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Research project on Agricultural reforms in EU translation scam - Marie Stephens
Thread poster: Lauriane Duran-Pauleau
Lukas Posch
Lukas Posch  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 18:12
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
Same email from "Brenda Mora" Jun 9, 2020

Sylvia Avila Cacho wrote:

I got an email from "Natasha Liberman" ([email protected]).

"Author: Natasha
[NOTE: The author is not a registered ProZ.com user or was not logged in when sending this message.]
Author's IP address: 45.152.181.204

-----------

Hello.
I would like to know if you are available for translation
from French to English?
Thanks."


I replied asking for more information and got a second email

"Thanks for your prompt response.
Attached here is a copy of the document i would like to translate so you can view, send me your charges and your delivery time."




Just received the exact same email regarding a translation from English to German – and after indicating availability, I received the exact same response as you did, Sylvia. This time, it's from "Brenda Mora", though, who has sent the initial message from a French IP as well.


Katarzyna Slowikova
Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Katarzyna Slowikova
Katarzyna Slowikova  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 18:12
English to Czech
+ ...
Brenda Mora, [email protected] Jun 9, 2020

I also got a message from Brenda Mora couple of days ago. The address was: [email protected] (not logged in user)

The message body:
Hello.
I would like to know if you are available for translation from English to Polish?
Thanks

No signature.
Since googling the name, the address or the email body didn't bring any results, I answered, just to know if the 2nd interaction will be
... See more
I also got a message from Brenda Mora couple of days ago. The address was: [email protected] (not logged in user)

The message body:
Hello.
I would like to know if you are available for translation from English to Polish?
Thanks

No signature.
Since googling the name, the address or the email body didn't bring any results, I answered, just to know if the 2nd interaction will be something googlable.

My reply was:
I need to know who you are to consider any job offer.
Best,

And today I got an answer:
Hello Katarzyna,
My name is Brenda and an individual Freelance outsourcer.

LOL, whatever...
So Brenda Mora receives hereby a second mention in the world wide web. Welcome to online community of busted scammers, Brenda!
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Carine Zangerlé
Carine Zangerlé
Germany
Local time: 18:12
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
I've got the same email Jun 9, 2020

Hello everybody,
I am new to this site and received the same email from Brenda. It looked a bit odd to me, and now I'm happy that I've checked on here but a little bit sad at the same time.
Stay safe,
Carine


destradi
 
Anialewi
Anialewi
Germany
Local time: 18:12
German to Polish
+ ...
Is Brenda Mora a scammer? Jun 9, 2020

Hi fellow translators:-) A few days ago I also got an email from Brenda Mora - she didn't mention which institution or company she represents. She sent me a 35 pages text : Agricultural restructuring in Europe. Asked for my deadline and rates. Is this some scam? I just found your thread here and I'm confused. What is this about?

Ivana Baldioli
Natalia Przybysz
destradi
 
Ivana Baldioli
Ivana Baldioli  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 18:12
German to Italian
+ ...
Rate suggested Jun 10, 2020

Hi to you all,
I suggested her a fixed rate in order to make her spare compared to a rate per word (LOL). She ignored the VAT addition, accepted the deadline (30 days) and listed all details I should provide. I just wanted to see how far she would go, I won't translate almost 120.000 for 1600 euro nor send my bank details to a stranger without address and references.


destradi
 
Natalia Przybysz
Natalia Przybysz
Germany
Local time: 18:12
English to Polish
+ ...
Brenda Mora is a scammer Jun 10, 2020

Hi,

thanks for the thread! I have also received a request from a Brenda Mora:

ProZ.com user visited your ProZ.com profile and sent the following message.

Author: Brenda
[NOTE: The author is not a registered ProZ.com user or was not logged in when sending this message.]
Author's IP address: 185.220.70.218

-----------

Hello.
I would like to know if you are available for translation
from English to ... See more
Hi,

thanks for the thread! I have also received a request from a Brenda Mora:

ProZ.com user visited your ProZ.com profile and sent the following message.

Author: Brenda
[NOTE: The author is not a registered ProZ.com user or was not logged in when sending this message.]
Author's IP address: 185.220.70.218

-----------

Hello.
I would like to know if you are available for translation
from English to Polish?
Thanks


When I asked about the length and type of the text to translate, she wrote back from [email protected]:

Hello Natalia,
Thanks for your prompt response.
Attached here is a copy of the document i would like to translate so you can view, send me your charges and delivery time.


Attached was a 35-page-long document entitled "Agricultural Restructuring in Europe: A Case Study.docx". Here is snippet:

Whether stemming from the public or the private sector, recent strategies have failed to adequately address the interconnected challenges faced by the food and agricultural industries. Such shortcomings reflect profound problems in the governance of European food systems. The treatment of problems related to the production chain have undoubtedly been improved, but only at the expense of developments in other fields: for example, although the use of synthetic inputs has been markedly reduced, the total usage of pesticides continues to rise in a number of countries. 38 Total usage in Europe of the mineral nitrogen and of phosphate fertilizers (primary cause of eutrophication) increased by 6% between 2012 and 2015. 39 During this time, the dependence on imported animal feed continued to grow, thus offsetting any advantages gained through agricultural policies that reduced greenhouse gases in Europe. Average income in agriculture is projected to grow throughout the European Union, but many small farms have still been forced to
close up shop or fuse with larger agricultural groups to survive. Hiding behind this increase in average farm income are important differences between and at the heart of member states: in 2016, the average monthly salary of roughly 30% of French agricultural producers was less than €350, or less than a third of the minimum salary.
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destradi
 
Katarzyna Slowikova
Katarzyna Slowikova  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 18:12
English to Czech
+ ...
... Jun 10, 2020

Anialewi wrote:

What is this about?


I'm afraid, you'll have to read the thread you just posted in to find out.


Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Marga Kiewied
Marga Kiewied
Portugal
Local time: 17:12
Dutch to English
+ ...
I got the same message from [email protected] Jun 10, 2020

Agricultural translations to Dutch. Claiming I was too cheap and willing to overpay me. She then asked for a bunch of details

Your price seems relatively low when compared to other translators and I really do appreciate that.
Your total of XXXX EUR looks very good with your delivery time. To make this easier for both parties, you will receive a 50% deposit upfront to start and the balance upon completion of the project. If this works for you, kindly get back to me with the de
... See more
Agricultural translations to Dutch. Claiming I was too cheap and willing to overpay me. She then asked for a bunch of details

Your price seems relatively low when compared to other translators and I really do appreciate that.
Your total of XXXX EUR looks very good with your delivery time. To make this easier for both parties, you will receive a 50% deposit upfront to start and the balance upon completion of the project. If this works for you, kindly get back to me with the details below so that the payment can be facilitated via wire transfer.

For wire transfer
Bank Name:
Bank Address:
Beneficiary Address:
Name of Beneficiary:
IBAN:
BIC:
Beneficiary Phone number / Whats App #:
Collapse


Hugues Roumier
 
Monica Maiolo
Monica Maiolo
Germany
Local time: 18:12
German to Italian
+ ...
Brenda Mora Jun 10, 2020

I received an e-mail from Brenda Mora ([email protected], IP address 85.208.72.235), as well. Even though I could feel there was something strange in the e-mail, I sent her my quote for her paper about agricultural restructuring in Europe. When she immediately accepted it and suggested to pay me 50% in advance and the rest upon completion and asked for my bank details, I was then sure it was a scam. After that I also found this thread (thank you for it) and now I am more than sure about ... See more
I received an e-mail from Brenda Mora ([email protected], IP address 85.208.72.235), as well. Even though I could feel there was something strange in the e-mail, I sent her my quote for her paper about agricultural restructuring in Europe. When she immediately accepted it and suggested to pay me 50% in advance and the rest upon completion and asked for my bank details, I was then sure it was a scam. After that I also found this thread (thank you for it) and now I am more than sure about it.Collapse


destradi
 
Teresa Ennas
Teresa Ennas  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 18:12
German to Italian
+ ...
Brenda strikes again! Jun 10, 2020

I got the scammer Brenda Mora today ^^
Same message and answers like everybody else's, same excitement by poor me, thinking I got a bigger job this time...
I looked up here on proz to find out what to do when an individual asks you for a quote etc. It was suggested to ask for 50% upfront, so that is what I did.
Brenda agreed, of course! Then asked me for my bank data.
At that point, I googled her and found this thread among others. She actually had the nerve to mail me ag
... See more
I got the scammer Brenda Mora today ^^
Same message and answers like everybody else's, same excitement by poor me, thinking I got a bigger job this time...
I looked up here on proz to find out what to do when an individual asks you for a quote etc. It was suggested to ask for 50% upfront, so that is what I did.
Brenda agreed, of course! Then asked me for my bank data.
At that point, I googled her and found this thread among others. She actually had the nerve to mail me again asking if I wasn't interested anymore...

I am glad threads like this exist, but here's a question: should I never accept any translation inquiry from an individual?
I found useful lists of red flags, but I still don't know how to recognise a honest person at this point...
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Platary (X)
Platary (X)
Local time: 18:12
German to French
+ ...
An idea of an answer Jun 10, 2020

Teresa Ennas wrote:

I found useful lists of red flags, but I still don't know how to recognise a honest person at this point...


Answer: An honest person shows no known red flag. I think it's pretty easy.


Teresa Ennas
Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Katarzyna Slowikova
Katarzyna Slowikova  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 18:12
English to Czech
+ ...
Wrong question Jun 10, 2020

Teresa Ennas wrote:

I am glad threads like this exist, but here's a question: should I never accept any translation inquiry from an individual?
I found useful lists of red flags, but I still don't know how to recognise a honest person at this point...


Don't ask how to recognize an "honest person", ask how to recognize a scammer because that's pretty easy.

If it's a scam, you'll mostly find the email body posted somewhere. That's the part of the scam that doesn't change, except of course for the language pairs.
I said in my earlier message I didn't find the message body online but that's because I googled too big chunk (up to the word "English", and you see there were different source languages in messages quoted here). I didn't try too hard because I knew it's a scam. You'll recognize it 100% too, if you read a couple of examples in the Proz scam alerts (http://wiki.proz.com/wiki/index.php/Translator_scam_alert_reports ).
Scammers have been copy-pasting the same old shit since decades.


[Edited at 2020-06-10 16:09 GMT]


Teresa Ennas
Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 17:12
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Most are legit; scammers normally seem "odd" Jun 10, 2020

Teresa Ennas wrote:
here's a question: should I never accept any translation inquiry from an individual?
I found useful lists of red flags, but I still don't know how to recognise a honest person at this point...

As said elsewhere, most of the scams follow well-used formats. Googling for the text, email address, sender's name, etc together with the word "scam" usually brings them up.
If you still aren't sure, i.e. it isn't an obvious scam, you can try drawing them into a chat. Scammers will always talk a load of rubbish at some point. They'll forget who you are, or even who they are!!!

I had a message last month from a non-logged-on visitor to my profile. He just signed himself Mattias and asked if he could send me a text for proofreading. Hmmm. He wasn't an obvious scammer so I replied that I'd have to know a lot more about him before I agreed to even open an attachment. He apologised and gave me loads of info. He's totally legit, just not used to contacting professionals online.


Teresa Ennas
 
Vanessa Ordovás
Vanessa Ordovás  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 18:12
Member (2007)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Same text, new e-mail address: [email protected] Jun 11, 2020

Dear fellow translators,

I received a similar e-mail on Saturday from an unregistered user:

-----------
Hello,
Kindly confirm your availability to translate a document
from English to Spanish.
Kind regards
-----------

I didn't like the idea of someone writing to me with so scarce details, no signature, and so on. But I replied and asked for more information, so three days later I got the document on agriculture.

... See more
Dear fellow translators,

I received a similar e-mail on Saturday from an unregistered user:

-----------
Hello,
Kindly confirm your availability to translate a document
from English to Spanish.
Kind regards
-----------

I didn't like the idea of someone writing to me with so scarce details, no signature, and so on. But I replied and asked for more information, so three days later I got the document on agriculture.

-----------
Hello,
Here is a copy of the first part of the document. The second part is yet to be concluded and will be sent to you as soon as it is completed.
Kindly get back to me with the total cost for this translation and your delivery time frame.
Thank you
-----------

I sent my quote (still suspecting, but unsure, it's the first scam I receive in 23 years) and got a surprisingly positive reply:

-----------
Hello ,
Your price seems relatively low when compared to other translators and I really do appreciate that.
Your total of 1,251.66 EUR looks very good with your delivery time. To make this easier for both parties, you will receive a 50% deposit upfront to start and the balance upon completion of the project. If this works for you, kindly get back to me with the details below so that the payment can be facilitated via wire transfer.

For wire transfer
Bank Name:
Bank Address:
Beneficiary Address:
Name of Beneficiary:
IBAN:
BIC:
Beneficiary Phone number / Whats App #:

Best regards
-----------

"Low" price? Really? For the EN>ES combination you can get (sadly and easily) lower prices. I didn't send any such details and decided to make an official offer, but for that I requested the complete name, address and ID no. from our friend Cristy.

I've just got a reply with an address in Utah (property on sale), a phone number from Birmingham (Alabama) and no ID no.

-----------

Hello Vanessa,
I'm an individual freelance outsourcer and here is my contact information for your perusal
Cristy Randal
1606 W 1720 N, Provo, Utah 84604
+1(205) 730-5157
Mobile: (217) 481-8906

Best regards
-----------

And now I'm navigating the Proz forums to confirm the scam. I've also just confirmed that the IP (196.240.57.93) has been reported several times.

So I hope this also helps other translators who get such e-mails.

I wish you all a nice day!
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Liviu-Lee Roth
Eva Borrallo
Jesús Sánchez López
Alex Potor
Evelyn Haydasz
 
Ania Nuzzi
Ania Nuzzi
Germany
Local time: 18:12
English to Italian
+ ...
Brenda Mora Scam Jun 11, 2020

Hello guys, i saw this too late.

I sent her the info, so what could the scam do now?
Can they actually steal only with my iban?


 
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Research project on Agricultural reforms in EU translation scam - Marie Stephens







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