Translation - Μετάφραση

Business Issues => Working as a Translator => Topic started by: spiros on 17 Jan, 2005, 23:23:48

Title: Hoax / fraud with people asking for interpretation services!
Post by: spiros on 17 Jan, 2005, 23:23:48
At start it seemed like a hoax, i.e. somebody emailing and asking for interpretation services. But then it transpired that it was a fraud...

Here are the e-mails the hoaxers / fraudsters send:

“hello sir

me and my family will like to engage your services as a translator to English we intend to be around to your country for holiday for the period of ten days. me my wife & two kid. kindly let us know your charges .

Biya”

”Myself, my wife and my son are visiting for 10  days and we are just shopping / sightseeing. This is  why we will need a translator service of someone we  can go out with from febuary 8th to 18th and will be willing to spend six  hours  everyday with us during our outings either from 9.00am - 3.00pm or 12.00pm - 6.00pm depending on when we choose to go out.
Please let me know if you are interested in offering  this service and we can proceed asap as i will like to make payment before our arrival
Thanks
Saheed Mohammed”

“hello,
i will like to engage your service as an interpreter of English to german
language,my daughters are coming to your country [oregon in uk], for 5 days shopping trip,so your personal assistance will be needed for thier stays over there.this will come up between december 12st and december 17th 2004 ,so please let me hear from you if your service will be available.pls note all travelling expenses will be settled
Matthew Baird »

Here are the comments from translators who did not fall for it:

“From what I΄ve heard, apparently what they do is send the person a check for advance payment so the interpreter sees they can be trusted. Let΄s say they are requesting services for 4 days in a certain city. They send the interpreter a check for USD$2,400 ($600 per day). The interpreter deposits the check and a few days later, the huckster says that they changed their mind and are only going to visit that city for 2 days. Very politely, he asks for $1,200 back since their visit will be shorter. They ask for payment via cashier΄s check or money transfer and tell the interpreter to subtract the cost from the total reimbursed.

An international check takes a while to clear. By the time the interpreter gets the notice from the bank that the check is no good, the interpreter is out a lot of money.”

Another translator says:

« I have received one of these email too. After I gave him a quote for interpretation services and asked him to wire transfer the money to my account, he sent me a cheque with an amount about 5 times the amount I invoiced him. (That's when I knew there was something fishy). He then said that he would like me to send the difference to his "agents" who are arranging his trip. In the meantime, I got in touch with the company that was specified on the cheque and was advised that the cheques were stolen. Of course, had I sent him the difference, and deposited his cheque, it would have bounced.

My advice to other translators is simple. As soon as someone sends you a payment that is higher than what you invoiced, there is something wrong. Make sure you get paid ahead of your assignment and that the payment is securely in your bank account. »