10 precautions to protect against translation scams and other bogus freelance work: Internet Scambusters #466
As more people turn to self-employment as a result of the economic downturn, crooks step up their attempts to con them -- with translation scams for example.
They may use these tricks as a front for advance payment check scams or simply to get genuine work done for nothing.
But there are plenty of precautions freelancers can take to limit the risk of being conned, as we explain in this week's issue.
Let's get started...
Freelancing Risks and Translation Scams
In Spanish it's called "chanchullo," in Romanian "inselare" and in French it's "escroquerie" but in any language a scam is a scam and the bad news is that translation scams are on the rise.
Not only that, but the risk of being conned, which the country's 50,000-plus translators face every day, could be the tip of an iceberg.
With increasing numbers of people setting themselves up as freelancers, doing everything from article writing to operating as virtual assistants, scammers have tagged the whole army of them as a lucrative target.
Translation scams come in four forms, varieties of which could equally apply to many other types of freelance work.
1. Advance Fee Type Translation Scams
This is the old familiar trick of offering work, sending a check and then asking for part of the payment to be wired back for some reason.
The check turns out to be stolen or a fake and the victim is left out of pocket for the sum wired back.
Scammers will try to convince the translator they're genuine by seeming to communicate from a recognized translation agency or a well-known online community.
For instance, the popular translators' forum ProZ.com lists numerous instances where the site itself has been used as a platform by scammers claiming to be ProZ members and using the site's email service to supposedly commission work.
They may also send work they supposedly want translated -- like an official manual in another language from a legitimate and well-respected company.
But the crooks often give themselves away. Poor English, of course, is suspect but perhaps not so much with someone supposedly seeking translation services.
More common is a seeming indifference on the part of the solicitor about the actual cost or even the professional skills of the translator, and an enthusiasm for paying you upfront -- which, in truth, is highly unusual in the freelance business.
Sometimes, too, the scammers throw in a sob story -- like claiming to be working on behalf of someone who is disabled or otherwise disadvantaged.
2. All Work and No Pay Translation Scams
Again, this type of translation scam applies to many other paid freelance assignments -- the victim does the work, which is usually genuine, but never gets paid.
Often, the scammer here is a third party or middleman, having solicited genuine work from a legitimate company, without necessarily having the skills to do it themselves.
They use untraceable email addresses or, as in the previous instance, may masquerade as a legitimate company using a website address very similar to that of the genuine firm.
Either way, you do the work for them and they collect the pay -- and you may never know who the original commissioner of the work was, so you can't take up the issue with them.
3. Pay to Work Translation Scams
Scammers approach translators and other freelancers with the lure of supposedly lucrative work -- but they want you to pay for the leads.
Or sometimes, they act like they're a potential employer but they ask you to use a particular piece of software or other tool, which, of course, they will sell to you.
Either way, they're after your money, not your skills.
4. Lost in Translation Scams
Sometimes, translation scams originate with the translator! That is, the translator really isn't up to the job and sooner or later gets lost for words.
Many people speak two or more languages and, especially with Spanish, some of them do so quite fluently.
But that doesn't make them professional translators. However, with those financial pressures we mentioned earlier, it's tempting to set themselves up in the translation business.
That's not necessarily a scam, though it can certainly backfire if the work they do turns out to be inaccurate.
But it is a scam if the perpetrator claims to have experience or professional qualifications he or she doesn't have.
How to Avoid Translation Scams and Other Freelancer Tricks
If you're a freelancer, even just on an occasional or part time basis, you're at risk of one of these scams, but a few sensible precautions will limit that risk:
* Be on the alert if someone you don't know contacts you about a commission (rather than you contacting them to bid for work). They may claim to have been referred by an unnamed previous client.
If it's via a recognized agency or website where you're listed, see if the client has an established track record and invite them to use the site's escrow service if they have one.
If they offer you work without seeking credentials or offer to pay you in full upfront, it's almost certainly a scam.
* Check their email address. If it's one of the free services like Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail be wary. If it seems to be from a recognized source, check the spelling carefully.
* If it's a company or name you don't recognize, ask for and verify contact details.
* Check them out online. Try keying in their name or an extract from the message text -- crooks often use the same wording and names for multiple translation scam attempts.
* Ask for a purchase order and verify the contact information on that.
* If possible, accept only a small commission for your first project with a new client.
* If it's a big job, seek staged payments, working on each phase only when you've been paid for the prior one.
* If at any stage the "client" suggests they've overpaid and asks you to wire back part of the payment, don't! It's a scam.
* You shouldn't normally pay to get work.
It's usually okay to pay a commission to someone who finds work for you -- after you complete it and get paid -- or to pay for training that you solicit yourself and from someone with properly accredited qualifications.
*Finally, if you're commissioning a translator, you should also check out their credentials, including references and samples of their work.
For more information on freelance job tricks, check out some of our earlier reports on work from home scams.
Top 10 Work At Home and Home-Based Business Scams
Most Work-At-Home Job Offers Are Not What They Seem
Freelancing is a competitive game and it's easy, in your anxiety, to accept work commissions without thinking through carefully how the job came about and checking out the client.
But taking the time to do so will help you avoid falling for a translation scam or any other bogus offer of freelance work.
Time to conclude for today -- have a great week!