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Scammers - a little known problem

2/28/2011

3 Comments

 
At the weekend, the BBC published an online article urging victims of email scams to help track down fraudsters by reporting scams to the National Fraud Authority. This highlights a problem which is sadly becoming ever more apparent in the translation industry.

Until recently I hadn’t thought twice about these types of scams targeting professionals. However, after receiving a rather questionable email myself and then researching more into this type of fraud, I realised just how easy it is for a scammer to target freelancers, and how professional such scammers are becoming.

But how can you handle this type of deceit when you work as a freelancer? When a huge part of your income is dependent on gaining new contacts? When your office is built from internet code rather than bricks and mortar?


Scams reported among translators

Overpayment
Here a new outsourcer asks for a job to be done and offers to pay you in advance, as they are a new client and they want to, ironically, win your trust. What then happens is that the translator is indeed paid in advance, but is paid an amount which is more than the agreed sum. There could be many genuine reasons to explain this error, for example that the colleague dealing with the payment confused two different transactions. The client then requests that you cash the amount and simply wire back the difference, which many translators, wanting to retain the trust of their new client, would do. This scam relies on the time it takes for the bank to realise that there is a problem with the cheque, i.e. that it’s a forgery or has been drawn from a closed or non-existent account. In the meantime, the difference has cleared from the unsuspecting translator’s account, who then never hears back from the new client.

Fake and fraudulent agencies
In this instance, freelancers are assigned large jobs by agencies: the jobs are completed, the agency is invoiced. However, the agency being invoiced then claims that they neither know anything about the completed assignment, nor do they have a record of communicating with the translator. Later it becomes clear that the person assigning, receiving, and earning money off the back of the completed translation actually has no connection to the company they were apparently representing. The only thing that identifies them as being a fake is their use of a free email provider, i.e. Hotmail or Gmail, rather than using a company email address - everything else appears genuine, from the name of the outsourcer to the name of the project manager working for the outsourcer.

Specific software requirement
This scam generally involves a large job being offered with the promise of future jobs in the translator’s language combination and specialist field to come. All that’s needed for the translator to secure the job is a specific piece of software which the client just so happens to have available at a much more attractive price than if the translator were to buy it elsewhere. With the promise of a steady workflow, the translator agrees to invest their future working relationship with the client and “buys” the software, to then neither receive the software, nor hear anything from the so-called client again.


What to look out for:

Fake email address
As a freelancer, it is perfectly normal and acceptable for you to use a free email provider as your professional email address. However, if you are contacted by a new outsourcer using this type of address, you should be sceptical. Googling the email address together with the company and/or contact person will help identify whether or not a job offer has come from a reliable source. If you have been contacted from a company email address, it is still worth checking the address against that provided on the company website, as it has been known for scammers to create domains which are extremely similar to the web and email addresses of existing, established, translation agencies. The only difference may be that a dash has been replaced with a dot, or there is a small typo.

Integrity of addresses, names, company names, etc.
Whenever you receive an email from a new company or agency offering you work, firstly check the information provided in the email signature to ascertain that the contact person really is linked to the email address and the company. If the job offer is part of a known scam, chances are that an online search will lead you to a translators’ forum carrying a huge warning. If you’re still uncertain, you could ring up the agency to ask for more details on the project, or to ask something specific, i.e. a terminological question, whether to use British or US English, etc, just to see how the query is responded to. Doing this will verify that the number genuinely exists and the person on the other end of the line knows who you are.

Lack of addressee
If you wanted to hire an electrician, how would you go about finding one? Most people would either go off recommendations, or they would find a couple of local agencies and contact them. Either way, they would address either a contact person or the company as a whole: “Dear Sir or Madam” is about as personal and well-researched as “Dear Homeowner” and should most definitely be treated with caution.

Payment in advance
As outlined in one of the previous scenarios, be extremely dubious of new clients or outsourcers pushing advanced payment either by cheque or by money order. If you do agree to payment in advance, wait for the payment to clear before commencing with the translation. If you receive a cheque for more than the agreed amount, ask for a new, correct cheque and return the one received, rather than attempting to cash it and transferring back the difference.

Internet Protocol (IP) address
The IP address is a series of numbers which pinpoints the location of a computer. Whenever you receive an email, you are also provided with the sender’s IP address, which allows you to locate the computer which the email was sent from. If you are suspicious of an email, you can check the IP address to see where the email was really sent from and where the sender is therefore located, i.e. to check that your London project manager really is sat in their London office. For more information on how to find the IP address of an email and how to decode it, click here for the Proz wiki surrounding this topic.

What is it you do again?
Any new outsourcer who actively seeks out your services should have done this in line with certain criteria, be it your language combination or a particular specialism. If you receive an email from someone who offers you work, but also requests that you provide these details, alarm bells should start ringing.

What to do if you’re caught up in a similar scam:

Contact your local police and any agencies specifically set up to combat email scams, i.e. the National Fraud Authority in the UK.

Contact the real outsourcer. If a scam is being conducted which involves someone posing as a genuine outsourcer, the real outsourcer should be made aware of this in order to raise awareness among their colleagues and translation communities.

Contact the sender’s email provider and inform them that their service is being used for fraudulent purposes – they are then able to cancel the email account

Post on translation forums to inform other translators of ongoing scams. Translators Café and Proz, for example, have a dedicated forums where members can raise concerns about fraudulent outsourcers.


Rather lengthy as this post has become (!), the overall message is that you be on your guard. A lot of what is outlined here is common sense, however common sense sometimes takes a back seat when you’re excited about taking on new jobs and getting a name for yourself in the translation industry. Just by having read this blog you will be much more aware of email scams than you were ten minutes ago, and therefore more prepared to dealing with such situations should they ever arise.

3 Comments

Invoicing as a Freelance Translator

2/12/2011

10 Comments

 
If you’ve never had to write an invoice before, knowing where to start and what to include might not be all that straightforward. That’s why we’ve put together an in-depth guide covering everything a freelance translator needs to know when it comes to invoicing.

Creating a template:
If you’re confident using programs such as Excel, it’s recommendable to create a template from scratch. This allows you to include all and only the specific information which is relevant to your work, and gives you the freedom to structure the document as you see fit. Excel offers the advantage of being able to calculate totals or VAT amounts based on pre-defined formulae, which saves having to do the Maths manually. If you’re not confident working in Excel, either have a go at creating a template in Word, or search online for a ready-made template which you can then adjust to suit your needs.

What to include:
- The word “Invoice” at the top of the page
- Your name, company name if applicable and address
- Optionally, your qualification and/or job title
- Client name and address, specifying the name of the actual person who commissioned the translation
- Invoice date
- Invoice number
    - Each invoice must have a unique reference number. Create an invoice number which will allow a sequence to
    build up over the months and years - i.e. YYMM## (for the third invoice in March 2011: 110303)
- Job details
    - Brief description 
    - Client’s project/order number, if applicable
    - Date of assignment and delivery
    - Rate (i.e. cost per word) and units (i.e. how many words)
    - VAT if applicable 
            - VAT rules vary from country to country, you’ll need to check what applies for your country
    - Total amount due 
            - Make this clear - in bold or a larger font - so it doesn’t get lost among the other numbers and information
            on the invoice
    - Payment period 
            - A payment period of 30 days is fairly standard. If you are involved in a project which is spread over
            several weeks or months, a good idea would be to agree upon a system of regular invoicing with the client.
            This could be done on a monthly basis, or it could be split up into three parts as is common in other
            industries, i.e. a payment upon assignment, a payment midway through the project, and a final payment
            upon completion.
    - A “thank you” note
    - Your bank details
            - Account holder
            - Bank name
            - Account number
            - Sort code
            - IBAN / Swift numbers if your client is based abroad

Sending your invoice:
Always check whether new clients are happy to receive your invoice by email or whether it has to be signed and sent by post; be aware that in some countries, invoices sent electronically are not recognised by law.

If you send your invoice electronically, make sure it’s saved in a “read only” format, such as a PDF file.

Language:
A rule of thumb is to write your invoice in the language spoken where the client is based. This holds especially true for larger companies which may have a separate accounting department responsible for processing your invoice. If this is a language you don’t speak, i.e. if an Italian agency hired you for a Russian – English translation, then writing in the language you’ve been communicating in would be the next best option.

Many translators use bilingual invoice templates which can overcome the possible language barrier mentioned above: if this is a route you choose to go down, make sure the information is laid out clearly and concisely.

When to invoice:
It’s completely up to you when you choose to do your invoicing. There are translators who send through their invoices on a per job basis, waiting a couple of days after the finished job has been sent, whereas others prefer to set time aside at regular intervals, i.e. sending out invoices at the end of each month for all jobs completed within that month (preferred for regular clients).

Contrary to the advice given on many online forums aimed at freelancers, sending the invoice together with the completed job might not be ideal in the case of translators. Although you may have finished the job assigned, it could be that additional files are sent for translation shortly after delivery which you might then want to invoice together with the rest of the project.

Keeping track:
When it comes to tracking jobs and invoices, organisation is key. Use a spreadsheet or table to keep a clear record of all your jobs, including specific details as listed above. Have columns where you can enter the invoice date, and mark off jobs once they’ve been delivered and subsequently paid. Not only will this allow you a clear overview of your business, but it will also mean that the invoice details are ready to be copied and pasted directly into your template.

If you belong to the ever reducing population of printer-users, it might be an idea to keep hard copies of invoices in a folder, then you can simply cross them off or throw them away as payment is received.

You should also keep an “invoices” folder on your computer, with subfolders for “pending” and “paid” invoices. It’s also worth keeping a “templates” subfolder where you can store invoice templates for different clients. 
 
Late payments:
It’s completely up to you how you proceed with clients who haven’t paid your invoice within the specified period. A general suggestion in the translation community is to leave sending late-payment notices until a week after your payment deadline as delays could be incurred which are out of the client’s control, such as delays at the bank with wire transfers. If payment has still not been received by this point, send a polite yet firm reminder, including the invoice number, and ask that the receipt of this reminder be acknowledged.

This article is by no means the be all and end of the world of invoicing, but rather aims to erase some of those question marks which tend to appear when you have to come to grips with a completely new process. As with any financial and legal aspects of business, you should always check what laws and regulations apply to invoicing/bookkeeping in your country.

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