Possible translation job scam with bitcoin payment Thread poster: Maddalena Battilana
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Hello dear colleagues,
I recently received via Proz.com an email from a @protonmail.com address offering a 5,000 word EN to IT translation job. The proposer introduced himself as working for a registered UK company (they also named the company's registration number, which can be verified online), and mentioned that the translation was for his boss's presentation and that he wasn't a Proz user. The text was an old article from the late 1990s-early 2000s about the implications of EU m... See more Hello dear colleagues,
I recently received via Proz.com an email from a @protonmail.com address offering a 5,000 word EN to IT translation job. The proposer introduced himself as working for a registered UK company (they also named the company's registration number, which can be verified online), and mentioned that the translation was for his boss's presentation and that he wasn't a Proz user. The text was an old article from the late 1990s-early 2000s about the implications of EU membership for Finnish national security.
The odd thing about this task was that payment had to be in cryptocurrency, the amount was comparatively high and it was made in advance. The proposer said "I provide full support in receiving the payment and converting it into fiat currency into your bank account or PayPal." He said "I use this wallet [name of wallet]. You can register now and send me wallet Bitcoin address".
I went through with this and found that Bitcoin were deposited to my new wallet. However, in order to withdraw them I had to make a deposit to verify the withdrawal account. This should be pretty normal procedure with online brokers for anti-money laundering reasons, so I wasn't suspicious.
The deposit had to be in Bitcoin or Tether (250$). So I created an account on Binance and made a deposit in Tether from there. The deposit wasn't successful. They told me I had used a wrong address (which could make sense considering how their platform is structured) and that I had to make a further 250$ deposit, after which my initial 250$ would be credited to my account. I didn't go through with this because I'm not sure I can trust this whole process.
At every step of the way, this might or might not be a scam. The wallet is a fairly new platform and doesn't allow one to convert crypto into normal currency. What do you think?
Thank you in advance for any advice or information you can give.
Best, ▲ Collapse
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Zea_Mays 
Italy
Local time: 21:43
Member (2009)
English to German
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| the other way round: | Mar 16 |
What does this job offer have that does not smell like a scam?
- Working for a registered company but using a free email address?
- Paying
-- upfront?
-- more than common rates?
- Payment in crypto?
I would report the sender to the ProZ staff. You'll find other cases in these forums related to crypto currencies and "deposits" to be made in order to "verify something". That deposit is what the scammers aim for.
[Bearbeitet am 2024-03-16 18... See more What does this job offer have that does not smell like a scam?
- Working for a registered company but using a free email address?
- Paying
-- upfront?
-- more than common rates?
- Payment in crypto?
I would report the sender to the ProZ staff. You'll find other cases in these forums related to crypto currencies and "deposits" to be made in order to "verify something". That deposit is what the scammers aim for.
[Bearbeitet am 2024-03-16 18:45 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Crypto exchanges normally just ask for your ID and video recording for KYC purposes, not for a $250 deposit in BTC or Tether.
Some people just create fake exchanges and scam people with such bogus requirements.
You're lucky that your transfer did not go through and I would highly recommend not trying again.
[Edited at 2024-03-17 00:41 GMT]
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Maddalena Battilana wrote:
The deposit wasn't successful. They told me I had used a wrong address (which could make sense considering how their platform is structured)
I am hoping that you chose the wrong network to send USDT and your $250 was returned to Binance.
Exchanges/wallets that ask for a crypto deposit for ID verification are unfortunately scams.
If you transfer funds to these fake exchanges, you lose it all. These are just websites meant to look like a regular crypto exchange, but in reality they are only there to trick people into sending crypto to the scammers' wallets and disappear shortly afterwards.
[Edited at 2024-03-17 22:25 GMT]
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Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 21:43
German to Swedish
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Maddalena Battilana wrote:
...this might or might not be a scam.
No. It's a scam. There's not even the slightest doubt about it.
Registered companies don't pay in bitcoin.
They don't do procurement involving deposits by suppliers.
Nor do they order translations of decades-old articles.
Anybody can look up and use a company registration number. The number as such proves nothing.
[Bearbeitet am 2024-03-17 12:33 GMT]
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Bitcoin should not be used for payments. Ask someone who lives in El Salvador, where bitcoin, along with the US dollar, is legal tender.
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Ellyde
Portugal
Local time: 20:43
Spanish
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| Possible Job SCAM with Bitcoin Payment - IT IS A SCAM! | Mar 21 |
I received the same translation request from the same person on Monday.
After the formalities, they sent the files for translation - same Finland document. Then they wanted to make the inicial payment in the same way, but I wrote back apoligising if I was wrong, that I found their request very unusual and that there were several red flags.
Never heard from them again!
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Julian Zhang
United States
Local time: 12:43
Chinese to English
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| Used to work in crypto; yes, this is a scam. | Mar 21 |
I used to work in crypto/blockchain and can confirm it's a scam. Sorry this happened to you--I would assume the "deposit" money you put in is gone.
There are a number of ways crypto scams work, ranging from quite simple to complex and clever enough even highly experienced industry professionals almost fall for them. In general, I wouldn't recommend anyone not highly experienced in crypto and all the ways crypto scams can happen to accept crypto payment.
[Edited at 2024-03-21... See more I used to work in crypto/blockchain and can confirm it's a scam. Sorry this happened to you--I would assume the "deposit" money you put in is gone.
There are a number of ways crypto scams work, ranging from quite simple to complex and clever enough even highly experienced industry professionals almost fall for them. In general, I wouldn't recommend anyone not highly experienced in crypto and all the ways crypto scams can happen to accept crypto payment.
[Edited at 2024-03-21 23:20 GMT]
[Edited at 2024-03-21 23:20 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Possible translation job scam with bitcoin payment
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