Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | Scary movie starring me and a phantom translation agency Thread poster: Iuliana Bozkurt
| Martina Pokupec (X) Croatia Local time: 03:07 English to Croatian + ...
Iuliana Isac wrote:
Paula Hernández Sambeat wrote:
That is, your fake client, and inform them you have registered your translation for copyright in your country and that you will sue their end client if they use your translation.
This might scare them.
Paula, you saved the day!!! Your idea is extraordinary. Indeed, there is a Romanian office where I will immediately register my translation as my intellectual property. It costs only 15 euros and I will have full rights on it.
If the translation is registered in Romania, therefore it will be recognized as such anywhere in the EU. And they will not be able to publish my translation on the German website (Germany - EU Member State) without my approval. Oh, that is just great! Maybe I will not need to hire the law firm after all
Dear Iuliana,
I have been in the exact same spot. Same company (scammer), same text, same German end client.
Unfortunately they have covered their tracks by hiring two translators for the same job and I guess they will probably mix the translation so that they can prove its neither yours or the other translator's.
It's very difficult to accept you've been scammed and cheated but you might talk to your legal rep. thoroughly before filing any claims as it can only cost you more money without having any results... | | | Jacques DP Switzerland Local time: 03:07 English to French Chain of responsibility | Mar 5, 2011 |
As Kate Chaffer mentioned, all what you described is consistent with the fact that the Chinese agency itself outsourced the job to some other company. You might ask the Chinese agency who did the translation for them, explaining that you are the freelancer who did it in the end and cannot get paid by your client.
But in the end, I also think you should see with the German company. You are telling them that the translation they want to use is actually yours and they don't have the co... See more As Kate Chaffer mentioned, all what you described is consistent with the fact that the Chinese agency itself outsourced the job to some other company. You might ask the Chinese agency who did the translation for them, explaining that you are the freelancer who did it in the end and cannot get paid by your client.
But in the end, I also think you should see with the German company. You are telling them that the translation they want to use is actually yours and they don't have the copyright on it. That will make them turn to the Chinese company, that has promised the German company that they owned the translation and could therefore transfer its ownership to the German company. That's the chain of responsibility. If the Chinese company has itself outsourced to someone else, they will then turn to them, etc. until the person for whom you have worked realizes they must pay you to be able to sell the translation.
This can even work if payments have already been made. The German company (or anyone else in the chain) has paid for something, but now they realize they actually don't hold the copyright, therefore THEY have been scammed, and will turn to their provider.
[Edited at 2011-03-05 11:37 GMT] ▲ Collapse | | | kimwidtnielsen United Kingdom Local time: 02:07 English to Danish + ... Horrible stuff | Mar 5, 2011 |
Dear Juliana
I am really sorry to hear your story and I would be very upset if it had happened to me. As Translators we work very hard for the money and in my opinion this sort of behaviour should not be allowed. I would take this as far as you can: debt recovery agency, court etc.and as a translator I would thank you for doing so as this will send a powerful message to the scamers out there. I do not quite understand why no names can be mentioned. We need to protect ourselves from ... See more Dear Juliana
I am really sorry to hear your story and I would be very upset if it had happened to me. As Translators we work very hard for the money and in my opinion this sort of behaviour should not be allowed. I would take this as far as you can: debt recovery agency, court etc.and as a translator I would thank you for doing so as this will send a powerful message to the scamers out there. I do not quite understand why no names can be mentioned. We need to protect ourselves from the scamers out there and I for one would like to know who not to work with.
all the very best of luck
Kim
Iuliana Isac wrote:
Dear colleagues,
I will tell you a story now, that is quite hard to believe... Not a bed time story, but a real life one, with Sherlock Holmes accents.
In Jan 2011, I responded to a bid posted on a translation site. All seemed fine, my bid was responded, I was awarded the project, I finished it, delivered it, I waited for the 30 day payment term to pass, in order for me to receive my fee... Now, surprise! No payment! Well, the surprise is not this one. We all face delays in receiving our payment, nothing new about that.
The detective story started when I contacted the lady who hired me. She said that my translations were still under review. After more than 30 days!!! Of course, this was a pretext, I am not that naive. I replied to her that I did not agree with this treatment. 5 minutes later, I received a holiday notification: ''I will be OOO until March 25''. Okkkk. I somehow had the impression this was dedicated to me. I immediately replied to her message. Strangely enough, I received no OOO reply this time! You understand the reasons, of course. She was probably in the office, too bored to even send another OOO to me to shut my mouth up.
I started to panic, really. Then I did something quite unprofessional, but excusable. I found the end client data in the files that I translated, I searched on google and found their site and contact data. I phoned, in Germany, and a very nice lady said that SHE HAS NEVER HEARD ABOUT THE RESPECTIVE TRANSLATION AGENCY!!! Wow!!! Was I in a Twilight Zone TV series? No. It was the reality itself! After some lamentations from my side, she agreed to tell me that indeed they worked with a translation agency, who supplied the Romanian translation (MY Romanian translation), and the translation was OK and at that monent was being adapted for website publication by their IT team. But, surprise again! The name of the translation agency they worked with was completely different than what I knew!!! She was kind enough to give me the tel no and website of the REAL agency. A Chinese agency. No discrimination here, I have a Chinese client who pays me on time and I have a wonderful relation with them.
I called this agency in China and I told them who I am. Suddenly, the guy who answered my call got veeeery upset! ''I don't know who you are and why you are calling me!'' Me: ''Yes, you DO know who I am. Your client X gave me your contact details, so don' tell me you don't know who I am!'' The guy: ''Oh, yes, yes, indeed. Well, send me an e-mail with your complaint and I will see what I can do for you!''. I thought that was great, well, maybe there had beeon some misunderstanding. I sent them an e-mail. No reply. Another e-mail. Still no reply. By curiosity, I checked the net for some references about this agency. Shock!!! On proz.com, this agency was banned from posting jobs and its rating was...1!!! Also, it scammed another Spanish translator, of approx. 2600 dollars. A lot more than my almost 800 dollars.
Now, of course I discredited this (already discredited) agency on every possible translators' community website. I even contacted the Chinese embassy in my country, and they were very nice and promised they would contact this thief and help me in this problem.
What would you do in my position? Would you contact a debt recovery agency? The issue is that the scammer gave me fake invoicing data and an e-mail account that proves nothing. And I feel that the lady who hired me was, indeed, that pissed off rude guy. So, officially I have no connection with this agency. The only connection is the end client, who could send me a copy of their contract with the scammer and an acknowledgement of the fact that the translation they received was indeed performed by ME. I know I might need some legal advice here, but maybe some of you were in this position before. Although it is quite hard to be in this position - fake identities, cyber charlatans...
Curiously awaiting your reactions and, maybe, suggestions!
And, don't wish this, not even to your enemies
▲ Collapse | | | The Widow and the Corrupt Judge | Mar 5, 2011 |
Very sorry to hear about your troubles, but it's important to fight for your rights and not give up. I don't necessarily mean throwing good money after bad, but by first of all trying all possibilities that do not cost much and will have great impact, such as some of the ones described on the postings here.
You see, the whole scamming idea is based upon the wrong presumption that we as freelancers are not organized and would therefore be powerless. But we ARE organized and consequently NOT... See more Very sorry to hear about your troubles, but it's important to fight for your rights and not give up. I don't necessarily mean throwing good money after bad, but by first of all trying all possibilities that do not cost much and will have great impact, such as some of the ones described on the postings here.
You see, the whole scamming idea is based upon the wrong presumption that we as freelancers are not organized and would therefore be powerless. But we ARE organized and consequently NOT powerless, so hold on to that fighting spirit.
Here is a short Bible story for you: A poor widow was defrauded by her neighbour. Now, the local judge was corrupt, so only a decent bribe would get her justice. What could she do? She went to his house every day and begged him for justice loudly, for all to hear, and wouldn't give up. At one point the judge, concerned with his local reputation, but mostly because he simply wanted this unpleasant experience to stop, caved in and gave her justice.
Think about the psychology here. How much trouble is the German end client going to be willing to put up with? What if they received an official looking document (translated by a German colleague perhaps?) pointing out that not only you, but at least one other colleage of yours (make sure you find out who the other victims are) have become aware of plans to publish your work against your will and you demand immuneration to such and such amount. Don't be too concerned about proving whether all of the translation is really yours. It IS your work, whether 50% or 100%.
Another possibility is pointing out that you are member of a worldwide organization with thousands of members and that you share information about payment practices in which companies are mentioned by name.
I agree with other commentators who suggested that your best bet is to make the German client believe that they have no payment obligations towards the scammer, but they DO have payment obligations towards you. It is probably your only chance to see that money.
Be strong! Good luck!
By the way: inform the people of Translationdirectory about what happened. They have an interest in keeping their site free from scandals like this one.
Martina Pokupec wrote:
..
It's very difficult to accept you've been scammed and cheated but you might talk to your legal rep. thoroughly before filing any claims as it can only cost you more money without having any results...
[Edited at 2011-03-05 17:34 GMT] ▲ Collapse | |
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Iuliana Bozkurt Romania Local time: 04:07 Member (2008) English to Romanian + ... TOPIC STARTER
Dear all,
thank you for your messages. Indeed, we need to work together and inform each other in case such things happen. This is why I am keeping you updated. Because you need to know what you can expect from ''agencies''.
Now, sit down please, as I am going to tell you the LATEST NEWS: following this post, a Romanian translator contacted me. She said that she has been given the same translation job by this agency, in the same period (mid-Jan 2011). And, also, she has ... See more Dear all,
thank you for your messages. Indeed, we need to work together and inform each other in case such things happen. This is why I am keeping you updated. Because you need to know what you can expect from ''agencies''.
Now, sit down please, as I am going to tell you the LATEST NEWS: following this post, a Romanian translator contacted me. She said that she has been given the same translation job by this agency, in the same period (mid-Jan 2011). And, also, she has been in touch with two Croatian translators who were scammed in the same way as herself and me.
SO, THE SCAMMERS WANTED TO HAVE TWO VERSIONS OF THE SAME DOCUMENTS, in order to avoid any copyright issues. Now, I assume that they delivered a combined document, 1/2 made by me, 1/2 made by the other Romanian translator!!!! I am speechles. I am in shock at this perversity. They are very old in this scamming job, their technique is (almost) perfect! I would have never imagined this would be possible!
I will keep on fighting for my money. And not only for money. Also because I want to stop them! No translator deserves to be fooled in this way! No human being! This is... I can't find any word for describing this horror... ▲ Collapse | | | Iuliana Bozkurt Romania Local time: 04:07 Member (2008) English to Romanian + ... TOPIC STARTER | Alison ON United Kingdom Local time: 02:07 German to English Alternative suggestion | Mar 7, 2011 |
Hi Iuliana,
I read about your trouble through your WPPF posting and came to read the full(er) story.
Rather than chewing yourself up about fighting the fraudulent Chinese agency indefinitely, or threatening the end-client, why not talk to the end-client about how satisfied they were with your work (presumably they are if they want to post it on the Web) and the inconvenience to them of working with a plainly fraudulent middle-man, when you could handle future work for them directly?<... See more Hi Iuliana,
I read about your trouble through your WPPF posting and came to read the full(er) story.
Rather than chewing yourself up about fighting the fraudulent Chinese agency indefinitely, or threatening the end-client, why not talk to the end-client about how satisfied they were with your work (presumably they are if they want to post it on the Web) and the inconvenience to them of working with a plainly fraudulent middle-man, when you could handle future work for them directly?
I understand the pain of losing a large sum -- I've lost £1000 on one job in my time -- but if the end-client company is a reputable one, they could become a valuable direct client.
Best of luck!
Alison O'Neill MCIL ▲ Collapse | | | Petra Buric (X) Switzerland Local time: 03:07 Slovenian to English + ...
Hi there,
I also came across the same agency and did the same work in Slovenian.
I cannot believe how stupid I was.
Maybe I simply trusted the client, as I am used to do with proz clients.
I will check out tomorrow the idea about registering my intellectual rights.
Can't believe it....
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