Potential scammer Thread poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
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For the first time ever (how lucky have I been?) I was contacted directly (not through Proz, though he said “I got your email from the website as a translator”. Which one?) two days ago by what might be a potential scammer asking for a quote for a Spanish-Portuguese translation. All the red flags were there: very poor English (though his name sounded British or American), no introduction whatsoever, no contact details (even after I asked for an address he just said that he was presently in S... See more For the first time ever (how lucky have I been?) I was contacted directly (not through Proz, though he said “I got your email from the website as a translator”. Which one?) two days ago by what might be a potential scammer asking for a quote for a Spanish-Portuguese translation. All the red flags were there: very poor English (though his name sounded British or American), no introduction whatsoever, no contact details (even after I asked for an address he just said that he was presently in Spain). It took me some time searching the Internet to find the text to be translated: The Promise of World Peace, a document produced by the Universal House of Justice of the Bahá'í Faith and published in October 1985… ▲ Collapse
| | | | | IP, email address? | Nov 7, 2018 |
What was the email address domain? And, if it wasn't Gmail, did you check the originating IP?
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Mirko Mainardi wrote:
What was the email address domain? And, if it wasn't Gmail, did you check the originating IP?
I did all due diligence...
| | | | Yolanda Broad 
United States
Local time: 02:48
Member (2000)
French to English
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MODERATOR | Please let us know the scammer's name and email address | Nov 7, 2018 |
Hi Teresa,
Mirko is right: please post the name and address of the scammer here. And the phone number, too, if you have it.
Thanks.
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As I said before I had no other contact details but the email: [email protected]. I was under the impression that I shouldn't name names in here (even of potential scammers).
Regards,
Teresa
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 08:48
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| Gmail + numbers | Nov 7, 2018 |
The combination of a name and numbers in a gmail address is usually a pretty strong indication for scammers. This is confirmed by that person's unwillingness to share details about himself. All your red flags were waving, so you have every right to name the (potential) scammer.
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Silly habit of naming scammers on this forum.
Of course, it's not the real name nor the right address.
Next time, his name will be Tom Jones.
[Modifié le 2018-11-07 16:28 GMT]
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David GAY wrote:
Silly habit of naming scammers on this forum.
Of course, it's not the real name nor the right address.
Next time, his name will be Tom Jones.
[Modifié le 2018-11-07 16:28 GMT]
What's so "silly" about posting name and email address used in a scam, pray tell? On the contrary, if the scammer used them to send a number of emails to potential victims (as they probably did), having those details publicly posted somewhere might not be so "silly" for those who google for them while wondering if it is in fact a scam...
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Just a question: if you had the intention of scamming someone on internet,
would you give:
1) your (real) name
2) your address
3) your personal phone number
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It would take me 5 minutes to create an email address
[email protected] and to send a message to you and sign it
Tom Jones
[Modifié le 2018-11-07 17:24 GMT]
| | | | | Missing the point | Nov 7, 2018 |
You're missing the point. These scammers usually fire salvos of identical messages to hundreds, if not thousands, of potential victims, and they obviously don't spend "5 minutes" creating a new email address for each of those messages, but use the same one for all of them...
That obviously IS a fake/throwaway address that will most probably be discarded after a while, but as I was saying, in the meantime having that address published somewhere could spare someone (especially those n... See more You're missing the point. These scammers usually fire salvos of identical messages to hundreds, if not thousands, of potential victims, and they obviously don't spend "5 minutes" creating a new email address for each of those messages, but use the same one for all of them...
That obviously IS a fake/throwaway address that will most probably be discarded after a while, but as I was saying, in the meantime having that address published somewhere could spare someone (especially those not familiar with scams) a nasty surprise, so, again, I don't see what's so "silly" about warning others... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | an unlimited number of names and addresses can be used | Nov 7, 2018 |
what matters is not the name or the email address of the scammer.
You can create an unlimited number of emails addresses and use any surname.
Knowing that Tom Jones is a scammer won't protect you against a scammer
pretending to be Barry White... I could create a fake profile on PROZ and pretend
to be a PROZ administrator. It's possible to create
an address such as [email protected] or any other addr... See more what matters is not the name or the email address of the scammer.
You can create an unlimited number of emails addresses and use any surname.
Knowing that Tom Jones is a scammer won't protect you against a scammer
pretending to be Barry White... I could create a fake profile on PROZ and pretend
to be a PROZ administrator. It's possible to create
an address such as [email protected] or any other address which is not already used.
There are thousands of scammers so it's not possible to identify them all. And they can also change
the name they use to scam you. The name of some freelancers on PROZ is even on the list of scammers published on internet...
[Modifié le 2018-11-07 19:06 GMT]
[Modifié le 2018-11-07 19:08 GMT]
[Modifié le 2018-11-07 19:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
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| crime prevention = common sense + due diligence + briefing | Nov 7, 2018 |
I also see little use in publishing ever-generated emails and details, because there're countless multitudes of such.
Why, sometimes blacklisting is relatively useful, yet cons often hack and use legally-looking emails, leaving respected owners holding the bag...
That's why it's much better to learn how to tell scammers from [foreign] clients, and what to do not to fall another victim to confidence swindling and treacherous naïvety
| | | | Tradupro17
United States
Local time: 02:48
English to Haitian-Creole
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| not necessarily | Nov 8, 2018 |
Thayenga wrote:
The combination of a name and numbers in a gmail address is usually a pretty strong indication for scammers. This is confirmed by that person's unwillingness to share details about himself. All your red flags were waving, so you have every right to name the (potential) scammer.
I disagree. My gmail address is a combination of name and numbers, but I am by no means a scammer.
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 08:48
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Tradupro17 wrote: Thayenga wrote:
The combination of a name and numbers in a gmail address is usually a pretty strong indication for scammers. This is confirmed by that person's unwillingness to share details about himself. All your red flags were waving, so you have every right to name the (potential) scammer. I disagree. My gmail address is a combination of name and numbers, but I am by no means a scammer.
Usually says it all. This means that not every gmail address with a name/number combo comes definitely from a scammer.
[Edited at 2018-11-12 12:21 GMT]
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