ID theft Report
Thread poster: Roy Williams
Roy Williams
Roy Williams  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 19:27
German to English
Mar 31, 2014

Hello all,

I've just been informed via the Scammers Intelligence Group, the operators of the new site translator-scammers.com, that I'm listed in the data base of the following known scam agencies located in Gaza:

Languagemet
Gentle Translation
Translation Secrets

I've never worked with or submitted any information to the above agencies and have no intention of ever doing so. I was completely unaware of that these agenices had aqcuired or were f
... See more
Hello all,

I've just been informed via the Scammers Intelligence Group, the operators of the new site translator-scammers.com, that I'm listed in the data base of the following known scam agencies located in Gaza:

Languagemet
Gentle Translation
Translation Secrets

I've never worked with or submitted any information to the above agencies and have no intention of ever doing so. I was completely unaware of that these agenices had aqcuired or were fraudulently using my information. If anyone should ever receive a bid or CV from these agencies with my name and/or information please report it immediatey.

Thank you.

Sincerely,


Roy Williams
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Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 19:27
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Safety first Mar 31, 2014

Hi Roy,

I'm sorry to learn about your troubles with these well-known scammers.

You might want to consider setting your CV in such a way that it will only be available upon request. This way these scammers can't just steal it from your profile page here or anywhere else.

Legitimate outsourcers, serious translation agencies and end clients will understand this action, also because it is for their protection, too.

On a sidenote, I am surprised th
... See more
Hi Roy,

I'm sorry to learn about your troubles with these well-known scammers.

You might want to consider setting your CV in such a way that it will only be available upon request. This way these scammers can't just steal it from your profile page here or anywhere else.

Legitimate outsourcers, serious translation agencies and end clients will understand this action, also because it is for their protection, too.

On a sidenote, I am surprised that these well-known scammers are allowed to collect BB entries of all 5's.

Best,

Thayenga
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Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:27
Spanish to English
+ ...
Scammers Mar 31, 2014

I think we should all take up a donation and hire a gang of thugs to go and pay them a visit.

[Edited at 2014-03-31 13:04 GMT]


 
Dr Sarai Pahla, MBChB
Dr Sarai Pahla, MBChB
Germany
Local time: 19:27
Member (2012)
Japanese to English
+ ...
I agree Mar 31, 2014

Roy,

I'm afraid I've been subject to the same thing - it is very unpleasant, but most reputable translation agencies around the world will attempt to verify that they are communicating with the real you.

Thayenga wrote:

On a sidenote, I am surprised that these well-known scammers are allowed to collect BB entries of all 5's.



Unfortunately, they seem to be using "good" CVs from translators like Roy to obtain very high rates and end up paying the translators who rate them very poorly, but still manage to pay them on time and pay what they ask for (because, of course, the translators who work for them don't ask for very high rates). They should technically not be allowed to receive any Blue Board presence at all or be banned - I believe that is what has now happened.


 
Roy Williams
Roy Williams  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 19:27
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
Re: ID theft Mar 31, 2014

Jeff Whittaker wrote:

I think we should all take up a donation and hire a gang of thugs to go and pay them a visit.

[Edited at 2014-03-31 13:04 GMT]


Are you from Brooklyn too?


 
Roy Williams
Roy Williams  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 19:27
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
BB rating Mar 31, 2014

Thayenga wrote:



On a sidenote, I am surprised that these well-known scammers are allowed to collect BB entries of all 5's.



Thayenga


I find that odd as well. I remember being contacted by translation secrets directly and sending their e-mail directly to the trash.


 
Roy Williams
Roy Williams  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 19:27
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
Re: ID theft Mar 31, 2014

Sarai Pahla wrote:



I'm afraid I've been subject to the same thing - it is very unpleasant, but most reputable translation agencies around the world will attempt to verify that they are communicating with the real you.

Thayenga wrote:

On a sidenote, I am surprised that these well-known scammers are allowed to collect BB entries of all 5's.






Do you know if they actually used your CV?


 
Dr Sarai Pahla, MBChB
Dr Sarai Pahla, MBChB
Germany
Local time: 19:27
Member (2012)
Japanese to English
+ ...
Yes, I do. Mar 31, 2014

Roy Williams wrote:

Do you know if they actually used your CV?


Yes, I've been contacted by a number of companies over a 2 year period who have found the "real me", usually via my blog, which is updated very often and thus gets better Google placement than a static website. They often send through a copy of the doctored CV as proof.

What concerns me is the people or companies who have not contacted me, to be honest.


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 19:27
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Unfortunately, I do. Mar 31, 2014

Sarai Pahla wrote:

Roy Williams wrote:

Do you know if they actually used your CV?


Yes, I've been contacted by a number of companies over a 2 year period who have found the "real me", usually via my blog, which is updated very often and thus gets better Google placement than a static website. They often send through a copy of the doctored CV as proof.

What concerns me is the people or companies who have not contacted me, to be honest.


Yes, they actually use stolen CV's to get jobs, then pass them on to "self-proclaimed" translators or use MT, but charge as any translator in good standing does.

Last year I was contacted by a "client" of theirs who asked me why I had insisted on and accepted the advanced payment and then delivered a genuinely poor translation and refused to edit / correct it.

For one, I don't demand any advanced payment and second, I usually send my invoice along with the completed assignment, or at a different time based on my agreement with my client. And I always correct any possible errors - free of charge as part of the "service package".

This is the reason why my CV / business brochure is no longer available on the web.


 
Roy Williams
Roy Williams  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 19:27
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
Re: I do Apr 1, 2014

Well, so far I've no indication of my CV having been used. I hope, now that I've been alerted and have posted this information, they will be less inclined to do so. I've also taken my CV out of the public domain.

 
Tony M
Tony M
France
Local time: 19:27
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Stiil in caches Apr 1, 2014

Roy Williams wrote:

I've also taken my CV out of the public domain.


I did the same, Roy — or thought I had! Be aware, though, that your CV may well still appear in search results, as it may be in the cache of search engines like Google etc.

When I found that this was the situation in my own case, I tried very hard to get it deleted by Google; but they were no help at all and simply referred me back to ProZ.com as the host of the offending information, who in turn referred me back to Google; so I ended up just getting into a sort of vicious circle, and never did get any resolution.


 
Roy Williams
Roy Williams  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 19:27
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
Too bad Apr 2, 2014

Tony M wrote:

Roy Williams wrote:

I've also taken my CV out of the public domain.


I did the same, Roy — or thought I had! Be aware, though, that your CV may well still appear in search results, as it may be in the cache of search engines like Google etc.

When I found that this was the situation in my own case, I tried very hard to get it deleted by Google; but they were no help at all and simply referred me back to ProZ.com as the host of the offending information, who in turn referred me back to Google; so I ended up just getting into a sort of vicious circle, and never did get any resolution.


Well hopefully removing it from my profiles will at least make it more difficult to get. I may also update it with a photo. Perhaps my profile as well, although I do like my bridge.

Also, I sign my invoices with an electronic signature that has an imbedded security number, so if anyone tries to issue an invoice in my name, it will be easy to prove as a fake.

[Edited at 2014-04-02 11:53 GMT]


 


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