| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Will send half the fee up front Thread poster: sonjaswenson (X)
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sonjaswenson (X) 
United States
Local time: 15:34
Spanish to English
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I responded to a post on TranslatorsCafe.com for translators and immediately received a reply from a guy saying he happened to have a huge project of 10,000 words (no mention of which language!) and asked my price. When I told him, I received the following email:
I want to let you know that i am alright with the cost. When do you think you can start with the translation? A check for half of the payment will be sent to you tomorrow as deposit so that you can get yourself rea... See more I responded to a post on TranslatorsCafe.com for translators and immediately received a reply from a guy saying he happened to have a huge project of 10,000 words (no mention of which language!) and asked my price. When I told him, I received the following email:
I want to let you know that i am alright with the cost. When do you think you can start with the translation? A check for half of the payment will be sent to you tomorrow as deposit so that you can get yourself ready for this work.
Kindly email me the below information
Full name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip code:
Country:
Home Phone:
Cell phone number:
Diego
It seems pretty sketchy to me, I don't plan on responding, but wasn't sure if anyone else had encountered this or similar types online, and also wanted to put the word out.
[Edited at 2011-03-01 14:58 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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This is the typical scam. Just delete it.
Do not even bother in responding.
[Edited at 2011-03-01 17:03 GMT]
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 22:34
French to German
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| By the way... | Mar 1, 2011 |
there are enough threads about scamming attempts here and on other sites.
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 13:34
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | There is nothing wrong with down payments | Mar 2, 2011 |
I demand / I am offered down payments all the time for large projects. In some cases (first time customers, especially private ones) I don't even start work without seeing some hard cash first. Which is why I don't understand why this particular headline was chosen for this thread as this does not indicate any scam at all.
The request for your home phone number by Mr. "Diego" however is hilarious. Now, that indicates scam.
 ... See more I demand / I am offered down payments all the time for large projects. In some cases (first time customers, especially private ones) I don't even start work without seeing some hard cash first. Which is why I don't understand why this particular headline was chosen for this thread as this does not indicate any scam at all.
The request for your home phone number by Mr. "Diego" however is hilarious. Now, that indicates scam.
Edited for typo
[Edited at 2011-03-02 02:34 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 22:34
French to German
+ ...
| Nothing wrong with down payments... | Mar 2, 2011 |
when one is on the requesting/demanding side. Else one may wonder why such a generous offer is made by the customer in the first place, as it goes against currently 'accepted malpractices'.
| | | | | Guess it's a cultural difference | Mar 2, 2011 |
The first impression I got was "here we go again, another scam".
Regarding Nicole's reply to the topic starter, I agree with her. There's nothing wrong with the customer willing to pay half of the amount as down payment. However, I see Laurent and Walter saying that this is a scam, and I too agree with both of them.
It seems that the problem lies in the "cheque". I've read in other forums where Nicole wrote that it is standard practice to pay and get paid in cheque in t... See more The first impression I got was "here we go again, another scam".
Regarding Nicole's reply to the topic starter, I agree with her. There's nothing wrong with the customer willing to pay half of the amount as down payment. However, I see Laurent and Walter saying that this is a scam, and I too agree with both of them.
It seems that the problem lies in the "cheque". I've read in other forums where Nicole wrote that it is standard practice to pay and get paid in cheque in the US, and that's true. However, I've seen someone writing that it is very uncommon in Europe, for example, to pay in cheques (Sorry, Walter, I don't know how things go in Uruguay). Incidentally, it is not very common in my country either except only between companies/agencies but prefer cash over cheques. Therefore, aside from being asked full details including one's home phone number, I guess it's a cultural thing; depends on which country you live in, and whether a certain way of payment is common or not.
Lastly, if I were in Sonja's situation, I would either a) ask the client to pay me in other method (bank transfer, Paypal) and not a cheque, or b) if the client refuses to do so, I would turn down his/her offer. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 13:34
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | Here's the thing | Mar 2, 2011 |
Laurent KRAULAND wrote:
when one is on the requesting/demanding side. Else one may wonder why such a generous offer is made by the customer in the first place, as it goes against currently 'accepted malpractices'.
In Germany I worked with quite an army of self-employed people - on a regular basis with photographers and designers, once or twice a year with booth builders for trade fairs. Nobody would lift a finger without down-payment because the very second a freelancer springs into action, expenses occur on his side. So we, the outsourcer, would simply ask: the usual 30% or do you need 50% down?
I have no idea why such business practises should be different in the translation industry.
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 22:34
French to German
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| Of course, Nicole,... | Mar 2, 2011 |
Nicole Schnell wrote:
(.../...)
I have no idea why such business practises should be different in the translation industry.
you are right. However, and in certain countries, the "sport" consists in paying as late as possible and without commitment (a down payment being one form of commitment).
Anyway thank you for your advice. I guess some of my own practices need to be reexamined.
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Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 22:34
French to German
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| About the cheque thing | Mar 2, 2011 |
Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
(.../...)
It seems that the problem lies in the "cheque". I've read in other forums where Nicole wrote that it is standard practice to pay and get paid in cheque in the US, and that's true. However, I've seen someone writing that it is very uncommon in Europe, for example, to pay in cheques (Sorry, Walter, I don't know how things go in Uruguay). Incidentally, it is not very common in my country either except only between companies/agencies but prefer cash over cheques. Therefore, aside from being asked full details including one's home phone number, I guess it's a cultural thing; depends on which country you live in, and whether a certain way of payment is common or not.
(.../...)
I have no problem accepting cheques from French clients. Customers, in turn, are told to make a wire transfer.
| | | | Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:34
French to English
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Nicole Schnell wrote:
In Germany I worked with quite an army of self-employed people - on a regular basis with photographers and designers, once or twice a year with booth builders for trade fairs. Nobody would lift a finger without down-payment because the very second a freelancer springs into action, expenses occur on his side. So we, the outsourcer, would simply ask: the usual 30% or do you need 50% down?
I have no idea why such business practises should be different in the translation industry.
Agreed it is culturally more usual in some countries and trades. Having said that, I think a reason in, say, building, furniture making etc is that the contractor is going to have to purchase raw materials for your job. In translation, the only outlay is usually your time, and even if you had to buy, say, a specialist dictionary for a particular job, the outlay would usually be small enough to take the risk.
The warning sign that strikes me from this example is that (a) it seems to have been suspiciously easy for the person to get the job, combined with (b) a focus on sending cheques rather than the actual text/job. I may be misunderstanding, but sounds like Sonja hasn't even *seen* the text before cheques are generously winging their way in the post.
| | | | | It's not the check | Mar 2, 2011 |
It's not the fact that the "client" pays with a cheque that makes this a scam.
I accept cheques from local clients. I even get cheques from some US clients. And even Paypal sends me my money in a cheque.
If it were just the check thing, you may ask for a different payment way: Paypal, wire transfer, Monebookers, bank transfer, etc.
It ¡s the fact that "Diego" (does he have a last name?), asks for personal data unrelated to a check payment:
Full name... See more It's not the fact that the "client" pays with a cheque that makes this a scam.
I accept cheques from local clients. I even get cheques from some US clients. And even Paypal sends me my money in a cheque.
If it were just the check thing, you may ask for a different payment way: Paypal, wire transfer, Monebookers, bank transfer, etc.
It ¡s the fact that "Diego" (does he have a last name?), asks for personal data unrelated to a check payment:
Full name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip code:
Country:
Home Phone:
Cell phone number
That sounds fishy to me.
[Edited at 2011-03-02 11:04 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | sonjaswenson (X)
United States
Local time: 15:34
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for your responses!
Yes, it is normal in the US to receive payment via check. Generally the only clients who pay me via bank transfer or PayPal are those located abroad or US clients I worked for when residing out of the country who just keep paying me the same way.
But this guy's email was particularly fishy. His post (on TranslatorsCafe.com) was also very vague, but I responded to it anyway to see what would happen. I looked him up and he had created a very sp... See more Thanks for your responses!
Yes, it is normal in the US to receive payment via check. Generally the only clients who pay me via bank transfer or PayPal are those located abroad or US clients I worked for when residing out of the country who just keep paying me the same way.
But this guy's email was particularly fishy. His post (on TranslatorsCafe.com) was also very vague, but I responded to it anyway to see what would happen. I looked him up and he had created a very sparce TC page earlier the same day.
His ad was for several different languages into English, and in his emails he never bothered to tell me which language the document was in! Some of his emails were so general I actually wonder if they were automatically generated (like the Nigerian bank scammers)!
Proz moderators won't let me post his whole name on this forum, but if he contacts anyone else you will probably recognize his email style. ▲ Collapse
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| Smells quite fishy.... (APESTA!!!!) | Mar 2, 2011 |
I received THE SAME email, to the letter:
"I want to let you know that i am alright with the cost. When do you think you can start with the translation? A check for half of the payment will be sent to you tomorrow as deposit so that you can get yourself ready for this work, afterwhich the first phrase of the job will be sent to you via email.
"Kindly email me the below information
Full name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip code:
Country:... See more I received THE SAME email, to the letter:
"I want to let you know that i am alright with the cost. When do you think you can start with the translation? A check for half of the payment will be sent to you tomorrow as deposit so that you can get yourself ready for this work, afterwhich the first phrase of the job will be sent to you via email.
"Kindly email me the below information
Full name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip code:
Country:
Home Phone:
Cell phone number:
I don't think this is a valid job... for what I see he is offering the same job to at least two translators. ▲ Collapse
| | | | sonjaswenson (X)
United States
Local time: 15:34
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | thanks francisco! | Mar 2, 2011 |
All the more reason to ignore him
I just hope everyone else does, too!
| | | | John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 16:34
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
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