.


 
Liviu-Lee Roth
Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 06:00
Romanian to English
+ ...
this is sooo old, it is not worth mentioning it again Jul 2, 2019

Yiftach Levy wrote:

I got an email via Proz reading
"Hello, I'm contacting you in regard to an English content
document worth 11,643 words (44 Pages). I need this
document translated into Hebrew . I would like to know if you are
interested and available to get this done for me. Please
get back to me as soon as you can via email
([email protected]). Thank you."

[I redacted the name in the email to avoid libel, but the five zeros at the end should have been my first clue]

I responded asking about a timeline and got a response quickly that it would be "1 month starting from 2/July /2019," "proposing a cashier check or bank certified check for the payment," and with the entire 44 page document attached.

I responded with a quote and got a quick response accepting my rate without question, and (what finally set off my detector) saying "This project is a research paper being sponsor [sic] for a seminar coming up soon, so I would like to make an advance payment or make the full payment so you know you have my job with you" and asking for my name, mailing address, and mobile number.

I then Googled the IP address the ProZ request was sent from and saw that it had been reported for spam a bit over the last month or so, and finally thought to come here to look for similar experiences. I'm fairly convinced this is BS at this point, but would love to hear if anyone has other ideas.


 
Marla Rivera
Marla Rivera
United States
Local time: 06:00
English to Spanish
+ ...
Translation scam confirmed Jul 16, 2019

Hello,

I read this thread and wanted to let everyone know that I too received this assignment and ignored it because it looked sketchy. I also just found this reddit thread stating that it is in fact a scam. https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/arr6mo/scam_public_organization_procedures_research/

This person fell vic
... See more
Hello,

I read this thread and wanted to let everyone know that I too received this assignment and ignored it because it looked sketchy. I also just found this reddit thread stating that it is in fact a scam. https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/arr6mo/scam_public_organization_procedures_research/

This person fell victim to it unfortunately and posted so no one else does. If you are sent a gmail for a "Scam Public Organization Procedures Research Phase 1 and 2" this is that scam. Just wanted to let you all know.
Collapse


 
Marla Rivera
Marla Rivera
United States
Local time: 06:00
English to Spanish
+ ...
Translation scam confirmed Jul 16, 2019

Hello,

I read this thread and wanted to let everyone know that I too received this assignment and ignored it because it looked sketchy. I also just found this reddit thread stating that it is in fact a scam.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/arr6mo/scam_public_organization_procedures_research/

This p
... See more
Hello,

I read this thread and wanted to let everyone know that I too received this assignment and ignored it because it looked sketchy. I also just found this reddit thread stating that it is in fact a scam.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/arr6mo/scam_public_organization_procedures_research/

This person fell victim to it unfortunately and posted so no one else does. If you are sent a gmail for a "Scam Public Organization Procedures Research Phase 1 and 2" this is that scam. Just wanted to let you all know.


[Edited at 2019-07-16 20:36 GMT]
Collapse


 
aaserv
aaserv
United States
This Scammer is VERY EXPERIENCED Jul 16, 2019

Unfortunately our agency dealt with this scammer on a much more serious level. This scammer requested we translate two documents into Spanish for an "event". We quoted a relatively high amount (due to the lengthy and technical nature of the documents). They accepted the quote and agreed to pay in advance.

A couple of days later we received a cashier's check in the mail. This check took our bank almost one full week to identify as a scam (that is how "real" it seemed to be)... which
... See more
Unfortunately our agency dealt with this scammer on a much more serious level. This scammer requested we translate two documents into Spanish for an "event". We quoted a relatively high amount (due to the lengthy and technical nature of the documents). They accepted the quote and agreed to pay in advance.

A couple of days later we received a cashier's check in the mail. This check took our bank almost one full week to identify as a scam (that is how "real" it seemed to be)... which was too late of course and we had done the translation already.

BEWARE! This person went by "Susan McGowan", but "Jeff", "Andrew" and/or "Ahmed" are among the other names that have popped up on various platforms. We don't know for sure how deep this scam goes, but it is a real danger to the Translator Community.
Collapse


 
Than Than Win
Than Than Win
Local time: 04:00
Burmese to English
+ ...
I got the same email Jul 16, 2019

Yiftach Levy wrote:

I got an email via Proz reading
"Hello, I'm contacting you in regard to an English content
document worth 11,643 words (44 Pages). I need this
document translated into Hebrew . I would like to know if you are
interested and available to get this done for me. Please
get back to me as soon as you can via email
([email protected]). Thank you."

[I redacted the name in the email to avoid libel, but the five zeros at the end should have been my first clue]

I responded asking about a timeline and got a response quickly that it would be "1 month starting from 2/July /2019," "proposing a cashier check or bank certified check for the payment," and with the entire 44 page document attached.

I responded with a quote and got a quick response accepting my rate without question, and (what finally set off my detector) saying "This project is a research paper being sponsor [sic] for a seminar coming up soon, so I would like to make an advance payment or make the full payment so you know you have my job with you" and asking for my name, mailing address, and mobile number.

I then Googled the IP address the ProZ request was sent from and saw that it had been reported for spam a bit over the last month or so, and finally thought to come here to look for similar experiences. I'm fairly convinced this is BS at this point, but would love to hear if anyone has other ideas.


 
Rosa Fierro
Rosa Fierro  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 03:00
English to Spanish
+ ...
I got the same 2 scams Jul 17, 2019

I got the same emails. I replied to the second message asking more questions about the project but never got a response. It was suspicious to me and I wanted to learn more about the sender, but nothing... I am glad I read this thread of messages.

 
Liviu-Lee Roth
Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 06:00
Romanian to English
+ ...
sorry, it is NOT one "sophisticated" scammer Jul 17, 2019

aaserv wrote:

Unfortunately our agency dealt with this scammer on a much more serious level. This scammer requested we translate two documents into Spanish for an "event". We quoted a relatively high amount (due to the lengthy and technical nature of the documents). They accepted the quote and agreed to pay in advance.

A couple of days later we received a cashier's check in the mail. This check took our bank almost one full week to identify as a scam (that is how "real" it seemed to be)... which was too late of course and we had done the translation already.

BEWARE! This person went by "Susan McGowan", but "Jeff", "Andrew" and/or "Ahmed" are among the other names that have popped up on various platforms. We don't know for sure how deep this scam goes, but it is a real danger to the Translator Community.




This is the most unsophisticated overpayment scam, discussed in this forum numerous times. On several occasions I posted the modus operandi of these crooks. They buy these "requests" on the dark web and send hundreds of thousands of e-mails. Some people fall for it.

Keep safe
Lee


 
Jocelin Meunier
Jocelin Meunier  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 11:00
English to French
+ ...
Got the same Jul 21, 2019

I received this today: "Hello how is your day going? I got your email from TranslatorPub.com, i will like to know your
availability to translate a document am to use in the next 4
to 7 weeks, kindly get back
to me if you are available. Thank you for your time."

Between the strange positioning of the sentences, the many errors and a mail adress like johnmson168, I am quite certain that this is a scam.


 
weichenHouston7
weichenHouston7  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 05:00
English to Chinese
+ ...
I got two emails from two different gmail accounts with the same document in Japanese and English May 25, 2020

I just got one email yesterday and one today. Very similar experience as all of you mentioned. Both documents are the same just in different language which alert me.

Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Tony Litrenta
Tony Litrenta
Local time: 05:00
Spanish to English
+ ...
Does anyone know the purpose of this? Jun 10, 2021

Thanks to everyone for posting, this saved me from wasting a lot of time! I’m just curious to know, what is the purpose of the scam? They ask for name, address, and phone number and it seems they’ve even mailed fake checks. In my case, the “translation” they wanted was the same one mentioned elsewhere, which apparently someone already did. I’m wondering if there was a virus attached to the document or if anyone had identity theft issues come up after this. Thanks a lot!

 
Liviu-Lee Roth
Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 06:00
Romanian to English
+ ...
it is the uverused overpayment scam Jun 10, 2021

Tony Litrenta wrote:

Thanks to everyone for posting, this saved me from wasting a lot of time! I’m just curious to know, what is the purpose of the scam? They ask for name, address, and phone number and it seems they’ve even mailed fake checks. In my case, the “translation” they wanted was the same one mentioned elsewhere, which apparently someone already did. I’m wondering if there was a virus attached to the document or if anyone had identity theft issues come up after this. Thanks a lot!


 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Lucia Leszinsky[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Scam email request: "translate a document am to use for a presentation in 3 weeks"







Anycount & Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000

Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.

More info »
Wordfast Pro
Translation Memory Software for Any Platform

Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users! Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value

Buy now! »