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SCAM ALERT: a 'Maurice Willys', 11 000 words scam
Thread poster: irene varela
irene varela
irene varela  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 14:32
English to Spanish
+ ...
Nov 4

I have been contacted by somebody called Maurice Willys who asked me for a 54 pages translation. It sounded ok at the beginning. They were paying 0.3 USD a word and were over 11,000. I sent the translation in time and when I asked to pay via PayPal he asked me to contact the project manager via wap which I did. He told me that they only paid via a website and the I could withdraw the money. I completed the information, so far so good, but I found weird that he insisted on me withdrawing the mone... See more
I have been contacted by somebody called Maurice Willys who asked me for a 54 pages translation. It sounded ok at the beginning. They were paying 0.3 USD a word and were over 11,000. I sent the translation in time and when I asked to pay via PayPal he asked me to contact the project manager via wap which I did. He told me that they only paid via a website and the I could withdraw the money. I completed the information, so far so good, but I found weird that he insisted on me withdrawing the money. To make the long story short the web site reported error 404 (page not found)and when it worked they asked me to follow instructions which implied sending USD 150 to get a VAT code. Minute after I blocked the guy and report to the bank. ▲ Collapse
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 17:32
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
@Irene Nov 5

I’m sorry to hear that you were scammed, but this scamming method has been around for a while. Did you visit the Translator Scam Alert Center before accepting this job? Shouldn’t the payment been agreed before starting the translation?

irene varela
Jorge Payan
philgoddard
Michele Fauble
 
irene varela
irene varela  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 14:32
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Scam alert Nov 5

Thanks Ma Teresa

Price was agreed beforehand but not that payment for VAT code concept.

New lesson to learn. Can u tell me how the Scam Alert Centre works? Thanks
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 17:32
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
@Irene Nov 5

All the information is here:

https://www.proz.com/about/risk-management-center

Good luck next time! When it looks too good to be true, it's probably a scam...
 
philgoddard
philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
With all due respect to any Maurice Willys reading this... Nov 9

...why do they always have such unlikely names? And why do they often have a surname that looks like a first name?

I scam them back sometimes by getting them to spend money on postage and elaborately faked checks. The one I'm dealing with at the moment calls himself Gary Alan, and the last one was Sylvain Harry. Are they using a not-very-good name generator?

Mark Cole
 
irene varela
irene varela  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 14:32
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
SCAM Alert, a Maurice Willys Nov 10

Absolutely! I have decided to have a ready-made note stating that I won’t accept any other payment method but PayPal, if they are members of Proz and paying for the first 40% among other things. Anyway when you mention PayPal and not bank transfer they immediately decide not to send any translation 🤪
 


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SCAM ALERT: a 'Maurice Willys', 11 000 words scam







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