Potential scam???
Thread poster: Jaime Russell
Jaime Russell
Jaime Russell  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:55
English to Spanish
+ ...
Jul 7, 2020

Hi everyone,
I'm writing to see if anyone has received a similar email, because with the details listed below I haven't found anything here on ProZ yet.
If it is a scam, and it is sent around to more translators, then I guess I'll lay the groundwork for others to detect it.

It was email from ana magarida 1983 @ gmail (and yes, the spelling of the second name is as it appears in the email, it's not my typo, which caused me to doubt it a bit, but it is a region in Papua N
... See more
Hi everyone,
I'm writing to see if anyone has received a similar email, because with the details listed below I haven't found anything here on ProZ yet.
If it is a scam, and it is sent around to more translators, then I guess I'll lay the groundwork for others to detect it.

It was email from ana magarida 1983 @ gmail (and yes, the spelling of the second name is as it appears in the email, it's not my typo, which caused me to doubt it a bit, but it is a region in Papua New Guinea) requesting an EN>ES translation. When I asked to see the doc "she" sent me an English FDA document on Covid-19 and medical devices.

I know the FDA has things translated into a bunch of different languages (I'm assuming through agencies, but I guess it could be internal translators) so I asked about that. And "she" stated it wasn't officially for/from the FDA, it was just for a client who wants the information in Spanish. Spidey sense is tingling...My bureaucratic mind is already on fire with all sorts of legal questions...but anyway...

Something in common with other confirmed scams I've seen is there is ZERO capitalization (not the names associated with the email account, "I" nor the first letter of the sentences...) or punctuation. Generally just an annoying thing to read.

Since "she" reached out to me, I asked where "she" is located and where "her" end client is located.

Waiting to hear back as of the timing of this email

If anything changes, I'll update my post.
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Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 11:55
Danish to English
+ ...
Gmail: 99% probability it's a scam Jul 7, 2020

This looks like the countless similar scams that have been reported here through the years.

If you can't verify that such a request has been sent from a legitimate company's official domain, there is only one thing to do: hit the Delete button.


Tina Vonhof (X)
Liviu-Lee Roth
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:55
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Some thoughts Jul 7, 2020

Jaime Russell wrote:
It was email from ana magarida 1983 @ gmail (and yes, the spelling of the second name is as it appears in the email, it's not my typo, which caused me to doubt it a bit, but it is a region in Papua New Guinea) requesting an EN>ES translation.

Gmail accounts including numbers do seem popular with scammers and unpopular with professionals. And although I sometimes mistype Sheila, it is strange to have an email address with your own name spelt wrongly.

When I asked to see the doc "she" sent me an English FDA document on Covid-19 and medical devices.

It would be interesting to find out if it's already online in Spanish. These things often are. Also, they all seem to be similar length files if this is the common -- but updated -- "advance payment" scam.

The clincher, of course, will be if "she" insists on sending an advance payment. As you're in the US, that would probably mean you'd receive a cheque in the post; in the EU the bank receives a cheque for deposit to your bank account. It will be for a huge amount -- a mistake, of course. You present the cheque but before it clears you send the surplus amount to some third party. You are then down any time you spent on this scammer plus the amount you refund, as the cheque will turn out to be a dud.


Yolanda Broad
Jessica Noyes
Tina Vonhof (X)
Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Patricia Ramos
Patricia Ramos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 12:55
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
+ ...
I received it, too. Jul 8, 2020

Hi, I also received the same, or similar, email. Googling the name does not make me suspect the spelling, since it could be Portuguese, I think. But I do suspect the translation of an FDA document, too. I'll answer her too, and will let you know if/what she answers, as I hope you will, too. I'd like to know if it is actually a scam, though it does smell like one.

Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Jaime Russell
Jaime Russell  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:55
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... Jul 8, 2020

I have not heard anything back after asking for "her" location.
Definitely a scam and "she" smelled I was smelling something fishy...


 
Anna Tridente
Anna Tridente
United States
English to Spanish
+ ...
I also received the email from this woman Jul 8, 2020

She actually sent me the document, a PDF about Covid-19 but you can find information in Spanish about Covid-19 on the US FDA website. The "Italian" last name is spelled incorrectly, I am Italian so I know. Her emails have come in at about 5 am my time, and no response until the next day at about the same time. This person is definitely not located in the US. Definitely a scam!

Update:
I asked to be paid by Paypal (50% in advance) and the response is: Hello my bank can only a
... See more
She actually sent me the document, a PDF about Covid-19 but you can find information in Spanish about Covid-19 on the US FDA website. The "Italian" last name is spelled incorrectly, I am Italian so I know. Her emails have come in at about 5 am my time, and no response until the next day at about the same time. This person is definitely not located in the US. Definitely a scam!

Update:
I asked to be paid by Paypal (50% in advance) and the response is: Hello my bank can only allow wire transfer or cashiers check
Definitely a scam!


[Edited at 2020-07-08 22:27 GMT]
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Arianne Farah
Arianne Farah  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 07:55
Member (2008)
English to French
Seems like it's making the rounds again Feb 16, 2021

Got the same message through my Proz profile.

Posting the message here so that it can 'pop' and help others find it if they search for it :

Hello

i am Ana Margarida , a Senior Economist Development Research
Group in the Trade and International Integration Unit of the
Development Research Group, i need you to arrange this
public health research to French kindly revert so you can go
through the job and counts and get back to me on when
... See more
Got the same message through my Proz profile.

Posting the message here so that it can 'pop' and help others find it if they search for it :

Hello

i am Ana Margarida , a Senior Economist Development Research
Group in the Trade and International Integration Unit of the
Development Research Group, i need you to arrange this
public health research to French kindly revert so you can go
through the job and counts and get back to me on when you
can deliver it and how much it will cost.

[email protected]

Thanks for your time

Ana
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Potential scam???







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