Suggestion to Proz management: eliminate the "Welcome new members" box Thread poster: Kevin Fulton
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Kevin Fulton 
United States
Local time: 21:28
German to English
It might help to reduce the number of scam attempts if Proz eliminated the "Welcome new members" box on the home page. This is an open invitation to potential scammers.
[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2020-04-23 02:03 GMT]
| | | | | Optional, but … | Apr 21, 2020 |
By all means it could be made optional whether new members want to be presented there, but it's unlikely that anyone can be completely protected from ever being exposed to scam attempts. It's visible in all profiles when they were created anyway. Fraud is something you have to learn to detect and trying to hide doesn't teach you anything. You can run but you can't hide.
Awareness is the key. It's important that Proz send new members a few fraud awareness emails that present the most... See more By all means it could be made optional whether new members want to be presented there, but it's unlikely that anyone can be completely protected from ever being exposed to scam attempts. It's visible in all profiles when they were created anyway. Fraud is something you have to learn to detect and trying to hide doesn't teach you anything. You can run but you can't hide.
Awareness is the key. It's important that Proz send new members a few fraud awareness emails that present the most common scams (typically a large prepayment by cheque) and hammer home repeatedly not to accept proposals sent from unverifiable email addresses such as anybody@gmail.com, also explaining clearly that a URL such as acmesupertrans.company.com is not a domain belonging to Acme SuperTrans.
It's the same scam questions we keep answering over and over again in the forums, so perhaps there is a need for a more proactive anti-fraud campaign. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member for the following reason: Empty post. | Kalinka Hristova
Bulgaria
Local time: 04:28
Member (2007)
English to Bulgarian
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MODERATOR | These are paid members | Apr 22, 2020 |
Please note that these are people who decided to become paid members of ProZ.com. They are not necessarily newbies in translation.
And, by the way, this is not the right forum to address site administration: there is a dedicated forum for that (ProZ.com suggestions).
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Paul Dixon
Brazil
Local time: 23:28
Portuguese to English
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In memoriam | Update the agency directory | Apr 22, 2020 |
Due to the dire state of the market here in Brazil, I am using the directory for marketing purposes. However, I have noticed some agencies that:
1. Have incorrect addresses on the directory.
2. Have sites that don't open or have been removed: Error 404 or in some cases security warnings, 'No MX or A' and the like. In one case I opened an agency link and it said 'this domain is for sale'.
3. Have recruitment forms that won't send.
I wondered if there would be some way in w... See more Due to the dire state of the market here in Brazil, I am using the directory for marketing purposes. However, I have noticed some agencies that:
1. Have incorrect addresses on the directory.
2. Have sites that don't open or have been removed: Error 404 or in some cases security warnings, 'No MX or A' and the like. In one case I opened an agency link and it said 'this domain is for sale'.
3. Have recruitment forms that won't send.
I wondered if there would be some way in which the directory could be updated to solve these problems? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Business directory feedback | Apr 22, 2020 |
Hi Paul,
I think we can find a way to address this. Nice point.
There are 44,000+ businesses in the directory and many need information updated... or could be deleted.
Getting feedback from members who see bad or outdated data would help the site and the community.
Hopefully you see something in the future. I'm going to put that suggestion on there for the site staff.
Mike
| | | | | Also technical problems | Apr 22, 2020 |
Hi Mike,
Just a few days ago, I reported a problem with URLs in the Blue Board and the business pages. See http://www.proz.com/ticket/631988.
In the Blue Board, the URL began with 'https', but the site linked didn't appear to have an SSL certificate so the site failed to load. That one was fixed. The link on the same company's business page didn't work either because it had the form 'http://domain.com', but ... See more Hi Mike,
Just a few days ago, I reported a problem with URLs in the Blue Board and the business pages. See http://www.proz.com/ticket/631988.
In the Blue Board, the URL began with 'https', but the site linked didn't appear to have an SSL certificate so the site failed to load. That one was fixed. The link on the same company's business page didn't work either because it had the form 'http://domain.com', but the site didn't redirect to www., which is not a requirement.
I was told that link could not immediately be fixed because of the format of that part of the business pages, and it took some convincing before the support agent accepted to forward the ticket to the developers. Broken links by design didn't seem to bother her.
This particular business used email addresses at two different Yahoo-style domains in a job post. And by the way, one of the domains refused to receive emails. When a company uses another domain for email than their own, it would be good to have some certified indication of this in the BB and/or business profile to reduce our due-diligence efforts.
But is there any way you can automate the checking of 44,000+ businesses? It’s an immense task. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | More education on bad actors | Apr 22, 2020 |
Hi Kevin and Thomas,
Good feedback. We are working to add more education for new freelancers at ProZ.com on how to qualify new outsourcers.
Here is the link to that post if it helps those reading this:
https://go.proz.com/blog/qualify-new-outsourcers
More can be done, so keep the suggestions coming.
Mike
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| URL formats on business pages | Apr 22, 2020 |
Hi Thomas,
Your support ticket was turned into a development issue.
We have some clever developers, there may be better ways to check thousands of entries on business pages. More to come I hope, but an answer to that question may not appear I this forum.
Mike
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Hi Mike,
Yes, that's what I intended, and after a bit of persuasion, that's what I got. I didn't find it right that it was impossible to enter a workable URL in a clickable link field in your end. I don't expect an answer here, but now you're aware of the problem.
It's also a bit 'schizophrenic' that there is company information in both the Blue Board profile and the business profile. Ideally there should be one single place with business information, to which the BB sh... See more Hi Mike,
Yes, that's what I intended, and after a bit of persuasion, that's what I got. I didn't find it right that it was impossible to enter a workable URL in a clickable link field in your end. I don't expect an answer here, but now you're aware of the problem.
It's also a bit 'schizophrenic' that there is company information in both the Blue Board profile and the business profile. Ideally there should be one single place with business information, to which the BB should link. Today there can be one URL in the BB profile and another in the business profile – and in this particular case, neither was correct.
But it's easy to suggest things like that. I know it's a lot of work with the amount of data. URL checking can presumably be automated to some extent. The trouble is how to check all the rest. I wonder if an international business information/credit worthiness service could provide business information to you in a standardised format suitable for automated checking.
You should probably look at including the official business registration numbers and, where applicable, VAT numbers in the business profiles.
And if you do use a creditworthiness agency, you could also look at what I have previously suggested, i.e. whether you could offer some 'plus extra' deal to members to give them access to credit ratings from a reputable source. You can get a much better deal as a company than each single translator can.
[Edited at 2020-04-22 20:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | N. Ceren Sumer (X)
Türkiye
Local time: 05:28
English to Turkish
| An addition and suggestion on wrong credentials like department of graduation, too, for profiles | May 13, 2021 |
Hi Mike, I have been reviewing the forum lately, so sorry for being late to contribute. I realize that one of my friends whom we graduated from the same department together announces herself as an "MD" (medical doctor), but this was a 4-year, biology related program, we defintely never ever diagnose or treat people. I am not complying about a colleague of mine, please do not misunderstand, this all matters only for her own clients not for me, but I wouldn't like to see this way of advertisement ... See more Hi Mike, I have been reviewing the forum lately, so sorry for being late to contribute. I realize that one of my friends whom we graduated from the same department together announces herself as an "MD" (medical doctor), but this was a 4-year, biology related program, we defintely never ever diagnose or treat people. I am not complying about a colleague of mine, please do not misunderstand, this all matters only for her own clients not for me, but I wouldn't like to see this way of advertisement on a professional platform like Proz.com.
Could you ask an undergraduate diploma, for example, in order to avoid questions in people's minds about trustablity of this great platform? I am very happy to be a member and wish to stay this way. A document like what the people present in their profiles and what they have in reality do match or not? Why is it so easy to provide false information for a translator, why is it even possible, when it requires many types of proof to join a translators pool, for example? I don't find presenting herself or himself as an MD when he or she is not, ethical in the very beginning. Isn't this like presenting yourself a judge even without attending a law school?
Best wishes for improvement and regards, ▲ Collapse
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N. Ceren Sumer wrote:
Hi Mike, I have been reviewing the forum lately, so sorry for being late to contribute. I realize that one of my friends whom we graduated from the same department together announces herself as an "MD" (medical doctor), but this was a 4-year, biology related program, we defintely never ever diagnose or treat people. I am not complying about a colleague of mine, please do not misunderstand, this all matters only for her own clients not for me, but I wouldn't like to see this way of advertisement on a professional platform like Proz.com.
Could you ask an undergraduate diploma, for example, in order to avoid questions in people's minds about trustablity of this great platform? I am very happy to be a member and wish to stay this way. A document like what the people present in their profiles and what they have in reality do match or not? Why is it so easy to provide false information for a translator, why is it even possible, when it requires many types of proof to join a translators pool, for example? I don't find presenting herself or himself as an MD when he or she is not, ethical in the very beginning. Isn't this like presenting yourself a judge even without attending a law school?
Best wishes for improvement and regards,
I'd like to think that anyone who is improperly embellishing in the biography will be found out. There are opportunities to have credentials verified through ProZ.com, but as you have noted it would typically be for language-related credentials and not whether someone claimed to be a medical doctor of some sort.
This might be solved if those that are a medical doctor include evidence in the profile for trustworthiness.
Here is some information on credentials: https://go.proz.com/blog/get-credential-verified
Mike
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