| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Ref: My previous posting on STOLEN CV Thread poster: Marlene Curtis
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Marlene Curtis 
United States
Local time: 15:58
English to Portuguese
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Hi,
It might be a different source, but here are the details of a email I have just received.
hamzafoad2012@gmail.com via proz.com
Author's IP address: 176.67.117.31
Project manager
Palestine
Hamzafoad20
dear translator I'm a project manager. I am currently looking for
translators on a freelance basis.
and I read your profile and I admire o... See more Hi,
It might be a different source, but here are the details of a email I have just received.
hamzafoad2012@gmail.com via proz.com
Author's IP address: 176.67.117.31
Project manager
Palestine
Hamzafoad20
dear translator I'm a project manager. I am currently looking for
translators on a freelance basis.
and I read your profile and I admire of it and like to work
with me.
If you are interested in and available please send us your
CV to Hamzafoad2011 at gmail.com ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Also received it | Jul 25, 2012 |
in France from the center of Gaza
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 21:58
French to English
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SITE LOCALIZER
I got exactly the same mail!
I don't think it is necessarily a scam, but there are enough warning signs, I have not even bothered to reply:
No other contact details given
Unprofessional use of gmail address for a supposed business
Poor quality of letter (for a first approach letter, it ought to have been possible to have at least got it checked by a native EN speaker!)
In addition, my past experience with Middle Eastern agencies of this kind sug... See more I got exactly the same mail!
I don't think it is necessarily a scam, but there are enough warning signs, I have not even bothered to reply:
No other contact details given
Unprofessional use of gmail address for a supposed business
Poor quality of letter (for a first approach letter, it ought to have been possible to have at least got it checked by a native EN speaker!)
In addition, my past experience with Middle Eastern agencies of this kind suggests they are not usually prepared to pay my sort of rates, so I no longer bother with any of these 'cattle calls', unless I get an enquiry for a specific job. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Elisabete Cunha
Portugal
Local time: 20:58
Member (2006)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| I also received it | Jul 25, 2012 |
For the same reasons stated by Tony, I haven't replied.
Thanks for sharing, Marlene, it's always good to be informed about this, there are a lot of scammers out there.
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Marlene Curtis
United States
Local time: 15:58
English to Portuguese
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TOPIC STARTER
It is a scam in that if you send you CV he/she will steal it as they did to me.
Marlene
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 21:58
French to English
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SITE LOCALIZER | No proof yet it is an actual scam | Jul 25, 2012 |
marlcurtis wrote:
It is a scam in that if you send you CV he/she will steal it as they did to me.
But I don't think we can automatically assume that just one the basis of your one bad experience.
LOTS of agencies call for CVs (they're obviously too stupid to realize they can simply download it from my profile page: crass stupidity is another good criterion for me to reject them!)
If you have specific proof that this particular person is the same person as stole your CV, or is otherwise a scammer, then you should report it to Site Staff.
In the only case that I am aware of of my CV having been actually 'stolen' (as distinct from simply plagiarized), it was stolen without my having sent it to anyone, so clearly must have been downloaded from my profile page.
just a thought: if you want to check if your CV appears anywhere else on the 'Net that you might not be aware of, then I'd suggest putting a word somewhere in it that is in some way made up or impossible, a kind of 'password' — there's nothing to stop you chaning the 'ink' colur to white for example, so potential customers won't ever actually see it; but by searching for that word on (say) Google, you stand a good chance of seeing if your CV has been copied anywhere it shouldn't.
The same applies to your e-mail address book; I always put an invalid 'dummy' address in my list of contacts, that way, if someone hacks my address book and uses it to send out spam, I will receive an error message to the effect that "this address does not exist", thus alerting me to the fact.
[Edited at 2012-07-25 15:52 GMT]
| | | | Marlene Curtis
United States
Local time: 15:58
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I have deleted my CV from my profile, anyone can steal it (I have chosen the CV Upon-Request Option).
The only way to get the proof is to let them copy your CV and profit by using it, or probably ruin your reputation by delivering very bad quality translations. You'll probably never know about it, until somebody or an agency gets suspicious and warns you about it.
Regards,
Marlene
| | | | Marlene Curtis
United States
Local time: 15:58
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Red flags:
1) Poorly drafted emails
2) The sender is not a Proz-registered member
3) No physical address or phone number is provided.
Marlene
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Lau Wei Tsinn
Singapore
Local time: 03:58
Member (2011)
Chinese to English
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| It's possible to ask them straight | Jul 26, 2012 |
I received this too and ignored it due to all the reasons the rest of you have pointed out.
However, there is always this nagging feeling in me whenever I do that because there is always a 1% (ok, maybe even more than that) chance that the enquiry could have come from a valid source. Also, perhaps I do not like the idea of doubting someone right off the cuff. Mispellings can be simply because they are not writing in a language familiar to them. The use of hotmail/gmail can be due to... See more I received this too and ignored it due to all the reasons the rest of you have pointed out.
However, there is always this nagging feeling in me whenever I do that because there is always a 1% (ok, maybe even more than that) chance that the enquiry could have come from a valid source. Also, perhaps I do not like the idea of doubting someone right off the cuff. Mispellings can be simply because they are not writing in a language familiar to them. The use of hotmail/gmail can be due to working from home.
So, when I received another such enquiry yesterday, with lots of mispellings and sent from a hotmail address from an unverified person, I replied to ask if it is possible for the sender to correspond using his company email instead. He agreed and another one of his colleagues sent me the project details from the company system. I didn't take it on eventually as I was not available on the given dates but this experience has given me another choice in how I can respond to emails of suspect origins.
Btw, Tony, your anti-CV theft methods are ingenious... hahaha... I would never have thought of the protective measures you've taken. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Edward Vreeburg
Netherlands
Local time: 21:58
Member (2008)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Also see: http://www.proz.com/forum/scams/209374-corporate_identity_theft_what_do_i_do.html
Personally I've had an issue with somebody who copied my entire profile, including CV and only changed the email address to somewhere in the middle-east. The problems was, she was a girl, and so she had my details with a female name in the email address... See more Also see: http://www.proz.com/forum/scams/209374-corporate_identity_theft_what_do_i_do.html
Personally I've had an issue with somebody who copied my entire profile, including CV and only changed the email address to somewhere in the middle-east. The problems was, she was a girl, and so she had my details with a female name in the email address.
Then she send out the resume to Dutch agencies claiming to be native Dutch (but writing in terrible English), so luckely the agency contacted me to see what happened.
This person was banned from Proz, but there is no guarantee she will just do it again under a different name...
2nd thing: I received a mail from India with the offer of Dutch native specialists at 0,03 euro / source word... , so I asked for a couple of CV's - - I got them and to my surprise these were all excellent people !!! - - However when I contacted the translators in question they informed my they have never worked for the agency and never worked at rates that low !!!
-- So yes there is a lot of scaming going on with CV's and references here on Proz..., which is part of the reason why bottom feeders in cheap labor countries can be so succesful... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | a lot of identity theft going on at the moment | Jul 26, 2012 |
I'm receiving tons of applications lately, saying they're interested in my collaboration offer. I have not posted any offer.
Yesterday I sent a proz private message to a translator, because I received 3 applications from him this week, but from a gmail address while his CV lists 2 other addresses and not this one. No reply yet...but I'm pretty sure someone is posing as him.
Also, lots of applications coming from 2 addresses, i.e "john... See more I'm receiving tons of applications lately, saying they're interested in my collaboration offer. I have not posted any offer.
Yesterday I sent a proz private message to a translator, because I received 3 applications from him this week, but from a gmail address while his CV lists 2 other addresses and not this one. No reply yet...but I'm pretty sure someone is posing as him.
Also, lots of applications coming from 2 addresses, i.e "john.doe@gmail.com via john.doe@hotmail.com". Not sure what purposes it serves...but anyway I'll try and warn the proz members when I receive an application that looks dodgy. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | May this link help. | Jul 26, 2012 |
Bertrand Malingrey wrote:
I'm receiving tons of applications lately, saying they're interested in my collaboration offer. I have not posted any offer.
Yesterday I sent a proz private message to a translator, because I received 3 applications from him this week, but from a gmail address while his CV lists 2 other addresses and not this one. No reply yet...but I'm pretty sure someone is posing as him.
Also, lots of applications coming from 2 addresses, i.e "john.doe@gmail.com via john.doe@hotmail.com". Not sure what purposes it serves...but anyway I'll try and warn the proz members when I receive an application that looks dodgy.
Check this link: http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/17413/i-have-registered-a-john-doegmail-com-account-is-doe-johngmail-com-automatica
Note: Please google this e-mail address and you'll have more results.
MK
[Edited at 2012-07-26 14:26 GMT]
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But your link is about inverting names in the same domain. What I'm talking about is a header saying "from x@gmail.com via x@hotmail.com". Like a pop3 forwarding is used. And 80% of the applications I receive have this forwarding, I think there's something fishy in here...
| | | | | Definitely is a scam | Jul 27, 2012 |
There is a discussion of this topic over here as well: http://www.proz.com/forum/scams/227212-enormous_increase_in_translator_applications_from_translators_with_a_hotmail_address-page2.html#1986950
It definitely is a scam. Seems like it is coming from the Gaza/Palestine area. Tracing back one of the email addresses gave us this: lolleetta at gmail.com IP: 188.161.103.182 (Nablus, Palestinian Territory).
I believe they have been posting jobs and grabbing CVs from sites like Translation Directory, Translator's Cafe and Proz.com. They probably use machine translation or some unsuspecting victims in low-wage areas to get the translations done and fool potential customers into thinking they were done by natives, attempting to collect payment via PayPal.
The insidious thing is that they are using (our) real CVs and eerily similar email addresses to trick people into giving them work. I suppose all we can do is protect our CVs and set up some rules for our inboxes.
Best,
Julie ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Quite honestly... | Jul 27, 2012 |
What's the point of stealing/copying someone else's CV?
I've been to both Princeton and Harvard... as a tourist! My degree is from a university named Mackenzie... in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in spite of the EN-sounding name.
I've worked for a few companies that were later sold, merged, whatever, so it would take some investigative work to find out under what names they are trading today. Many of my former bosses could be retired, deceased, or merely senile, so they couldn't v... See more What's the point of stealing/copying someone else's CV?
I've been to both Princeton and Harvard... as a tourist! My degree is from a university named Mackenzie... in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in spite of the EN-sounding name.
I've worked for a few companies that were later sold, merged, whatever, so it would take some investigative work to find out under what names they are trading today. Many of my former bosses could be retired, deceased, or merely senile, so they couldn't vouch for me ever having been there.
So I wonder what would be the point of copying someone else's complete CV, when with some creativity one can pinch parts from many CVs and build a much more impressive one?
The only care that must be taken is to make it stick. For instance, I wouldn't say I graduated from Heidelberg, as my command of DE doesn't go much beyond saying Mahlzeit! to people in the cafeteria there, and I don't know for sure if they ever had one! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | 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 » Ref: My previous posting on STOLEN CV | Pastey |
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