| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Seems very fishy but I want feedback Thread poster: domillette
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domillette 
Canada
Local time: 12:27
English to French
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Hello; I'm pretty sure I know the answer already but want to know if this scheme is common.
I was contacted by someone from Boston (Milton, actually) claiming to have gotten my name from the State Department. So apparently, he didn't get it here. Supposedly.
Now, I have a graduate degree in International Political Economy and know many people who would know people in the U.S. State Department, even if I don't know anyone there myself. So there were no immediate red flag... See more Hello; I'm pretty sure I know the answer already but want to know if this scheme is common.
I was contacted by someone from Boston (Milton, actually) claiming to have gotten my name from the State Department. So apparently, he didn't get it here. Supposedly.
Now, I have a graduate degree in International Political Economy and know many people who would know people in the U.S. State Department, even if I don't know anyone there myself. So there were no immediate red flags from this.
There was one pinkish flag - he uses a gmail address with letters and numbers. So I can't trace any IP address there. Another red flag was the lack of company name.
The biggest red flag happened when he sent me a photocopy of a driver's licence, purportedly his, with name, address and date of birth, for "invoicing."
I've never had a client do this. My initial reaction was that this was an old confidence trick, the type where "Look, I trusted you with personal information, now you have to trust me with something of yours."
There is no way I am sending anything that personal via unencrypted email to someone without a security clearance.
However, he sent me a contract and asked me to sign it. His signature (or that of the person on the driver's licence, supposedly) was on this contract, but it was heavily pixelated as if it had been copied and pasted. Usually when I need to sign something and send it by email, I sign a paper copy, scan it, and send the pdf. It doesn't look that degraded.
After that, he sent me his cell number and told me he was in Italy, supposedly to "monitor the retrial of Amanda Knox."
At this point, I am wondering if perhaps he is simply a delusional young man who thinks he is working for the government.
Anyway, this is very strange. I get the impression that if this is a scam, he did his homework and looked at my website.
I traced the home phone number in Milton for this address and person, but I couldn't make out what the woman who answered the phone was saying.
Any thoughts? Anyone encounter anything similar? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 12:27
German to English
| Probably a scam | May 15, 2013 |
I can't imagine why someone would send a copy of his/her personal to a total stranger. I find that to be exceedingly odd. You're right, it's a confidence trick ("here, hold this bag of money while you make a withdrawal from your bank").
Claiming that he was in Italy, ostensibly to "monitor the retrial of Amanda Knox" is more nonsense. I haven't been following this very closely, but I doubt if that woman will ever return to Italy.
Don't bother to respond to the "offer".
| | | | | Ask for numbers to fixed locations | May 15, 2013 |
Ask for his phone number at the State Department and call it. Check that it is going into the building.
Ask for the name and phone number of his supervisor. Call the supervisor.
If the number to his supervisor is in a government building, you are dealing with the State Department.
| | | | Woodstock (X)
Germany
Local time: 18:27
German to English
+ ...
| gmail address and no company name | May 15, 2013 |
are pretty solid signs of a scam on their own. Add the driver's license bit, and it looks more and more like a fraudulent offer. You have your CV online here as a doc file, which is quite risky these days, and a link to your website, so your life is pretty much an open book to anyone, including those with ulterior motives.
Here is some pretty good info on what to watch out for, as the number of (attempted) scams targeting translators seems to be increasing daily, and they are getting more... See more are pretty solid signs of a scam on their own. Add the driver's license bit, and it looks more and more like a fraudulent offer. You have your CV online here as a doc file, which is quite risky these days, and a link to your website, so your life is pretty much an open book to anyone, including those with ulterior motives.
Here is some pretty good info on what to watch out for, as the number of (attempted) scams targeting translators seems to be increasing daily, and they are getting more and more sophisticated about which buttons to push to land a victim:
http://wiki.proz.com/wiki/index.php/Detecting_and_reacting_to_false_job_offers_and_other_scams
http://www.proz.com/about/translator-scam-alerts/
If it seems fishy to you, don't risk it. It reeks to me. ▲ Collapse
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John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 12:27
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
I can smell the fish from here. Talking about Amanda Knox, being a current news topic, sounds like the daughter of the well-known deposed dictator who wants to entrust $10 million to you, sight unseen.
| | | | | Beware of such! | May 15, 2013 |
Hi Everyone,
I could not believe how this item escalated to the point of sending that Driver's License in an email.
I am very careful, people can do serious damage to you behind their keyboards.
Sad but true!
MaryLou.
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Well,
1. He got your name from the State Department. What for and why there? Not from the nearest parish?
2. He sent you his Driver's Licence because he likes it so - and a contract. What for and what was in the contract? Did he mention any reason for sending it?
3. Did he say why he sent you his cell number and what you shall do with the information about Italy and Amanda Knox?
[Edited at 2013-05-15 21:09 GMT]
| | | | domillette
Canada
Local time: 12:27
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | I will be deleting any CVs I've posted online | May 15, 2013 |
Actually, several of my contacts do deal with the U. S. State Department sometimes so that initial statement wasn't the red flag.
The DL and the Italy story sunk him more than the State Dept idea. Amanda Knox sounded like a reason why I shouldn't find his home number and call the person at that address to verify anything.
I just think that as scams go, this one is really odd. I wonder if anyone else has or will have been contacted in the same way.
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 18:27
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| His personal information | May 16, 2013 |
domillette wrote:
The biggest red flag happened when he sent me a photocopy of a driver's licence, purportedly his, with name, address and date of birth, for "invoicing."
This reminds me a lot of those emails I used to receive in a, by now deleted, other email account.
So the only time someone ever sent me a a copy of his driver's licence was in a "Nigerian" scam email. Said copy was meant to make me belief that scammer is legally entitled to "bless" me with X millions of USD.
That person also claimed to be residing in Washington D. C. Since when does Washington D. C. has an IP address located in Nigeria?
In regards to deleting all your CVs that you have posted online, you can change the visibility status to no one with a note "CV available on request".
Stay safe and scam-free.
| | | | Jo Macdonald
Spain
Local time: 18:27
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
| If in doubt...... | May 16, 2013 |
..........ask for payment before doing any jobs.
If proposed payment is check for millions of bucks and "can you send me the difference"? or something similar, it's a scam. If client pays you = no problem.
If you're not interested and the guy is pestering you, tell him you're not interested and add a spam filter on your mail server = end of story.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 18:27
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Some comments again | May 16, 2013 |
I also think it is a scam, but I might as well comment on some points.
domillette wrote:
He uses a gmail address with letters and numbers.
I think you should expect to see more and more of those, now that most of the words without numbers have already been taken. Just recently I tried to register a new Gmail address for someone and it took several minutes to find one that sounds nice and that doesn't include numbers in it.
So I can't trace any IP address there.
How would the letters and numbers in the e-mail address prevent you from tracing an IP address? Or do you mean that you can't trace the IP address because the e-mail is hosted by Gmail?
Either way, how would you normally trace an IP address based on an e-mail address (or based on an e-mail)? And what good would that do anyway?
Another red flag was the lack of company name. ... The biggest red flag happened when he sent me a photocopy of a driver's licence, purportedly his, with name, address and date of birth, for "invoicing."
Could the lack of a company name be the result of him not being a company, but a private individual?
I agree that being sent a driving licence is odd. What is the usual form of identification in Canada where you live? What is the usual form of identification in the US, where the client claims to be from? I seem to recall that a driving licence is commonly used in the US for that precise purpose, as I'm under the impression that US people don't have ID cards and often don't have ID books.
If this was a private person whose identity you wanted to confirm, what would you have asked for? Or rather, if this was a bona fides private person who honestly wanted to confirm his identity to you, what form of identification would you have considered non-suspect?
There is no way I am sending anything that personal via unencrypted email to someone without a security clearance.
In some countries in the world it is the most normal thing to provide such information to all and sundry. What is the country of origin of your client (e.g. if he's not a US citizen)?
Any thoughts?
Do you limit yourself to clients who are businesses, or do you accept work from clients who are private persons? If businesses only, you could turn it down for the reason that he is a private person, or you could or ask for business details and ask that advance payment be done by the business' accounting department.
Perhaps we should have a section in the ProZwiki about how to identify a real US cheque.
| | | | Norskpro
Norway
Local time: 18:28
Member
English to Norwegian
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| I word of caution | May 16, 2013 |
In my Translator Scammers Directory -- http://www.jrdias.com/jrd-translator-scammers.htm -- I include only names (fake, for the most part) and emails (made-up by the scammers) related to scams of ID theft and impersonation of translators.
You should also read this excellent article by Enrique Cavalitto: ProZ.com series on Risk Management: Scammers who steal translati... See more In my Translator Scammers Directory -- http://www.jrdias.com/jrd-translator-scammers.htm -- I include only names (fake, for the most part) and emails (made-up by the scammers) related to scams of ID theft and impersonation of translators.
You should also read this excellent article by Enrique Cavalitto: ProZ.com series on Risk Management: Scammers who steal translations at http://www.proz.com/doc/3613
[Edited at 2013-05-16 11:50 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 18:28
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| Excellent information | May 16, 2013 |
João Roque Dias wrote:
In my Translator Scammers Directory -- http://www.jrdias.com/jrd-translator-scammers.htm -- I include only names (fake, for the most part) and emails (made-up by the scammers) related to scams of ID theft and impersonation of translators.
You should also read this excellent article by Enrique Cavalitto: ProZ.com series on Risk Management: Scammers who steal translations at http://www.proz.com/doc/3613 [Edited at 2013-05-16 11:50 GMT]
Thank you, João, for these links.
The company you mention on your website has also contacted me, though under one of their 4 or 5 "aka's". They not only asked me to permit that they market my CV, but also keep sending me jobs... requesting to see my CV first.
My reply was simple: if they try to market my CV (which they never received ), I will take legal actions against them. That was a couple of months ago. Thus far, no more emails from them.
| | | | domillette
Canada
Local time: 12:28
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Things get curiouser | May 16, 2013 |
Now he is asking me if I got payment... I haven't sent him anything and in the "contract" he sent me, payment in full was to be on completion of the project.
I saw somewhere it's best to ignore these people and not reply?
| | | | | 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 » Seems very fishy but I want feedback | Trados Business Manager Lite |
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