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Another unauthorised directory listing - lingvopoint.com
Thread poster: Chosana Thanabhumi
Paulinho Fonseca
Paulinho Fonseca  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 22:14
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
I totally agree with you.... Nov 16, 2014

Andrea Halbritter wrote:

Maybe we should inform the police as well?


 
Tiago Neto
Tiago Neto  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:14
English to Portuguese
+ ...
taking action - DMCA notices to hosting services and pressing charges Nov 16, 2014

I have sent DMCA notices to the hosting services and an immediate take down request. I will be pressing charges for identity theft if I'm still there by tomorrow evening.

 
Teresa Bento
Teresa Bento  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 01:14
English to Portuguese
+ ...
This is outrageous! Nov 16, 2014

it's definitely my ProZ.com profile photo and my name, but other than that, everything is made up. How can I stop this and most importantly, what can I do in order to stop it?

 
Jennifer Levey
Jennifer Levey  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 22:14
Spanish to English
+ ...
For want of a better expression, the scammer's 'Business logic' Nov 16, 2014

Andrea Halbritter wrote:
What is this scam exactly like?
Just discovered that if I was a paying member I could send a message to my stolen profile and had a look at their payment conditions. Here is a copy:

A PRO Account – 15 USD per month
You get a status that marks you out in comparison with other translators. A PRO account provides you with the following benefits:
the first place in the list of users,
you can see the contact information of users, and
users can see your contact information.
Special placement on the home page – USD 15
Your profile is advertised on the home page of the website.
Special placement of the project on the "front page" – USD 30 per month
Your project will be pin posted on the home page for one month (or during the paid period)
Special placement of the project as "the first in the list" – USD 15 per month
In the section "find a job", your project will be higher than projects placed for free. The service is provided for one month (or during the paid period)
Mailing information about a project – USD 5 per month
(...)
I wonder whether they do this by earning a maximum of money by all these fees above or will they also sell translations and tell customers we (our false profiles) have done them?


The business logic is, let's say, obscure. Not the least because they make no proper distinction between service providers (translators/interpreters) and clients.

On the 'client' page of the website, it says (quote): "Work with translators with no middlemen".

They presumably say that because, until a client has 'bitten the bait' and bought a translation, there's nothing (= no commission, no money) for lingvopoint to take.

But in fact, if we take the information passed on by Andrea at face value, they ARE setting themselves up as a 'middleman' - and a pretty expensive one at that.

For both translators/interpreters and for potential clients, they offer virtually no marketing support UNLESS you sign up as as 'PRO', for the 'modest'(?) sum of 15 USD.

For clients, on a 'per project' basis (= on every job a client advertises through the site) they take the amounts listed by Andrea :

Special placement on the home page – USD 15
Special placement of the project on the "front page" – USD 30 per month
Special placement of the project as "the first in the list" – USD 15 per month
Mailing information about a project – USD 5 per month

Total: up to 65 USD 'per job' - which will be DEDUCTED FROM YOUR FEE as a translator/interpreter - for the 'privilege' of having YOUR CLIENT's job displayed prominently on THEIR website.

I imagine those 'per month' fees are minimum rates, despite the fact that the vast majority of translation 'projects' (= 'jobs') have to be placed within hours and completed within days.

It is not stated, but can be inferred, that similar surcharges apply to service providers who want 'special placement' on the website.

There are numerous other anomolies in the conditions:
- "the first place in the list of users"
How many users can be in "the first place"?

- "You can see the contact information of users", and
- "Users can see your contact information"

So, if you are not a 'PRO' user you can never know who you're working for? And the client can never know who did the translation? What about NDAs, complaints, accountability, non-payment problems, ... ?

Those conditions merely confirm my first impression: this website has been put together by an IT geek with zero understanding of languages, and who has nothing to offer in terms of 'added value', merely for the purpose of SIPHONING OFF a (large) part of YOUR INCOME as a translator/interpretor.

How long does a translator's barge-pole need to be these days?

RL

PS: If I have mis-understood anything about lingvopoint's terms, I invite someone from that enterprise to come to this forum and explain.


 
Paulinho Fonseca
Paulinho Fonseca  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 22:14
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Have you copied the link for your profiles? Nov 16, 2014

Teresa Bento wrote:

it's definitely my ProZ.com profile photo and my name, but other than that, everything is made up. How can I stop this and most importantly, what can I do in order to stop it?




When you do that, it takes you to the profile of a woman. I haven't changed that much!




 
Paulinho Fonseca
Paulinho Fonseca  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 22:14
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Be aware... Nov 16, 2014

Paulinho Fonseca wrote:

Teresa Bento wrote:

it's definitely my ProZ.com profile photo and my name, but other than that, everything is made up. How can I stop this and most importantly, what can I do in order to stop it?




When you do that, it takes you to the profile of a woman. I haven't changed that much!









I was also thinking that it might be a way to steal more info if we keep accessing the links...Don't you think?


 
Tiago Neto
Tiago Neto  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:14
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Lateral course of action Nov 16, 2014

Well, since people are on weekend wherever ProZ is run from, I took a look at their front page, where some famous corporate logos are prominent. I am tweeting every single one of them pointing out that their brand is on the frontage of a site committing ID theft.

#setlingvopointmonfire

[Edited at 2014-11-16 01:46 GMT]


 
Paulinho Fonseca
Paulinho Fonseca  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 22:14
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
How do we know where the website is from? Nov 16, 2014

Tiago Neto wrote:

Well, since people are on weekend wherever ProZ is run from, I took a look at their front page, where some famous corporate logos are prominent. I am tweeting every single one of them pointing out that their brand is on the frontage of a site committing ID theft.

#setthemonfire


 
Tiago Neto
Tiago Neto  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:14
English to Portuguese
+ ...
WHOIS Nov 16, 2014

Paulinho, from Whois it looks like it is being hosted in the USA. DMCA take down notices should be plenty effective, but lets throw as much c**p in the fan as possible. This is entirely inadmissible.

 
Dr. Ellen Yutzy Glebe
Dr. Ellen Yutzy Glebe  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:14
German to English
+ ...
Email address for the site? Nov 16, 2014

My profile is on there, too. (Thanks to Rose Newell for pointing it out to me!) Only I'm not an interpreter, and I have no idea where they got the rates from.

I tried to send a message to the company itself over the contact form, but you have to have a login, and I'm not about to register for the site just so that I can demand they delete my information!

Does anyone have an email address for the company itself?


 
Paulinho Fonseca
Paulinho Fonseca  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 22:14
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Thank you Tiago Nov 16, 2014

Tia
to wrote:

Paulinho, from Whois it looks like it is being hosted in the USA. DMCA take down notices should be plenty effective, but lets throw as much c**p in the fan as possible. This is entirely inadmissible.



This is also weird. I have had so many visitors to my page recently. Today they were 15 and most of them with the same IP and if it is another IP when I look it up, I get the same location.

I have filed complains of infringment as suggested here. I don't understand how they could copy my entire profile. I am usually very cautious with issues like that when sending my professional proof. Certificates are stamped, etc.


 
Tiago Neto
Tiago Neto  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:14
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Data mining Nov 16, 2014

Simple. They mined the data on your ProZ profile. For me, it's my photo and the small text description I have on my profile, they got/display nothing else that is true. Even the review is made up.

 
Dmitry Kornyukhov
Dmitry Kornyukhov  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 21:14
English to Russian
+ ...
Paid Members Only Nov 16, 2014

Is it me or does it seem like only paid Proz.com members have been affected? I've checked the profiles of my English-Russian colleagues and only those paying for the membership at Proz have their identities stolen. Interesting, huh?

 
Jared Tabor
Jared Tabor
Local time: 22:14
SITE STAFF
Thanks for reporting Nov 16, 2014

Hi all,

Thanks for reporting this. Staff is looking into the issue now.

Jared


 
Isabelle Josseaume (Estrada)
Isabelle Josseaume (Estrada)  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 19:14
Member (2006)
English to French
+ ...
I am on that site too! Nov 16, 2014

I have read quite a lot of comments from all of you who appear on this scam site of Lingvopoint.com

I think it is only fair that Proz would take some immediate action about this scam.
It is unbelievable that anybody can actually copy and paste our profiles and create new ones just like that.

They have copied my photo and professional experience. As for the rest, it has been changed: rates and even my profession...

How come it is so complicated to be
... See more
I have read quite a lot of comments from all of you who appear on this scam site of Lingvopoint.com

I think it is only fair that Proz would take some immediate action about this scam.
It is unbelievable that anybody can actually copy and paste our profiles and create new ones just like that.

They have copied my photo and professional experience. As for the rest, it has been changed: rates and even my profession...

How come it is so complicated to become a Pro member on Proz and so easy to steal our identities?

I hope Proz takes this very seriously because it only means there is a serious breach in their security system.




Any insight on the matter?
Collapse


 
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Another unauthorised directory listing - lingvopoint.com







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