| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Jobs offered by La Queens Hotel Thread poster: Enrique Cavalitto
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A job asking for interpreters has been posted by La Queens Hotel at http://www.proz.com/job/725638 and initially approved because it had all the required contact information and the data provided was found consistent.
A deeper investigation later... See more A job asking for interpreters has been posted by La Queens Hotel at http://www.proz.com/job/725638 and initially approved because it had all the required contact information and the data provided was found consistent.
A deeper investigation later revealed that the hotel's web page http://laqueenshotel.com/en/ has been copied from http://heartlandhotel.com/ (belonging to Heartland Hotel Corporation). The corresponding domail was created on Dec 04, 2012.
Because of this, the posted job is considered to be a scam operation. The job has been left visible but with a scam warning added, to help protect colleagues who may have fallen for it.
A scam alert repost will be sent out.
Regards,
Enrique ▲ Collapse
| | | | Steven Segaert
Estonia
Local time: 15:13
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| Is this enough action? | Jan 1, 2013 |
The job has been left visible but with a scam warning added, to help protect colleagues who may have fallen for it.
Hi Enrique,
I understand your reasons for leaving the ad visible, but at least (and in my opinion),
a) the scam warning should be in a larger type (it is easy to miss it)
b) the contact mail address should be removed or obscured
I do understand why the earlier thread "debating" this ad was removed, but still, I would like to echo the sentiment that more decisive action on this kind of scam would be welcome.
| | | | | Why leave it up? | Jan 1, 2013 |
If it's a scam, why leave it on the site? It doesn't speak well of Proz, warning or no warning.
| | | | Enrique Cavalitto 
Argentina
Local time: 09:13
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
TOPIC STARTER | Job was squashed | Jan 1, 2013 |
After leaving the job on display with the scam warning included, the job was finally squashed. Thanks for the feedback, I will ask our developers to make the public announcement in jobs more visible.
A scam alert was sent to all subscribers to the system. ProZ.com members can subscribe to these notifications, to receive all alerts or a weekly digest.
Regards,
Enrique
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Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 08:13
Spanish to English
+ ...
| It seems to me that further action is still needed [proper due diligence] | Jan 2, 2013 |
Enrique Cavalitto wrote:
A scam alert was sent to all subscribers to the system. ProZ.com members can subscribe to these notifications, to receive all alerts or a weekly digest.
Regards,
Enrique
And what about those individuals who have placed quotes on the job, who may be in private communication with the fraudsters, and who may even now be doing work that they will never be paid for?
If I understand correctly, if such individuals do not subscribe to the scam alerts, or do not happen to revisit the Jobs Board and click on the link to the posting, they will receive no information at all regarding the fraudulent nature of the offer (which came to light only as a result of some digging on the part of one site member acting on his own initiative).
One of the following additional actions would therefore appear to be in order:
1.
If "La Queens" invited posters to bid through the Jobs Board quoting system, then e-mails should be sent to all those who submitted quotes on the job alerting them to the scam. Surely this would be very easy to do.
2.
If "La Queens" invited posters to submit quotes to their private e-mail address, the issue is a bit more complicated, but it would seem fitting and proper in that case to repost the offer with a very prominent notice that there is a high probability that the offer is a scam (and put such a notice on the Jobs Board listing itself, so that those who've already responded to the fraudulent offer don't have to click on the link to see the warning).
[Edited at 2013-01-02 12:43 GMT]
| | | | Woodstock (X)
Germany
Local time: 14:13
German to English
+ ...
| The whole thing seems quite strange | Jan 2, 2013 |
I looked at the job offer before it was deleted, and was puzzled that it requested CVs specifically from interpreters, not translators. My first impression was that it was that it was a ruse to get CVs, with the purpose of using them to get customers - a scamming method that seems to be gaining popularity - but for interpreters? How would that even work? If an "agency" furnishes unqualified "interpreters" to handle an interpreting job based on a falsified CV, I would think the problem would beco... See more I looked at the job offer before it was deleted, and was puzzled that it requested CVs specifically from interpreters, not translators. My first impression was that it was that it was a ruse to get CVs, with the purpose of using them to get customers - a scamming method that seems to be gaining popularity - but for interpreters? How would that even work? If an "agency" furnishes unqualified "interpreters" to handle an interpreting job based on a falsified CV, I would think the problem would become obvious very quickly. It's doubtful the unsuspecting genuine interpreters would actually be given work, because their profession requires their physical presence at an event or function, which is a lot harder to deny ever happening from a legal standpoint, so I wouldn't think the scam is targeting them as the victims, only as a method to misappropriate their CVs, which is bad enough but not the same as being cheated of time and hard-earned pay.
Maybe I'm naive or missing something, but to me it's a scam that is poorly thought out, and doomed to failure from the get-go for several reasons. The only possible explanation I can come up with is that many (or most?) interpreters are also translators, and it's a roundabout way of getting CVs for a translation scam to bilk clients, but I don't see how it could work using interpreters. On the other hand, maybe my mind just doesn't work deviously enough to see the beauty of what is actually a brilliant plot.
Be that as it may, I hope none of our colleagues gets hurt by this. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Steve Derry
Spain
Local time: 14:13
German to English
+ ...
.. I agree, as a scam in itself it is not very sophisticated (poor English, only mobile numbers given, address that does not exist and website that does not stand up to basic scrutiny etc. etc.) however, as the first step of a data-mining exercise for collecting identities, such crude methods are often successful when pieced together with other information that is floating around in cyber-space. Once the 'bad guys' have information from your CV and other online sources (including a passport phot... See more .. I agree, as a scam in itself it is not very sophisticated (poor English, only mobile numbers given, address that does not exist and website that does not stand up to basic scrutiny etc. etc.) however, as the first step of a data-mining exercise for collecting identities, such crude methods are often successful when pieced together with other information that is floating around in cyber-space. Once the 'bad guys' have information from your CV and other online sources (including a passport photo cut and pasted from your Proz profile - one reason I don't provide one) you are well on your way to having your identity stolen. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Scheme not that new | Jan 2, 2013 |
If you search the forums, you will find quite a few threads about overpayment scams targeting interpreters. Here is one:
http://www.proz.com/forum/scams/26069-e_mail_scam_targeted_at_interpreters.html
Essentially, it may be just a good old overpayment scam: they send you a cheque for an advance, overpay you 'by mistake', ask you to ... See more If you search the forums, you will find quite a few threads about overpayment scams targeting interpreters. Here is one:
http://www.proz.com/forum/scams/26069-e_mail_scam_targeted_at_interpreters.html
Essentially, it may be just a good old overpayment scam: they send you a cheque for an advance, overpay you 'by mistake', ask you to send back the difference etc. Not any more or less devious than the ones targeting translators, really ▲ Collapse
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Enrique Cavalitto
Argentina
Local time: 09:13
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
TOPIC STARTER
ProZ.com staff will perform a level of control on posted jobs in order to block obvious scams or jobs posted by banned outsourcers, but freelancers should still do their own risk management. This is explained in a dedicated FAQ.
This particular job (and this is normal for scammers) did not ask for replies through ProZ.com but provided a contact email. If there were quotes through ProZ.com we would of course contact the... See more ProZ.com staff will perform a level of control on posted jobs in order to block obvious scams or jobs posted by banned outsourcers, but freelancers should still do their own risk management. This is explained in a dedicated FAQ.
This particular job (and this is normal for scammers) did not ask for replies through ProZ.com but provided a contact email. If there were quotes through ProZ.com we would of course contact them immediately as soon as the scam was identified.
Again, a job that only provides a contact email should be evaluated as an additional risk condition by freelancers evaluating a job.
An additional action taken was creating a Blue Board page for this 'client' and posting a very visible scam warning there.
This is not an overpayment scam but an "employment abroad" scam. You can read more about this in our scam alert center or in the dedicated wiki page.
Regards,
Enrique ▲ Collapse
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Enrique Cavalitto wrote:
ProZ.com staff will perform a level of control on posted jobs in order to block obvious scams or jobs posted by banned outsourcers, but freelancers should still do their own risk management. This is explained in a dedicated FAQ.
This particular job (ann this is normal for scammers) did not ask for replies through ProZ.com but provided a contact email. If there were quotes through ProZ.com we would of course contact them immediately as soon as the scam was identified.
Again, a job that only provides a contact email should be evaluated as an additional risk condition by freelancers evaluating a job.
An additional action taken was creating a Blue Board page for this 'client' and posting a very visible scam warning there.
This is not an overpayment scam but an "employment abroad" scam. You can read more about this in our scam alert center or in the dedicated wiki page.
Regards,
Enrique
Thanks Enrique for making Prozers aware of this scam. It's incredible what lengths scammers will go to in order to exploit information. Sad also in these hard economic times when, jobs are scarce to think others are taking advantage of that. I also checked out this offer when it first came available, as I got a new job posting email about it. I thought it looked dubious from the start because of the poor English, words running together etc. It seemed too vague as well as off-shore so I left it.
| | | | | Hotels ofering jobs at Proz | Jan 2, 2013 |
are not so seldom however the strange thing is they look like a scam - the same pattern, same lack of basic data and stupid substantiation. I wonder why they are not removed immediately.
| | | | Woodstock (X)
Germany
Local time: 14:13
German to English
+ ...
Derrio wrote:
.. I agree, as a scam in itself it is not very sophisticated (poor English, only mobile numbers given, address that does not exist and website that does not stand up to basic scrutiny etc. etc.) however, as the first step of a data-mining exercise for collecting identities, such crude methods are often successful when pieced together with other information that is floating around in cyber-space. Once the 'bad guys' have information from your CV and other online sources (including a passport photo cut and pasted from your Proz profile - one reason I don't provide one) you are well on your way to having your identity stolen.
True, that is a possibility, and a good reason, but I don't have personal information available here, either, but not because of that specifically. My CV only gets sent on request if the outsourcer is verifiable. They don't need to know what I look like for translating, and it hasn't prevented me from getting interesting offers now and then!
@ Enrique: Thanks for clearing that up and for staying on top of this important topic. I organized a powwow last year which dealt with scams targeting translators as the main point of discussion. It was quite interesting, and useful, too, I think.
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| Jobs offered by La Queens Hotel - SCAM | Jan 8, 2013 |
Hi Dear,
I haven’t yet receive any alert Email message from Proz.com, to inform me that the "Jobs offered by La Queens Hotel" was a Scam, I accidently found out about the scam issue today through Google search...Please Advice...Thank you
Taleb Ebrahim
Conference Interpretation
| | | | Enrique Cavalitto
Argentina
Local time: 09:13
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
TOPIC STARTER | Scam-related emails | Jan 8, 2013 |
Taleb Ebrahim wrote:
Hi Dear,
I haven’t yet receive any alert Email message from Proz.com, to inform me that the "Jobs offered by La Queens Hotel" was a Scam, I accidently found out about the scam issue today through Google search...Please Advice...Thank you
Taleb Ebrahim
Conference Interpretation
Hi Taleb,
The scam was reported in this forum and in the Blue Board.
You can get scam-related emails by subscribing to this forum.
Paying members can also subscribe to ProZ.com scam alert messages.
Regards,
Enrique
| | | | Yolanda Broad
United States
Local time: 08:13
Member (2000)
French to English
+ ...
MODERATOR | | 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 » Jobs offered by La Queens Hotel | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance |
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