BEWARE: Wordminds impersonator
Thread poster: Ramunas Kontrimas
Ramunas Kontrimas
Ramunas Kontrimas  Identity Verified
Lithuania
Local time: 21:47
English to Lithuanian
+ ...
Sep 10, 2019

Beware of apparently legit emails with translation offers from Wordminds agency!

I have received one, signed by a genuine Wordminds manager but from a gmail account [email protected].

I'm going to notify the end client as well.

[Edited at 2019-09-10 10:24 GMT]


Travod International
Yolanda Broad
Wordminds
Christopher Smith (X)
 
Wordminds
Wordminds
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:47
Member (2014)
English to German
+ ...
Sep 11, 2019

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It is indeed unfortunate and we've recently been notified that someone is unfaithfully using our name and signature and offers translation projects to linguists.

It is NOT us. We are never using Gmail accounts, all our projects are coming from corporate emails. Please do not take those jobs.
We are already working on the identification and reporting to the competent authorities.

Thank you.

[Edited at 2019-09-12 06:
... See more
Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It is indeed unfortunate and we've recently been notified that someone is unfaithfully using our name and signature and offers translation projects to linguists.

It is NOT us. We are never using Gmail accounts, all our projects are coming from corporate emails. Please do not take those jobs.
We are already working on the identification and reporting to the competent authorities.

Thank you.

[Edited at 2019-09-12 06:47 GMT]
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Julie Barber
Christopher Smith (X)
Sarmite Barvika
 
William Boletta
William Boletta  Identity Verified
United States
Member (2012)
German to English
+ ...
I was also the victim of a scam Oct 14, 2019

I also did two translations for this scammer who used a fake email address: wordminds.translations@ gmail.com

The alleged Project Manager used the name Dorina Josan. This was one of the many names in a PDF listing scammers.

I did another job related to this one for a Belgian company that was also a scam. The scammers stole the actual company's identity and used a fake email address.

All told, I lost over €500 to these evil people.

I will neve
... See more
I also did two translations for this scammer who used a fake email address: wordminds.translations@ gmail.com

The alleged Project Manager used the name Dorina Josan. This was one of the many names in a PDF listing scammers.

I did another job related to this one for a Belgian company that was also a scam. The scammers stole the actual company's identity and used a fake email address.

All told, I lost over €500 to these evil people.

I will never again do work for anyone who does not connect with me via a PROZ posting.

Beware!
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Christopher Smith (X)
 
Ramunas Kontrimas
Ramunas Kontrimas  Identity Verified
Lithuania
Local time: 21:47
English to Lithuanian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
how do they get the projects? Oct 14, 2019

I just wonder how do they get hold of these projects that appear legit? They get them from somewhere - what kind of agency or end-client would work with them?

 
IrinaN
IrinaN
United States
Local time: 14:47
English to Russian
+ ...
Ramunas, they don't get any "projects" Oct 14, 2019

And they don't need any translations or translators.

They get those texts from the open Internet sources. Those texts are no one's "projects", just texts. Often translated into many languages already. They've learned to pick interesting and hot international subjects, fairly simple meaning not highly technical, to lure in more people. A great deal of modern translators firmly believe that anything that has no quantum mechanics involved is easy...
See more
And they don't need any translations or translators.

They get those texts from the open Internet sources. Those texts are no one's "projects", just texts. Often translated into many languages already. They've learned to pick interesting and hot international subjects, fairly simple meaning not highly technical, to lure in more people. A great deal of modern translators firmly believe that anything that has no quantum mechanics involved is easy, and the scammers got that too. People manage to believe that they could be selected for the highest rates with 2 years of greetings and post cards experience or no experience/portfolio at all, and then they give banking data upon a first request in the email from a stranger. Really...

All they want is your money. Thru overpayment scams, fake software purchase etc etc. When you translation arrives, it serves one purpose only - another burst of hyena laugh before it goes to a trash bin. If they bother at all...
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Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Julie Barber
Julie Barber  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:47
French to English
Always pay attention to details Oct 16, 2019

Wordminds wrote:

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It is indeed unfortunate and we've recently been notified that someone is unfaithfully using our name and signature and offers translation projects to linguists.

It is NOT us. We are never using Gmail accounts, all our projects are coming from corporate emails. Please do not take those jobs.
We are already working on the identification and reporting to the competent authorities.

Thank you.

[Edited at 2019-09-12 06:47 GMT]


Sorry to see that this is happening to you. I used to work for a large French group and there were various attempts to impersonate the company. Some fraudsters used email addresses that were not dissimilar to ours, in an attempt to embezzle funds from clients. It usually involved telling our clients that we had changed our bank account details. SO, if you ever have any form of supplier who emails or even writes on letter headed paper to ask you to use "new" bank details, always make sure that you call them and speak to your regular contact before making any payment!

I think that we should be very careful with the "details" - gmail accounts, strange email signatures - anything that looks odd, check it out!

[Edited at 2019-10-16 10:37 GMT]


Sheila Wilson
Liviu-Lee Roth
 
etimea
etimea
Hungary
Local time: 20:47
English to Hungarian
+ ...
NEW SCAM ALERT!!! Oct 19, 2019

Scammers are trying to fool you.

Please be aware I this if you have a request from the [email protected]
email address.

It’s the same story than usually:
not a proz member
10.000+ words
no invoice needed
upfront payment but only cashier check or bank certified check
google phone number and fake address
price was accepted immediately
asking for bank infos asap.
... See more
Scammers are trying to fool you.

Please be aware I this if you have a request from the [email protected]
email address.

It’s the same story than usually:
not a proz member
10.000+ words
no invoice needed
upfront payment but only cashier check or bank certified check
google phone number and fake address
price was accepted immediately
asking for bank infos asap...
etc.


Don’t waste your precious time
———————

Hello, I'm contacting you in regard to an English content
document worth 11,800 words (60 Pages). I need this document
translated into Hungarian. I would like to know if you are interested to get
this done for me. Please get back to me as soon as you can
via email ([email protected]). Thank you.

———————

Hello , I'm pleased to know you are interested in handling this project. However, I will require your service to translate the attached English document. In the mean time, could you also confirm your charges per page, per source word or for the entire translation? The deadline for this Project is 1 month starting from 22/October/2019.Finally, I'm proposing a cashier check or bank certified check for the payment. Please do not hesitate to confirm if this is okay with you? I look forward to reading from you soon.

Best Regards

——————

Hello , Thank you for getting back. I quite agree with your price quote and i am willing to pay for your service. This project is a research paper being sponsor for a seminar coming up soon, so I would like to make an advance payment or make the full payment so you know you have my job with you. In the mean time, do get back to me with the following payment information in the format below.

1. Full Name to be written on the Check

2. Full Physical Address:

3. Mobile number

Your payment will be prepared once I have the requested details. Payment will be received before you send the document. Get back to me asap.



Regards


Daniel Smith
4612 County Rd 616 #3
Alvarado, TX 76009, USA
(682) 207-4076
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Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Mihai Badea (X)
Mihai Badea (X)
Luxembourg
Local time: 20:47
English to Romanian
+ ...
Warning Oct 20, 2019

Dear colleagues,


I would like to make you aware of a characteristic of cPanel and other content management systems. If your package allows add-on domains, it is possible to (re)create virtually any email address in the world.

Do you want to send an email using the official email box of the President of United States of America? You can do it!

Some of you might think: "Wow, this is a terrible vulnerability!". No, dear colleagues, this is a feature!... See more
Dear colleagues,


I would like to make you aware of a characteristic of cPanel and other content management systems. If your package allows add-on domains, it is possible to (re)create virtually any email address in the world.

Do you want to send an email using the official email box of the President of United States of America? You can do it!

Some of you might think: "Wow, this is a terrible vulnerability!". No, dear colleagues, this is a feature!

***

This will probably not be of much use, since replies to messages from such forged email addresses will go to the actual owners. Maybe that's why it is a feature, and not a vulnerability.


[Edited at 2019-10-20 05:24 GMT]
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Christopher Smith (X)
Christopher Smith (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:47
Dutch to English
I got scammed too Oct 21, 2019

Unfortunately, I was also scammed by this impersonator last month. When I sent the invoice, I received a delivery failure message saying that the address wordminds.translations:gmail.com does not exist. I will also check the Blue Board and email addresses more carefully in future before accepting job offers, and I wish the genuine company every success in tracking down the impersonator.

 
Daryo
Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:47
Serbian to English
+ ...
An important detail ... Oct 22, 2019

Christopher Smith wrote:

Unfortunately, I was also scammed by this impersonator last month. When I sent the invoice, I received a delivery failure message saying that the address wordminds.translations:gmail.com does not exist. I will also check the Blue Board and email addresses more carefully in future before accepting job offers, and I wish the genuine company every success in tracking down the impersonator.


Was the text you translated a "real" one - in the sense that it might be actually really needed by someone? Can you see from the translated text which are companies that could have been the real / actual end client?

If yes, it wasn't a "fake cheque / overpayment scam" it was another kind of scam - getting a real(ly needed) translation for nothing,

You do have a starting point in finding these imposters: the company who really needed the translation.




[Edited at 2019-10-22 12:37 GMT]


 
Ramunas Kontrimas
Ramunas Kontrimas  Identity Verified
Lithuania
Local time: 21:47
English to Lithuanian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
if you're right Oct 22, 2019

Daryo wrote:

Christopher Smith wrote:

Unfortunately, I was also scammed by this impersonator last month. When I sent the invoice, I received a delivery failure message saying that the address wordminds.translations:gmail.com does not exist. I will also check the Blue Board and email addresses more carefully in future before accepting job offers, and I wish the genuine company every success in tracking down the impersonator.


Was the text you translated a "real" one - in the sense that it might be actually really needed by someone? Can you see from the translated text which are companies that could have been the real / actual end client?

If yes, it wasn't a "fake cheque / overpayment scam" it was another kind of scam - getting a real(ly needed) translation for nothing,

You do have a starting point in finding these imposters: the company who really needed the translation.




[Edited at 2019-10-22 12:37 GMT]


Then how did a no-name land a real project in the first place?


Yolanda Broad
 
Daryo
Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:47
Serbian to English
+ ...
The answer is pretty obvious .... Oct 25, 2019

Ramunas Kontrimas wrote:

Daryo wrote:

Christopher Smith wrote:

Unfortunately, I was also scammed by this impersonator last month. When I sent the invoice, I received a delivery failure message saying that the address wordminds.translations:gmail.com does not exist. I will also check the Blue Board and email addresses more carefully in future before accepting job offers, and I wish the genuine company every success in tracking down the impersonator.


Was the text you translated a "real" one - in the sense that it might be actually really needed by someone? Can you see from the translated text which are companies that could have been the real / actual end client?

If yes, it wasn't a "fake cheque / overpayment scam" it was another kind of scam - getting a real(ly needed) translation for nothing,

You do have a starting point in finding these imposters: the company who really needed the translation.




[Edited at 2019-10-22 12:37 GMT]


Then how did a no-name land a real project in the first place?


The answer is pretty obvious: behind the "no-name" is hiding someone "real" who does really need the translation, for themselves or for someone else who will pay for it.


 
Thiago Masato Costa Sueto
Thiago Masato Costa Sueto  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 16:47
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Scammers now use the real domain as well. Dec 14, 2020

I've come by what seems to be a scam with someone impersonating Wordminds too.

The impersonator was using an actual @wordminds.com domain, claiming to be Dorina Josan.

In my case, a few things were strange:
* The requested translation sample was cut out and had obvious mistakes as though it were done by a translation machine;
* The profile picture seemed to be a digital picture rather than a photo;
* Their signature clearly mentioned being a vendor man
... See more
I've come by what seems to be a scam with someone impersonating Wordminds too.

The impersonator was using an actual @wordminds.com domain, claiming to be Dorina Josan.

In my case, a few things were strange:
* The requested translation sample was cut out and had obvious mistakes as though it were done by a translation machine;
* The profile picture seemed to be a digital picture rather than a photo;
* Their signature clearly mentioned being a vendor manager (not an expected recruiter position);
* They said: "Let us know how low would you go with your rate, considering a high
volume and a similar content." after a reply mentioning rates.

I initially (naïvely) trusted the original email since the domain was correct as per this topic and the company was shown over the BlueBoard, but after noticing these strange things I checked the translator-scammers.com website and the said email ([email protected]) was listed there.

In summary, scammers are not only using gmail accounts, but also domain spoofing.

There are 29 other scam emails with the true domain name as shown in the translator scammers website: http://www.translator-scammers.com/translator-scammers-emails.htm

Unfortunately I ended up showing them my CV, but thankfully I noticed the issue early.
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Natalie
Natalie  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 20:47
Member (2002)
English to Russian
+ ...

MODERATOR
SITE LOCALIZER
You need also Dec 15, 2020

pay attention not only to the sender's email (which may be correct, no need of spoofing) but also to the "reply-to" address which may be fake.

Liviu-Lee Roth
 


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BEWARE: Wordminds impersonator







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