| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Overpayment SCAM from Egyptian guy Thread poster: Saori Komuro
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Saori Komuro 
Germany
Local time: 11:33
English to Japanese
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Hallo you all,
i'd like to share the scam I've experienced, that began from Proz's private message.
First, scammer sent me a request for quote via Proz. It was awkward from the beginning since the message was just one sentence :
"Hello,please kindly tell me your total cost per source word."
After asking for more details he sent me a 6-page word document in English, contract between football player and sports management company in NYC. Neither sports nor co... See more Hallo you all,
i'd like to share the scam I've experienced, that began from Proz's private message.
First, scammer sent me a request for quote via Proz. It was awkward from the beginning since the message was just one sentence :
"Hello,please kindly tell me your total cost per source word."
After asking for more details he sent me a 6-page word document in English, contract between football player and sports management company in NYC. Neither sports nor contract translation was my expertise... He asked the total cost including proof reading and again, I am not agency but just private freelancer.
Still I told him my estimation and he told it was ok for him. He then tried to know my address to pay before my submitting. He refused to use bank transaction and forced to proceed with sending money order. After a week or so, since he was so busy because of business trip abroad, he told that he has asked his assistant to arrange and send money order to me.
So i received Money Gram from "his assistant" who was supposed to be in NYC. The envelop did not show the sender's address and moreover the stamp was not American but Egyptian. The price of money order was 4 times more than what I asked; it was way too over-paid. Moreover clearly the money order was found to be fake due too poor printing quality and rough finishing... Poor guy.
I told them that I received the post. Soon he replied that his assistant made mistake and paid wrongly. Hence he asked me to change the money order into cash and transfer the rest of the money after deduction of fees of my translation and bank transaction, to an Egyptian translator in Cairo via Western Union.
I never thought myself to be getting in trouble by such an obvious way. Now that i'd say so but when thing was happening i was not aware at all. But it was too good to be true and i feel this way everything is so reasonable.
[Edited at 2013-11-28 08:11 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tim Friese
United States
Local time: 04:33
Member (2013)
Arabic to English
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| Yes, it's a scam and it's over | Nov 28, 2013 |
Yes, money orders are a major red flag as are his business trip, the few details, etc.; not surprised that your money order was fake. I hope you didn't try to cash it. Obviously, never offer to send an 'overpayment' back and certainly never ever before the original payment clears. I suspect you will never be paid for your translation - walk away now and be glad you didn't lose more!
| | | | | Just had the same... | Nov 30, 2013 |
... from a supposed US sport agent called Tom Novak.
I received the money order yesterday from Egypt. Exactly the same story with his assistant.
So yes, it is definitely a scam.
| | | | Saori Komuro
Germany
Local time: 11:33
English to Japanese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | exactly same | Nov 30, 2013 |
yes indeed, Novak Tom. did u receive the post from "Janet Brian on behalf of Novak Tom"?!
I didnt know till now but this scammer is named after a soccer player. Wondering how the player himself would ask for translation of management contract although neither player himself nor the management agency was Japanese... everything is found cheesy.
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Cermann (X)
Germany
Local time: 11:33
English to Japanese
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Yes, this guy and his assistant. I've had the same story, too..NY sport management, overpayment check from Cairo, please transfer the rest of money to his arabic interpreter, brahbrah..
[Edited at 2013-12-02 10:30 GMT]
[Edited at 2013-12-02 10:31 GMT]
| | | | Kazuya Maruta
Germany
Local time: 11:33
English to Japanese
+ ...
I didn't know this guy is such a scammer.
I had exactly the same experience as you guys here. Glad that I didn't cash it otherwise I would have to pay more.
| | | | Saori Komuro
Germany
Local time: 11:33
English to Japanese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
That already three people were found victim! I guess there are other silent victim in real...
I do hope this post would help would-be victim with noticing the trick of scam and that nobody would never have been to Money Gram, tho I doubt it works behind the counter...
| | | | Ana Reyes
Puerto Rico
Local time: 05:33
English to Spanish
+ ...
Thanks for the information.
I received two e-mails, in the same week, asking for my rates. One from Tom Novak (football players agent in NY) and another from Nigel Jennet (with an address from St. Charles MO). Both of them accepted, signed and returned the proposal. Both of them sent e-mails about their assistants were responsible to sent the money orders (before I sent them the final project?!)
Yesterday, I received a money order from Jennet's assistant (Ms. Bridget... See more Thanks for the information.
I received two e-mails, in the same week, asking for my rates. One from Tom Novak (football players agent in NY) and another from Nigel Jennet (with an address from St. Charles MO). Both of them accepted, signed and returned the proposal. Both of them sent e-mails about their assistants were responsible to sent the money orders (before I sent them the final project?!)
Yesterday, I received a money order from Jennet's assistant (Ms. Bridget Rohr) for $700 more than the amount I proposed. And I have not started the job yet. As soon as I saw the money order I noticed it was a scam.
I started looking for scam posts in PROz and I found all your comments! Thank your very much!
Lesson learned...
This link has information about what to do if you have been scammed: http://www.moneygram-preventfraud.com/faqs.asp
What is your recommendation to avoid these scams and to recognize a serious customer that really need our services? ▲ Collapse
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| Tom Novak Scam | Jan 2, 2014 |
Hello all:
As you said, I received the same scam for the same football player contract file. Now this guy is learning, because he waited until work was finished and then sent the Money Order from Moneygram, again, from Egypt. I got suspicious due to the extra money and the instructions to send money back. I looked him up in this website. Imagine my surprise by seeing these posts. Is there anyway to report this to the proper agency? Police, FBI or someone else? This has to stop. Time... See more Hello all:
As you said, I received the same scam for the same football player contract file. Now this guy is learning, because he waited until work was finished and then sent the Money Order from Moneygram, again, from Egypt. I got suspicious due to the extra money and the instructions to send money back. I looked him up in this website. Imagine my surprise by seeing these posts. Is there anyway to report this to the proper agency? Police, FBI or someone else? This has to stop. Time was invested on doing this fake job and get nothing in return.
Thank you very much for your support. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Linda Larsson (X)
Sweden
Local time: 11:33
Swedish to English
| Davis Adam is the name... | Jan 16, 2014 |
he is using with me. Everything looked ok until I asked how he would pay. Money order he said...and asked for my address. That's when I started looking here for clues. His company is "Excellence Sports Management" which is no where to be found. His e-mail is: [email protected].
Thank goodness for you people posting this!
/Linda
| | | | lena blondel
Sweden
Local time: 11:33
English to Swedish
+ ...
Same story here. I was suspicious from the beginning and searched for him on the net. Found a translator with his name in the UK but with a "proper" email address, not a gmail which included a "30". I also searched for his name on the Proz Blue Board, but found nothing. Two days ago I told him I would give him my US $ account no for payment, and asked him who he was (given the odd combination of having an account rep and a gmail address, etc). No answer. And now this page popped up when I op... See more Same story here. I was suspicious from the beginning and searched for him on the net. Found a translator with his name in the UK but with a "proper" email address, not a gmail which included a "30". I also searched for his name on the Proz Blue Board, but found nothing. Two days ago I told him I would give him my US $ account no for payment, and asked him who he was (given the odd combination of having an account rep and a gmail address, etc). No answer. And now this page popped up when I opened a "new tab"; I must have missed it when I did my search on the PBB. Exactly the same story! ▲ Collapse
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Davis Adam contacted me as well. Got his MoneyGram with overpayment Jan 20. in spite of the fact that I had given him my bank account details. (Luckily I had not started working on the job.) Mailed in Egypt. I am certain the money order is a fake, after having talked to MoneyGram Customer Service dept. and two other agencies that handle MoneyGram International Money Orders. Denise Shields and Danielle Johnson were names referred to in his mail, one his so called assistant, the other to receive t... See more Davis Adam contacted me as well. Got his MoneyGram with overpayment Jan 20. in spite of the fact that I had given him my bank account details. (Luckily I had not started working on the job.) Mailed in Egypt. I am certain the money order is a fake, after having talked to MoneyGram Customer Service dept. and two other agencies that handle MoneyGram International Money Orders. Denise Shields and Danielle Johnson were names referred to in his mail, one his so called assistant, the other to receive the overpayment, in reverse order. ▲ Collapse
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| Hilarious :) | Feb 12, 2014 |
Haha, I received the money gram this morning. The guy is using name Brown Juan Pablo, in my case.
| | | | Michèle Voyer
Switzerland
Local time: 11:33
Member (2008)
English to French
| victim of scam | Mar 15, 2014 |
Dear prozians,
I just discovered this discussion, unfortunately too late. I lost money, I was stupid enough to send money back through Western Union. I would like to know if someone has complained to the police. It is time to put an end to these criminal activities. I will go to local police, then denounce this person to the California police, as I sent money to someone in San José California. I would also need from the Proz staff the IP address used by this person on 20th January... See more Dear prozians,
I just discovered this discussion, unfortunately too late. I lost money, I was stupid enough to send money back through Western Union. I would like to know if someone has complained to the police. It is time to put an end to these criminal activities. I will go to local police, then denounce this person to the California police, as I sent money to someone in San José California. I would also need from the Proz staff the IP address used by this person on 20th January. Unfortunately, in the visits section of our profile, we can only go back 30 days. Can the management of Proz help us please? I will also contact the Western Union office here in Switzerland to let them know what happened. And my bank will help hopefully, if not by assuming a part of my loss. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Saori Komuro
Germany
Local time: 11:33
English to Japanese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
salut Michele,
i'm very sorry to hear it. I was checking all the email I received from scammer to notice that on the first email, IP address is displayed, as I quote below;
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You have been sent a message via ProZ.com.
Author: Novak Tom [NOTE: The author is not a registered ProZ.com user or was not logged in when sending this message.]
Author's IP address: 37.221.175.38
Message type: Request for quote
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I lo... See more salut Michele,
i'm very sorry to hear it. I was checking all the email I received from scammer to notice that on the first email, IP address is displayed, as I quote below;
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You have been sent a message via ProZ.com.
Author: Novak Tom [NOTE: The author is not a registered ProZ.com user or was not logged in when sending this message.]
Author's IP address: 37.221.175.38
Message type: Request for quote
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I looked up the address here (http://www.iputilities.net/) and found it represents L.A.., which is surprising to me because i believed the guy is from Egypt.
If you have also received same email and have not trashed it, you could compare with what you got.
I hope this would help...
[Edited at 2014-03-16 11:26 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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