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Poll: Have you noticed an increase in scammers and non-paying clients?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Apr 23, 2022

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you noticed an increase in scammers and non-paying clients?".

This poll was originally submitted by Helene Olsen Richards. View the poll results »
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 17:15
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No Apr 23, 2022

I’ve never been scammed and all my current customers pay as agreed! I may have had to send a few reminders over the years, but not too many. In over 30 years, I only faced 2 serious non-payment issues (in both instances I had to hire a lawyer and was fully paid with interest). One of them went bust a few months later. I guess I’ve been extremely careful and… lucky. I can’t ignore though the endless posts I’ve been seeing here about scammers and non-payers.

Philip Lees
vera secorzinska (X)
 
Barbara Cochran, MFA
Barbara Cochran, MFA  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 12:15
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Apr 23, 2022

I think there are a lot more scammers out there than ever before when it comes to anything, not just the ones who target translators. They take advantage of things like the Covid pandemic to play on people's fears by practically forcing their wares (Big Pharma, the mask industry. hand sanitizer) on them (both Big Pharma and mask manufacturers have admitted that there is no proof that their products are effective at all, in regard to Covid). But oh well, according to them, and big, bloated, benig... See more
I think there are a lot more scammers out there than ever before when it comes to anything, not just the ones who target translators. They take advantage of things like the Covid pandemic to play on people's fears by practically forcing their wares (Big Pharma, the mask industry. hand sanitizer) on them (both Big Pharma and mask manufacturers have admitted that there is no proof that their products are effective at all, in regard to Covid). But oh well, according to them, and big, bloated, benign governments, which knows better than us what's good for us, they were only trying to help (while they have helped themselves to billions of consumer and citizen tax dollars). Anyway, I think freelance translators and writers are often targeted by scammers because the latter think that so many of them are desperate for work because of what is often described as its "feast and famine" nature. Paying sub-standard rates to translators is also a form of theft, IMO. No author has ever ripped me off, because I require a relatively sizeable down-payment so that I know they are the real deal/sincere/a serious client.

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vera secorzinska (X)
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 14:15
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No Apr 23, 2022

They are all over as always. It's our job to learn to identify them and not fall for their scam. There are serveral hints that it's scam in the very first message. If you don't know them, learn them fast. Only the inexperienced fall for scam.

Philip Lees
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
ahartje
vera secorzinska (X)
Michael Harris
 
Gennady Lapardin
Gennady Lapardin  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 20:15
Italian to Russian
+ ...
No Apr 24, 2022

After last summer/fall, there was definitely sharp decrease

vera secorzinska (X)
 
Michael Newton
Michael Newton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 12:15
Japanese to English
+ ...
Increase in scammers Apr 26, 2022

To paraphrase the Bible: "The scammers ye shall always have with you".
 


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Poll: Have you noticed an increase in scammers and non-paying clients?






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