Avantag Thread poster: Peter Schaefermeier
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Hello,
Has anybody of you been contacted by Avantag? www.avantag.online, there is no evidence that this website has something to do with a company or any institution. They are sending weird messages via translationdirectory.com, that they are looking for interpreters. You shall translate a text and then produce an audio from that. They pretend to pay 500 USD per audio hour. The message I have rece... See more Hello,
Has anybody of you been contacted by Avantag? www.avantag.online, there is no evidence that this website has something to do with a company or any institution. They are sending weird messages via translationdirectory.com, that they are looking for interpreters. You shall translate a text and then produce an audio from that. They pretend to pay 500 USD per audio hour. The message I have received was completely anonymous, the sender does not reveal his name. There is no signature, this is really weird. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thayenga 
Germany
Local time: 22:26
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
USD 500 per audio hour renders about USD 8.33 per audio minute. Since they request two, actually three jobs to be done, the rate is rather on the low side.
If you can't find anything about this company online, especially on zahlungspraxis.de, then trust your gut feeling and decline the job.
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It is worthwhile checking a website with scamadviser.com.
| | | | Tran Minh
Vietnam
Local time: 03:26
English to Vietnamese
+ ...
I’ve been contacted by them too and in their contract they demanded the use of specific brands of recording devices (a microphone and a headphone). They then invited me to purchase these tools from some guy at discounted prices, which were in total 1,100 USD. Scam or not, I personally never encountered such a request in an interpretation offer; and my guts detected something of an affiliated business there.
[Edited at 2021-11-20 07:36 GMT]
[Edited at 2021-11-20 07:38 GMT]
... See more I’ve been contacted by them too and in their contract they demanded the use of specific brands of recording devices (a microphone and a headphone). They then invited me to purchase these tools from some guy at discounted prices, which were in total 1,100 USD. Scam or not, I personally never encountered such a request in an interpretation offer; and my guts detected something of an affiliated business there.
[Edited at 2021-11-20 07:36 GMT]
[Edited at 2021-11-20 07:38 GMT]
[Edited at 2021-11-20 07:40 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Sara Staccone
Italy
Local time: 22:26
Member (2021)
English to Italian
+ ...
| They changed their domain and are still doing this | Dec 27, 2021 |
Glad I found this thread. I was contacted by them this afternoon to do a test translation, but after checking their website something felt off. Guess I'll refrain from wasting my time doing the "test" then!
Their domain is now avantag.xyz, by the way.
| | | | | Just happened | Dec 27, 2021 |
They sent me a small text to interpreter with a normal cellphone recorder, and then fed me back as if I was a talent, a magnificent guy etc.
The contract obviously was imposing the equipment and offered to contact a sound engineer who will sell it at 1200 US $ ( the microphone is sold at 11Keuro in Europe)
A very cheap scam, no way
Now they have a site with a xyz
| | | | Khin Chan
Myanmar
Local time: 02:56
English to Burmese
+ ...
| I do think they are a scammer! | Jan 10, 2022 |
Hello,
Just searching if Avantag is a scam or not, found this thread, thanks God! I'm almost to buy their-supposed so do expensive Microphones, Headphones, etc. They reached out to me via translation directory and yet I did an audition test. Here is the "Congratulations" mail they replied to me after the test;
"Congratulations!
After much critiques and close evaluation during the auditioning of over fifty(50) contestants, You were selected due to your outstanding... See more Hello,
Just searching if Avantag is a scam or not, found this thread, thanks God! I'm almost to buy their-supposed so do expensive Microphones, Headphones, etc. They reached out to me via translation directory and yet I did an audition test. Here is the "Congratulations" mail they replied to me after the test;
"Congratulations!
After much critiques and close evaluation during the auditioning of over fifty(50) contestants, You were selected due to your outstanding performance.
The audition was judged based on your Articulation,Breathing technique, Characterization technique, Clarity, Vocal stamina, and your ability to connect with your listeners through your voice.
Here are your test scores;
Articulation: 76%
Breathing technique: 78%
Characterization: 71%
Clarity : 95%
Consistency/Vocal stamina: 80%
Intimate Connection with listeners : 87%
Indeed you are a talent! Due to your magnificent and superb performance in the audition, our company has decided to offer you the job. We would love to sign a six (6) months contract with you. Attached below is the contract letter for the project. Please review,
sign and get back to us.
Thanks, we can't wait to start working with you!
Congrats once again!
copyright 2021,
Avantag
website: https://avantag.xyz "
Sound did great! But their website contains actually NOTHING! I also checked in it scam web checker too!
I think this would a lot helpful for voice-over service providers like me!!! ▲ Collapse
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I got contacted by them with exactly the same message from translationdirectory, asking me to do a test with 500 USD per script as an offer. Sounds too good to be true, but the red flag was when they imposed specific brands to do the project. They keep avoiding the question of why I should use a specific brand, especially since I have an equally good microphone (my father is a professional vocalist) to record anything. I sent a message to the sounds engineer they referred, and he asked for 600 U... See more I got contacted by them with exactly the same message from translationdirectory, asking me to do a test with 500 USD per script as an offer. Sounds too good to be true, but the red flag was when they imposed specific brands to do the project. They keep avoiding the question of why I should use a specific brand, especially since I have an equally good microphone (my father is a professional vocalist) to record anything. I sent a message to the sounds engineer they referred, and he asked for 600 USD for the whole equipment. It is cheap indeed but makes little sense.
I am pretty sure it is a scam because they sent the exact same announcement email as mentioned by Ms. Kin Chan above, with exact same score as well haha. Be careful and block them right away if you ever encounter this particular company.
Cheers, ▲ Collapse
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| I almost fall for their trap. | Jan 14, 2022 |
I thank God I found this thread. I felt something was off but I guess I wanted to try because the pay and the job volume is quite big in my country. The last email I receive from them is:
Hello,
We would need proof of the equipment you claim to have bought. Kindly note that any attempt to deceive the company would result to an automatic termination of contract, and a Legal suit would be filed.
How scary.
| | | | Rock Niu
China
Local time: 04:26
Member (2011)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| alistah.com now is the scammer | Mar 16, 2022 |
Last month(Feb, 2022) these same scammers changed to alistah.com and played the same trick. Once you are hooked, they will pretend shipping you world-class brand microphones, etc, and lead you to bitcoin transactions on paxful.com, and further lure you to a phishing bank www.northunitedbank.com to open an account and deposit a big sum for activation of your account. That's their trick procedures. Pls do ta... See more Last month(Feb, 2022) these same scammers changed to alistah.com and played the same trick. Once you are hooked, they will pretend shipping you world-class brand microphones, etc, and lead you to bitcoin transactions on paxful.com, and further lure you to a phishing bank www.northunitedbank.com to open an account and deposit a big sum for activation of your account. That's their trick procedures. Pls do take caution and spread this scam info far and wide to save more potential victims.
So far, the relevant scam sites are: www.alistah.com, www.instantfreights.com, www.northunitedbank.com.
The following authorities may help: https://www.fca.org.uk/, https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/, https://reporting.actionfraud.police.uk/, https://www.ic3.gov/, etc.
Translators and interpreters, let us unite to crack down on this scam! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Bárbara Rolón
Argentina
Local time: 17:26
English to Spanish
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| I almost fell for them | Mar 29, 2022 |
They presented them as Frestman, an online organization that helps suicidal people. But the offer is the same, U$D 500 to translate a script and record myself reading it. There were so many reasons at the beginning to believe it was a scam. First of all, they are nowhere to be found. If you write "frestman" on Google nothing comes up, unless you go to their website (www.frestman.com). I also looked for an Instagr... See more They presented them as Frestman, an online organization that helps suicidal people. But the offer is the same, U$D 500 to translate a script and record myself reading it. There were so many reasons at the beginning to believe it was a scam. First of all, they are nowhere to be found. If you write "frestman" on Google nothing comes up, unless you go to their website (www.frestman.com). I also looked for an Instagram account or a Facebook page at least. Nothing. If they were trying to help suicidal people, shouldn't they be everywhere? How would people find them if they don't promote themselves? I thought that maybe they're too new and that's why they weren't on social media yet. Another thing that caught my attention was that they reached out to me looking for interpreters, when I never stated on my account that I was an interpreter or has ever offered interpretation services. Anyway, I took their test and passed. They sent me a contract for 6 months saying that I needed a special recording set in order to start, and when I asked them if I could use one from a cheaper brand, only the microphone in my country costs $2,000,000, they insisted that it needed to be this specific one to "ensure the clarity and quality". So they contacted me with a Mr Kowalski, a sound engineer who's shutting down his studio and would sell the kit at a cheap rate. Mr Kowalski said that would give them to me for $500. That's when I doubted even more and found on the contract that said "avantag" at the top.
Be careful! I was so excited for this offer because I've recently graduated and wanted to get my first translation job. Don't get easily tempted. I can't believe how many red flags I ignored.
[Editado a las 2022-03-29 14:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | cheap scam. me too | Mar 31, 2022 |
Good day,
I am one of the recruiters for FRESTMAN(www.frestman.com), an online
organization established for the sole purpose of giving hope to the
hopeless.
We are embarking on a project to help depressed and suicidal people
across the world and guess what? We have thousands of clients already!
Due to this, FRESTMAN is recruiting individuals who can interpret a
wri... See more Good day,
I am one of the recruiters for FRESTMAN(www.frestman.com), an online
organization established for the sole purpose of giving hope to the
hopeless.
We are embarking on a project to help depressed and suicidal people
across the world and guess what? We have thousands of clients already!
Due to this, FRESTMAN is recruiting individuals who can interpret a
written text from English to Japanese. You will be paid at a rate of
$500 per finished hour. To qualify for this offer, you will be given a
1 minute test script to interpret from English to Japanese and you will
be contacted if you are deemed fit for the job. Please send an email to
[email protected] with your name and language pairs to proceed. N/B:
THIS IS AN INTERPRETATION JOB
Sender Address: [email protected] (this member is not registered; the
e-mail address was not verified) ▲ Collapse
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Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 16:26
German to English
Post deleted
[Edited at 2022-04-03 14:10 GMT]
| | | | Sanjin Grandić
Croatia
Local time: 22:26
Member (2020)
French to Croatian
+ ...
| scum of the earth | May 1, 2022 |
Rock Niu wrote:
Translators and interpreters, let us unite to crack down on this scam!
I could not agree more with you. The problem is that these scammers often operate from countries where the "Law" is a very flexible term.
Nevertheless, I would not hesitate one second to hire a good hacker to send them a trojan instead of hard-earned money.
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