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Warning (travelers cheques)
Thread poster: Marie LIOGIER (X)
Marie LIOGIER (X)
Marie LIOGIER (X)  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 22:40
German to French
+ ...
May 25, 2011

Good morning,

I would like to warn everybody after I have been victim of a fraud. A client from Sweden who surely doesn't exist has contacted me in answer to an offer I had submitted via ProZ. He proposed right away to issue a down payment of 30 % of the total amount of the payment (1256 €). I was astonisched but did not refuse. Then he told me that a mistake had been made by his "agent" who had sent my 3000 € in form of 6 500 € travelers cheques. So I should cash in the 3000 ... See more
Good morning,

I would like to warn everybody after I have been victim of a fraud. A client from Sweden who surely doesn't exist has contacted me in answer to an offer I had submitted via ProZ. He proposed right away to issue a down payment of 30 % of the total amount of the payment (1256 €). I was astonisched but did not refuse. Then he told me that a mistake had been made by his "agent" who had sent my 3000 € in form of 6 500 € travelers cheques. So I should cash in the 3000 € and send him back the difference per Western Union. Of course no address has been communicated to me. In the meantime he has sent me a 4 pages-text to translate telling me that the rest would come. Yesterday I brought the cheques to my bank asking for a control before cashing. After a long phone call to AMEX, the cheques were proved false. They told me that such practises are very common and you should be on your guard!

Thank you for your attention !

Marie-Thérèse Liogier

[Edited at 2011-05-25 12:45 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 
Tanya Toneva
Tanya Toneva  Identity Verified
Bulgaria
Local time: 23:40
Member (2011)
English to Bulgarian
+ ...
I've seen it many times May 25, 2011

Indeed, this is probably the most popular scheme among scammers these days - it's been around for quite some time now...
I'm really glad to hear you managed to get out of it without losing any money - good for you!
 
Frank Schwar (X)
Frank Schwar (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 22:40
French to German
+ ...
Alter Hut... May 25, 2011

Haben bei mir schon 5 Leute probiert, habe auch 2 Schecks zuhause...
Hier ein hilfreicher Link:
http://wiki.proz.com/wiki/index.php/Risk_management_for_translators_and_interpreters
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 22:40
Spanish to English
+ ...
Never heard of this one May 25, 2011

So it's very useful to know for future reference. Thanks for the heads-up;)
 
BeWording
BeWording
France
Local time: 22:40
German to French
+ ...
Victim of the same fraud May 25, 2011

Hello everybody!

Just to tell you that I've been victim exactly of the same fraud as Marie-Thérèse. I think we had submitted for the same job. I wasn't very surprised when the bank told me that the cheques were fake but such frauds are really a shame! Is there something to do?
 
David Wright
David Wright  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 22:40
German to English
+ ...
A bit obvious May 25, 2011

... to say the least. Has anyone ever, ever had a genuine job out of the blue where the client offers to pay 30% up front? I think at this point anyone who regularly follows this forum will hear the alarm bells ringing.
 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 18:40
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Precisely! May 25, 2011

David Wright wrote:
... to say the least. Has anyone ever, ever had a genuine job out of the blue where the client offers to pay 30% up front? I think at this point anyone who regularly follows this forum will hear the alarm bells ringing.


My emphasis above.

The obviousness is in the client offering to pay anything up front. We may demand an advance payment if the client looks suspicious, but anyone volunteering to do it simply must have a hidden agenda. Bona fide clients will moan, ask the translator for a lower up-front amount, etc.
 
dkalinic
dkalinic
Local time: 22:40
Croatian to German
+ ...
In memoriam
Nur Banküberweisung oder Moneybookers May 26, 2011

Frank Schwarz wrote:

Haben bei mir schon 5 Leute probiert, habe auch 2 Schecks zuhause...
Hier ein hilfreicher Link:
http://wiki.proz.com/wiki/index.php/Risk_management_for_translators_and_interpreters


Halt deswegen akzeptier ich keine Schecks als Zahlungsmittel. Am sichersten ist die Banküberweisung, Zahlung über Moneybookers würde auch gehen.

Gruß,
Davor
 


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Warning (travelers cheques)







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