Bogus CVs? Thread poster: Dan_Brennan
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Dan_Brennan 
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:08
Russian to English
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This afternoon I received two emails in relatively quick succession from freelance translators wanting to work with my agency. Nothing unusual there... until I read the emails....
The first one, from a certain Amy Wiman, reads as follows:
Dear Sir/Madam,
As a reliable Swedish< > English< >German translator , I am looking
for working with a reputable company like yours, where my abilities
will not only be recognized but also rewarded.
... See more This afternoon I received two emails in relatively quick succession from freelance translators wanting to work with my agency. Nothing unusual there... until I read the emails....
The first one, from a certain Amy Wiman, reads as follows:
Dear Sir/Madam,
As a reliable Swedish< > English< >German translator , I am looking
for working with a reputable company like yours, where my abilities
will not only be recognized but also rewarded.
I am very confident that I can make an immediate and significant
contribution to your company’s operations in various areas of
translation works.
I am convinced that my background, work, experience and qualifications
all combined make me suitably qualified for being a member in your
respected team of translators.
Please refer to the accompanying CV for more detailed information
regarding my abilities and skill sets.
If this brief account of my competencies intrigues you enough to give
me chance of working with your company, I would be very delighted to
start working with your company soon.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Amy
The second one, from a certain Lara Larsson, reads as follows:
Dear Sir/Madam,
As a reliable Swedish, German, English translator , I am looking for working with a reputable company like yours, where my abilities will not only be recognized but also rewarded.
I am very confident that I can make an immediate and significant contribution to your company’s operations in various areas of translation works.
I am convinced that my background, work, experience and qualifications all combined make me suitably qualified for being a member in your respected team of translators.
Please refer to the accompanying CV for more detailed information regarding my abilities and skill sets.
If this brief account of my competencies intrigues you enough to give me chance of working with your company, I would be very delighted to start working with your company soon.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Lara Larsson
Lara Larsson
Both of these ladies have attached CVs in PDF format, which differ from one another...
Intriguing to say the least. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Most definitely CV thieves! | Mar 10, 2015 |
Lara Larsson is listed here:
http://www.translator-scammers.com/translator-scammers-directory.htm
Even the victim is listed there, so maybe you could find out whether the CV is his or they had stolen a new one.
In any case, I'd contact this website and send them all you have to trace and alert the victims.
We're lucky those ... See more Lara Larsson is listed here:
http://www.translator-scammers.com/translator-scammers-directory.htm
Even the victim is listed there, so maybe you could find out whether the CV is his or they had stolen a new one.
In any case, I'd contact this website and send them all you have to trace and alert the victims.
We're lucky those scammers are so dumb.
[Edited at 2015-03-10 17:46 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 04:08
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam
They don't have to be thieves, just creative. It's always good to remember that a CV is nothing more than someone tooting their own horn. It could be all lies. You are always well advised to take it for no more than that.
| | | | | Yes, thieves. | Mar 10, 2015 |
Henry Hinds wrote:
They don't have to be thieves, just creative. It's always good to remember that a CV is nothing more than someone tooting their own horn. It could be all lies. You are always well advised to take it for no more than that.
I'd like to see you calling a person who uses your CV with their name and contact details instead of yours "just creative".
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Peter Motte
Belgium
Local time: 12:08
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| I get that too | Mar 10, 2015 |
Every day I get cover letters and cv's like that, since at least a year.
The only thing I do with them, is throw them in the dustbin.
First reason is that some of them might not be bogus, but nevertheless not trustworthy. I suspect at least one of them to have been abusing the work of other translators, letting them do the work, sellt he translaton, and not paying the translator.
Second reason is that I just don't have such a huge amount of work that I have any use for several ... See more Every day I get cover letters and cv's like that, since at least a year.
The only thing I do with them, is throw them in the dustbin.
First reason is that some of them might not be bogus, but nevertheless not trustworthy. I suspect at least one of them to have been abusing the work of other translators, letting them do the work, sellt he translaton, and not paying the translator.
Second reason is that I just don't have such a huge amount of work that I have any use for several unsollicitated contacts per day like that.
The regularity with which they come, made me think in the beginning that it was some kind of scheme to find work, orchestrated by some gouvernment institution.
As such, there is nothing wrong with it, but it's starting to be detrimental for people who are really looking for a job as a translator, if big state organisations make unemployed people just send their cv's everywhere.
But although I still think it's not a good thing for real translators (be it beginning translators) looking for a job, I tend to think nowadays that most of those mails are bogus.
People of the trade now that it's better not to send that kind of stuff out at random, without having any idea of the work load the receiver might be able to have.
They're also a bit too slick to my taste, and look too much as if they have been written by a copywrite agency, instead of by the translator himself.
[Edited at 2015-03-10 17:54 GMT]
[Edited at 2015-03-10 17:55 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Agree with Peter | Mar 11, 2015 |
Peter Motte wrote:
They're also a bit too slick to my taste, and look too much as if they have been written by a copywrite agency, instead of by the translator himself.
[Edited at 2015-03-10 17:54 GMT]
[Edited at 2015-03-10 17:55 GMT]
Indeed. It looks like a private employment agency, with poor resources (to say the least) to help new translators to enter the translation business. Both translatosr seem also to have poor resources too to write a new cover letter.
| | | | Dan_Brennan
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:08
Russian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Identical cover letters | Mar 11, 2015 |
The point is folks that the emails are IDENTICAL... which makes it very fishy indeed. Either one person is using two different identities... or it is some kind of production-line scam. I sent an email to "both translators" requesting further details, and - surprise surprise - neither has replied. Very very fishy indeed... ProZ would do well to investigate this...
| | | | | This thing is called IDENTITY THEFT | Mar 11, 2015 |
No employment agency, no new translators, actually no translators at all.
This scam goes on for several years now and not only translators are targets, as I heard (also other professions where the jobs are being sent via internet and where people post their CVs online etc.).
The best resource to learn about it is the website I linked to.
You can read loads of stories by people who fall victim on this forum or on LinkedIn.
So there's really nothing left here to spec... See more No employment agency, no new translators, actually no translators at all.
This scam goes on for several years now and not only translators are targets, as I heard (also other professions where the jobs are being sent via internet and where people post their CVs online etc.).
The best resource to learn about it is the website I linked to.
You can read loads of stories by people who fall victim on this forum or on LinkedIn.
So there's really nothing left here to speculate about, it's clear like the sun and at this point well investigated, Dan.
If you want to do something sensible, send those CVs to the website I linked to.
[Edited at 2015-03-11 12:59 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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What is the sense of it? What if I would hire one of those 'bogusses' for a translation. Do they deliver or what?
Before they start working for me, I need their personal data and a bank account, that is if they wanted to be payed. In that way they would loose their cover.
I also receive these mails, and I am a freelancer, not an agency. Thank god he invented digital dustbins.
[Edited at 2015-03-11 13:48 GMT]
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 06:08
German to English
| Clumsy payment in advance scam | Mar 11, 2015 |
Robert Rietvelt wrote:
What is the sense of it? What if I would hire one of those 'bogusses' for a translation. Do they deliver or what?
Frequently people here offer the advice to demand payment or partial payment upfront before starting a job. I presume that sending a bogus CV is part of a scheme to get some money out of an unwitting outsourcer, presumably by asking for advance payment via Western Union or a prepaid debit card.
Most of us wonder how anyone would fall for something like this, but remember, people are still taken in by Nigerian scams, even though they predate the Internet.
As every scamster knows, you only have to be successful once.
| | | | Yolanda Broad
United States
Local time: 06:08
Member (2000)
French to English
+ ...
MODERATOR | Ask ProZ staff to investigate | Mar 11, 2015 |
Hi Dan,
If you got those messages through ProZ, they should be reported to ProZ staff, so they can investigate and take action. Please submit a Support request and attach the emails you received. It would also be a good idea to report them to the ProZ Scam Alert Center: http://www.proz.com/about/translator-scam-alerts/
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