| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Another typical money scam.... via ProZ Search Thread poster: Thayenga
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Thayenga 
Germany
Local time: 04:48
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Good morning,
I have just received the following email from a Fatima Ahmed who has found me via the ProZ.com search engine.
She claims to be a freelancer with a profile page here on ProZ.com.
Additionally, she claims to be a student living in Ivory Coast, but a click on her profile shows her as being living in France.
So, the Easter bunny has apparently laid... a scam egg. ... See more Good morning,
I have just received the following email from a Fatima Ahmed who has found me via the ProZ.com search engine.
She claims to be a freelancer with a profile page here on ProZ.com.
Additionally, she claims to be a student living in Ivory Coast, but a click on her profile shows her as being living in France.
So, the Easter bunny has apparently laid... a scam egg.
Happy Easter to all ProZians.
Thayenga
You have been sent a message via ProZ.com.
Author: fatima ahmed
Author's Profile: http://www.proz.com/profile/1577678
Author's IP address: 41.189.33.151
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Greetings dearest one,
I am writing this letter in confidence believing that if it
is the wish of God for you to help me, God almighty will
bless and reward you abundantly and you would never regret
coming in contact with me. I am 23yrs old. A student from
Republic of Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan, I’ do like any person
who can be caring, loving and home oriented. Please after
reading this message I want you to kindly contact me with my
private email id: (fatima_ahmed12390@yahoo.com.ph)
I will love to have a long-term relationship with you and to
know more about you. I would like to build up a solid
foundation with you in time coming if you can be able to
help me in this transaction. Well, my father died earlier
some months ago and left I the only daughter behind, he was
economic operator, director (manager) company (society) late
Ali Ahmed. He died in heart attack because of killing of
innocent people in my country Cote d’Ivoire crisis.
I was only daughter to him and I am the only person who can
take care of his wealth and my mother was died on my tender
Age I don’t even know her. My late father left the sum of
(6, 5, 000.00 US Dollars) in a financial Bank here. This
money was annually paid into my late father’s account from
Shell petroleum development company (SPDC) and chevron oil
company operating in our locality for the compensation of
his good work to the community, I don't know how and what I
will do to invest this money somewhere in abroad, so that my
father's kindred will not take over what belongs to me as
the next of kin, which they were planning to do so without
my present because I am a female as stated by our culture in
the town. Now, I urgently need your humble assistance to
move this money from the Bank to your country and I strongly
believe that by the grace of God, you will help me invest
this money wisely over there.
I am ready to offer 15% of the total amount to you if you
help me in this transaction and another 40% interest of
Annual Income to you, for handling the investment project
for me until I graduated in my studies, which you will
strongly have absolute control over. If you can handle this
project sincerely and also willing to assist me in lifting
this money, kindly reach me back. Please, note that this
transaction is 100% risk free and I hope to commence the
transaction as quick as possible, I will send you my picture
and also give you more details about this transaction as
soon as I hear from you. Please contact me with my private
email id: (fatima_ahmed12390@yahoo.com.ph)
Yours sincerely
Miss Fatima Ahmad. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 04:48
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | Did you report this abuse to site staff? | Apr 7, 2012 |
That profile certainly does exist, and gives the game away by apparently being located in France.
If you have not already done so, please do make sure you report this ASAP to site staff so they can block that sender and disable the scammer's profile.
Happy Easter to you too!
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 04:48
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Support Request | Apr 7, 2012 |
Tony M wrote:
That profile certainly does exist, and gives the game away by apparently being located in France.
If you have not already done so, please do make sure you report this ASAP to site staff so they can block that sender and disable the scammer's profile.
Happy Easter to you too!
Hi Tony,
thank you for your reply.
Yes, I've submitted a support request right after posting the scam here.
It would be great if there was a faster way, e. g. a link on the profile(s) to call the staff's attention to it like we have in KudoZ.
Enjoy the Easter holidays.
Best,
Thayenga
| | | | Natalie
Poland
Local time: 04:48
Member (2002)
English to Russian
+ ...
MODERATOR SITE LOCALIZER
Thank you, Thayenga, for this info - profiles (there were two, actually) are removed and all available contacts blocked.
Natalia
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Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 22:48
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Surely the system could be set up so that.... | Apr 7, 2012 |
...site users, and especially paying members, are not subjected to this kind of rubbish.
Here are some ideas:
1.)
Have the internal mail system set up so that anyone sending out more than 10 internal e-mails within 24 hours of setting up a profile is flagged and investigated. (This would identify many of the scammers such as the one Thayenga describes, without the need for site members to report such activity.)
2.)
Include filters that flag the... See more ...site users, and especially paying members, are not subjected to this kind of rubbish.
Here are some ideas:
1.)
Have the internal mail system set up so that anyone sending out more than 10 internal e-mails within 24 hours of setting up a profile is flagged and investigated. (This would identify many of the scammers such as the one Thayenga describes, without the need for site members to report such activity.)
2.)
Include filters that flag the typical language used in such messages (e.g., "beloved", "sum of", "bank", "transfer", "urgent help", "love", etc.). The filter can be set up in such a way as to flag any sender who has transmitted at least 10 such messages to site users/members [because such messages never target only one individual]).
3.)
Perhaps the most elegant solution of all would be to allow only paying members to use the internal e-mail system. This would most certainly wipe out all of the problematic activity at a single stroke.
***
My view is that the site needs to do a better job of policing these unwanted mails without relying on its users/members to "make reports." ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 04:48
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Natalie wrote:
Thank you, Thayenga, for this info - profiles (there were two, actually) are removed and all available contacts blocked.
Natalia
Thank you, Natalie, for the removal of these profiles. I didn't even see a second one.
Making ProZ a safer place.
Happy Easter to you, Natalie.
Best,
Thayenga
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 04:48
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Some very good ideas | Apr 7, 2012 |
Robert Forstag wrote:
...site users, and especially paying members, are not subjected to this kind of rubbish.
Here are some ideas:
1.)
Have the internal mail system set up so that anyone sending out more than 10 internal e-mails within 24 hours of setting up a profile is flagged and investigated. (This would identify many of the scammers such as the one Thayenga describes, without the need for site members to report such activity.)
2.)
Include filters that flag the typical language used in such messages (e.g., "beloved", "sum of", "bank", "transfer", "urgent help", "love", etc.). The filter can be set up in such a way as to flag any sender who has transmitted at least 10 such messages to site users/members [because such messages never target only one individual]).
3.)
Perhaps the most elegant solution of all would be to allow only paying members to use the internal e-mail system. This would most certainly wipe out all of the problematic activity at a single stroke.
***
My view is that the site needs to do a better job of policing these unwanted mails without relying on its users/members to "make reports."
Thank you, Robert, for sharing your ideas with us.
My "favorites" are 1.) and 2.) while in 2.) I would exclude the words "bank" and "transfer" since these could show up in legitimate internal emails (I did use both words just recently). They could be replaced by "Dearest", "God", all siblings and definitely "died".
Have yourself a Happy Easter, Robert.
Best,
Thayenga
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 04:48
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | In answer to Robert's points... | Apr 7, 2012 |
Hi Robert!
Many of these ideas have already been discussed at some length, and good answers / solutions given.
Robert Forstag wrote:
1.) Have the internal mail system set up so that anyone sending out more than 10 internal e-mails within 24 hours of setting up a profile is flagged and investigated.
This sounds to me like a good and feasible idea — though it might block people wishing to notify a specific set of users about an urgent job requirement, for example.
2.) Include filters that flag the typical language used in such messages (e.g., "beloved", "sum of", "bank", "transfer", "urgent help", "love", etc.). The filter can be set up in such a way as to flag any sender who has transmitted at least 10 such messages to site users/members.
I think this would probably be impractical to do across all the site languages, and is prone to difficulty, since some of the words you list could well appear in a perfectly innocent message.
Linking it to the number of messages sent is a good idea, but again, the first 9 recipients will get the message before the sender gets 'flagged' — the ProZ system doesn't allow you to send multiple messages simultaneously.
3.) Perhaps the most elegant solution of all would be to allow only paying members to use the internal e-mail system. This would most certainly wipe out all of the problematic activity at a single stroke.
Sadly, this would not work. For one thing, we have already seen incredible examples where scammers have actually signed up as paying members in order to send out their messages! More importantly, though, is the fact that any outsider wishing to genuinely offer work to a translator on a one-off basis would be blocked from sending a message — a clearly unacceptable situation!
My view is that the site needs to do a better job of policing these unwanted mails without relying on its users/members to "make reports."
I think that's unfair, Robert: the site has made great efforts to do everything that can possibly be done on an automatic basis; it doesn't only passively rely on member reporting, though clearly this is going to help alert staff as quickly as possible to a new attack.
A great deal of effort has also been put into education and warning — and frankly, almost all the scams we've seen are so obvious, at least to anyone faintly Internet-savvy and using it on a regular basis, that no-one ought to be being caught by these things. I for one don't think the site should be 'wasting' my subscription contributions on trying to save people from what amounts ultimately to their own naïvety / ignorance / gullibility. I don't know if a system is already in place, but I do think it would be a good idea to welcome new members joining with a warning about scamming and links to the many resources already available. It can surely be assumed that long-standing members will be keeping themselves informed and be more or less aware of the sources of information available.
And there does already exist a perfectly good way that paying members can protect themselves from unwanted profile mail: you can opt to have all your messages vetted by staff before they are forwarded to you. This seems to me like an ideal way of people avoiding receiving these 'annoying' incoming messages if they so choose, at minimum cost to the community as a whole.
What I find slightly more worrying is the number of e-mails I receive directly, i.e. not via the ProZ.com system, but which have clearly come via my ProZ.com directory listings; this means that someone must be going to the trouble of trawling these directories — and I don't see there's anything ProZ.com could possibly do to stop that, since being able to find a translator is after all the intended purpose of the directories!
[Edited at 2012-04-07 12:41 GMT]
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Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 22:48
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Some good ammendments, Thayenga | Apr 7, 2012 |
Although I still think that "bank transfer" could be used, since an initial e-mail, through the site system, and sent out to more than 10 members at once, would almost always indicate scamming activity. (Real business dealings discussing payment via "bank transfer" would typically be on a one-to-one basis, and y not occur through proz.com e-mail.)
Other filter suggestions: "beloved", "estate", and any number in excess of 500,000.
Happy Easter to you too!
R... See more Although I still think that "bank transfer" could be used, since an initial e-mail, through the site system, and sent out to more than 10 members at once, would almost always indicate scamming activity. (Real business dealings discussing payment via "bank transfer" would typically be on a one-to-one basis, and y not occur through proz.com e-mail.)
Other filter suggestions: "beloved", "estate", and any number in excess of 500,000.
Happy Easter to you too!
Robert  ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 04:48
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
[quote]Tony M wrote:
And there does already exist a perfectly good way that paying members can protect themselves from unwanted profile mail: you can opt to have all your messages vetted by staff before they are forwarded to you. This seems to me like an ideal way of people avoiding receiving these 'annoying' incoming messages if they so choose, at minimum cost to the community as a whole.
Well, Tony, all messages sent to me via my profile are vetted by ProZ. staff as soon as this feature was made avaiable.
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 04:48
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I just checked that IP-address, and France as her location was false because...
IP Address Location
IP Address 41.189.33.151
City Abidjan
State or Region Cote D Ivoire
Country Cote D Ivoire
ISP CI Telecom Autonomous System Number.
Latitude & Longitude 5.332 -4.03
Welcome to the 21st century.
| | | | | This was a human error | Apr 7, 2012 |
Dear members,
ProZ.com has a protection mechanism in place that was implemented a few weeks ago and that has blocked hundreds of "evident" scams such as the dating or Nigerian varieties.
In this particular case there was a human error involved, as last night I was trying to approve some valid messages that required vetting at the request of the recipients (one of the profile email options available to members) and I accidentally released 25 instances of this Nigerian sc... See more Dear members,
ProZ.com has a protection mechanism in place that was implemented a few weeks ago and that has blocked hundreds of "evident" scams such as the dating or Nigerian varieties.
In this particular case there was a human error involved, as last night I was trying to approve some valid messages that required vetting at the request of the recipients (one of the profile email options available to members) and I accidentally released 25 instances of this Nigerian scam that had been blocked by our filter.
I apologize for the inconveniences. I have asked our developers to implement a safeguard that will prevent others from commiting this error again.
ProZ.com takes a very active stand against scammers. Simple ones like dating and Nigerian scams are filtered, and for more serious scams there is the scam alert center.
ProZ.com members can subscribe to these alerts and they are available at a dedicated wiki page.
Regards,
Enrique Cavalitto ▲ Collapse
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Ildiko Santana
United States
Local time: 19:48
Member (2002)
Hungarian to English
+ ...
MODERATOR | there is a faster way | Apr 7, 2012 |
Thayenga wrote:
Yes, I've submitted a support request right after posting the scam here.
It would be great if there was a faster way, e. g. a link on the profile(s) to call the staff's attention to it like we have in KudoZ.
There IS a faster way: all internal mail ends with the following lines:
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Your profile: ..........
Login at: ..........
Edit your profile mail preferences: ..........
Block profile messages from this sender: ..........
Unsolicited advertising? Spam? click here: ..........
(I assume your email was no different)
I, too, received the lovely offer, and in this case the end of the email looked like this:
"Please contact me with my private
email id: (fatima_ahmed12390@yahoo.com.ph)
Yours sincerely Miss Fatima Ahmad."
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Your profile: http://www.proz.com/profile/37677
Login at: http://www.proz.com/profile/
Edit your profile mail preferences: http://www.proz.com/?sp=ef&show_mode=profmail
Block profile messages from this sender: http://www.proz.com/?sp=ef&add_ip_block=41.189.33.151&add_email_block=fati_a10@yahoo.com&add_eid_block=1577678
Unsolicited advertising? Spam? click here: http://www.proz.com/?sp=ef&report_spam=7132379
All I had to do was click twice, first on the "Spam?" link, then the "Block" link. Works like magic! : )
Happy Easter to you too!
Ildiko
| | | | Natalie
Poland
Local time: 04:48
Member (2002)
English to Russian
+ ...
MODERATOR SITE LOCALIZER
Sorry, Ildiko - right you are!
I have misunderstood you post.
Natalia
[Edited at 2012-04-07 22:36 GMT]
| | | | | Ildiko is right | Apr 7, 2012 |
When you click on the link in "Unsolicited advertising? Spam? click here: ..........", a support request notifying staff is automatically generated.
Regards,
Enrique
| | | | | Pages in topic: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Another typical money scam.... via ProZ Search | Wordfast Pro |
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