A scam? Thread poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
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Yesterday I received a very interesting email from an agency (not through Proz although they are on Proz):
“Good afternoon,
I got your contact from CNTPIC - Cadastro Nacional as I am looking for a Portuguese to English translator specialised in pharmaceutical/medical fields for an immediate project.
I work for xxxx. We are a global business operating in 89 countries and teach and translate 47 languages for both private and corporate customers.
We have an opportu... See more Yesterday I received a very interesting email from an agency (not through Proz although they are on Proz):
“Good afternoon,
I got your contact from CNTPIC - Cadastro Nacional as I am looking for a Portuguese to English translator specialised in pharmaceutical/medical fields for an immediate project.
I work for xxxx. We are a global business operating in 89 countries and teach and translate 47 languages for both private and corporate customers.
We have an opportunity where we need to send our prices for simple translations. If we win the project, we expect a steady stream of translations, mainly relating to immigration.
Are you interested in working with us on this project?
If yes, please let me know the following:
- Charge per word for translation.
- If you provide proofreading services, please also provide a fee per word.
- Confirmation of expertise in the pharmaceutical/medical fields.
- If you provide other language, like Spanish, also please do let us know.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards”
Interesting why? First of all, they say they got my contacts from CNTPIC where I can’t be listed as I’m not a Brazilian sworn translator (I’m Portuguese). Then, they say they expect a “steady stream of translations, mainly relating to immigration” and for that project they need someone with “an expertise in the pharmaceutical/medical fields”. Is there a relation between immigration and medicine? As I can’t say their name, it starts with Bi and it was mentioned in a post on the 16th Feb this year…
P.S. I'm not sure this is a scam attempt, but I couldn't find another place to post this... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | When in doubt.... | Jun 10, 2023 |
.... ask
Could be perfectly reasonable explanation e.g. they started their search on CNTPIC and they just copy/pasted their email.
Always helpful to know where someone found you anyway, just so you know which aspects of your marketing are getting results.
I know nothing about the subject areas but as a layman, I imagine migrants interact with medical services, so that doesn't seem too suspici... See more .... ask
Could be perfectly reasonable explanation e.g. they started their search on CNTPIC and they just copy/pasted their email.
Always helpful to know where someone found you anyway, just so you know which aspects of your marketing are getting results.
I know nothing about the subject areas but as a layman, I imagine migrants interact with medical services, so that doesn't seem too suspicious on the face of it.
But gut feeling is always important, I think.
(Although at the same time, it doesn't do to imagine every unsollicited approach is someone out to drain your bank account!) ▲ Collapse
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I asked, I had no answer to my question and a few hours later I received another email with a very similar content from the same agency, signed by another PM, saying that they had found me on ATA (fine, I’m there) and on ITI (I’m not there). Both times they said they needed a PT-EN translator and I only translate the other way around. Let’s see what happens next…
[Edited at 2023-06-10 12:25 GMT]
The second email:
“Good afternoon,
I got your... See more I asked, I had no answer to my question and a few hours later I received another email with a very similar content from the same agency, signed by another PM, saying that they had found me on ATA (fine, I’m there) and on ITI (I’m not there). Both times they said they needed a PT-EN translator and I only translate the other way around. Let’s see what happens next…
[Edited at 2023-06-10 12:25 GMT]
The second email:
“Good afternoon,
I got your contact from ATA and ITI’s websites as I am looking for a Portuguese to English legal translator and proofreader for an immediate project.
I work for xxxx. We are a global business operating in 89 countries and teach and translate 47 languages for both private and corporate customers.
We have an opportunity to participate in a tender where we need to send our prices for legal translations. If we win the project, we expect a steady stream of translations for an estimated 750 pages per year, mainly relating to financial/economic fields.
There may be a hands-on test as part of the tender (between July 3rd and July 6th). You will receive the document on July 3rd and must upload it on July 6th. These tests will be paid.
Computer translation (partially or totally) is not allowed
Are you interested in working with us on this project?
If yes, you must provide/confirmed the following:
- Updated CV (make sure it has full name, city you are based in, phone number, etc.).
- Diploma/Certificate/Proof of mastery-level command of English (C2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages)
- Translation, linguistic and technical research competence in the source language for which you provide services.
- A minimum of two years’ professional experience translating legal texts into English from the source language for which their services are offered. Please provide a sample of any legal translation done by you.
- Charge per word for translation and proofreading.
- If you provide other language pairs, also please do let us know.
I look forward to hearing from you”
[Edited at 2023-06-10 12:59 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 14:41
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
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Saying that they found your contacts from CNTPIC (Cadastro Nacional de Tradutores Públicos e Intérpretes Comerciais) in Brazil is, for me, already suspicious and not very smart if they are in fact acting in bad faith...
"A global business operating in 89 countries and teach and translate 47 languages" and still doesn't know the difference between European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese?
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IrinaN
United States
Local time: 08:41
English to Russian
+ ...
| Very "scammish" | Jun 10, 2023 |
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
Yesterday I received a very interesting email from an agency (not through Proz although they are on Proz):
“Good afternoon,
They found your contact but didn't bother to address you by name. This would speak volumes to me. A quick duplicate follow-up signed by another PM most likely means that you are dealing with yet another automated fishing net, since by responding you've confirmed that your email is alive and belongs to you, and you are indeed an active translator, a.k.a. the right target. If you have some time on your hands, you could play along until they slip because being a professional like you are, you'll detect it immediately.
As far as immigration is concerned, everyone crossing the border legally must answer some medical questions and pass some tests. However, I wouldn't expect it to be a major part of translation related to immigration, that could deliver any serious, steady volumes. Interpretation could be a different story.
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Well, I suspect this would be a case not ascribing to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
Assuming, that is, that, while definitely not upstanding pillars of the community, and undoubtedly slimeballs and scumbags of the highest order, and while harmful to the profession their continued existence certainly is (why oh why oh why etc. do people still work for them?) if it's who I think it might be, they're not actually outright fraudsters as such. Just poisonous ... See more Well, I suspect this would be a case not ascribing to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
Assuming, that is, that, while definitely not upstanding pillars of the community, and undoubtedly slimeballs and scumbags of the highest order, and while harmful to the profession their continued existence certainly is (why oh why oh why etc. do people still work for them?) if it's who I think it might be, they're not actually outright fraudsters as such. Just poisonous vermin the elimination of which would make the world an ever so slightly better place. ▲ Collapse
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What email address did the email come from? Was it a free domain or a one of a real company with a typo?
It could also be interesting to compare the IP with the location of the purported company.
The fact you got the same emails with just different databases named may imho be an indication that they're templates bought on the darknet, used by different scammers or by the same, particularly dumb, one.
In any case, I smell fish, would just ignore.
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I ignored them, of course, and asked them to delete my name from their database (so far, I haven’t been contacted again). Answering your questions: Yes, they have a real company email and the IP address is located in Spain and so is the agency. I’d say this is more a case of a highly disorganized and incompetent agency than a scam, but who knows?
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