Has anyone ever received a translation order from a consultant for a book never published?
Thread poster: C. MASKA
C. MASKA
C. MASKA
France
Local time: 14:52
Member
English to French
+ ...
May 7, 2017

I received a strange purchase order, from a consultant, not an agency, and he's asking me to translate a book that was never published, pays a third of the money upfront, then sends a bank check of an amount that is much too high and asks me to pay another translator with the difference, pretending there was a mistake from the accountant.

[Edited at 2017-05-07 17:38 GMT]


 
Elif Baykara Narbay
Elif Baykara Narbay  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 16:52
German to Turkish
+ ...
Looks like a classical "overpayment scam". May 7, 2017

I would ignore this request and definitely, wouldn't cash the check.

 
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 07:52
Dutch to English
+ ...
I'll second that May 7, 2017

Definitely looks like a scam and I would not reply.

In any case I would always be leery of a request to translate an book that has not been published. If the author intends to have the translation published, the proper procedure is to write a book proposal and only have parts of it translated (no more than about 1/4 of the book) to include with the proposal. And if he finds a publisher, it is the publisher who may contact you to translate the rest of the book.


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 13:52
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Looks like the classical overpayment scam May 7, 2017

Elif Baykara wrote:

I would ignore this request and definitely, wouldn't cash the check.


I would take the cheque to the police with a printout of the emails exchanged...

[Edited at 2017-05-08 16:57 GMT]


 
Andrea Halbritter
Andrea Halbritter  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:52
French to German
+ ...
Scam May 7, 2017

Sounds like a scam.

 
Christophe Delaunay
Christophe Delaunay  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:52
Spanish to French
+ ...
Classical May 7, 2017

There are thousands of scams like this one...

 
Andy Lemminger
Andy Lemminger  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 07:52
Member (2002)
English to German
Overpayment Scam May 7, 2017

If you go ahead as asked the check will bounce a bit later and you'll have paid his helper.

 


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Has anyone ever received a translation order from a consultant for a book never published?







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