| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Possible scam? Thread poster: sokolniki
|
|---|
| Giving out bank details | Aug 9, 2013 |
Tony M wrote:
it's obvious they must have their ways and means of exploiting this information, as asking for your bank details is one of the first things they do in very many of these scams (including the classic 'Nigerian' scam). "I want to give you a very large sum of money, so first send me your bank details so I can deposit it in your account."
I'm not sure that the real purpose behind Nigerian scams is to obtain your bank details. I think that they infer things about your willingness to part with cash from your willingness to part with bank details, a bit like Derren Brown when he asks someone for directions and then asks them for their wallet.
The real purpose behind Nigerian scams is to convince you that you'll soon be a millionaire and then to convince you that you just need to pay a small (in comparison) fee upfront to cover lawyers/travel etc. to get the deal done. I read a book once by someone who decided to answer a Nigerian scam just to see what happened and this is what happened.
It's always good to be careful but I'm not sure that someone could actually do anything with JUST your bank details. Otherwise setting up direct debits with large companies could be positively perilous and all the people on ebay who don't use paypal but give their details for a bank transfer instead would quickly have stopped doing so.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't have risk management procedures in place though...
| | | | | Tony's right - it's a matter of WHEN they ask for bank info | Aug 9, 2013 |
Pam - I too would have no qualms about giving my bank account number in an invoice to receive payment IF AND ONLY IF (a) I already had screened the clientand knew with whom I was dealing by checking Blue Board, Payment Practices, etc., as well as their website and verifying contact information, and (b) I had already received a job request, along with the text and a purchase order. Sometimes, I'd prefer receiving payment through a safer means for first-time clients, especially if they live in a ... See more Pam - I too would have no qualms about giving my bank account number in an invoice to receive payment IF AND ONLY IF (a) I already had screened the clientand knew with whom I was dealing by checking Blue Board, Payment Practices, etc., as well as their website and verifying contact information, and (b) I had already received a job request, along with the text and a purchase order. Sometimes, I'd prefer receiving payment through a safer means for first-time clients, especially if they live in a different country where it would be very difficult to initiate legal proceedings if they didn't pay or misused my bank account number. After they've proven themselves to be trustworthy, then my confidence level is raised considerably.
The fact that you're including your bank account information in your invoices means you've already gone through at least some of these steps and are dealing with a known entity with whom you already have a contract and assignment. But that's not what some posters in this thread said they did. They said they gave out *detailed* bank account information and other financial codes after the very first inquiry from someone who didn't even include solid contact information. The registration asks right away for this financial information *and not anything else relevant to translating*. Here's an excerpt from the original post listing what the application form requests:
"Registration items: after the full name and language pair, YOUR DETAILED BANK INFORMATION, SWIFT/IBAN codes, etc. Not your mailing/Skype address, not your areas of specialization, experience, references, rates, etc."
The original poster and some other ones described other fishy details, like phone numbers and addresses not matching claims in the inquiry.
I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I personally would never fill out my bank information in an initial application form from someone who didn't even give me full contact information and did not care about even such crucial information as what languages I work with.
Banks can have the most sophisticated security measures in place to protect their account holders' money, but that still won't necessarily stop clever scammers from emptying people's bank accounts. If you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe the recent New York Times article about how some computer thieves used financial information to empty accounts of $45 million in a few hours, which you can read about here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/nyregion/eight-charged-in-45-million-global-cyber-bank-thefts.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
All I'm asking is that translators not be naive about giving out sensitive financial and I.D. information. It hurts too much to read their stories later on in subsequent Proz.com forums about how they were victimized. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Possible scam? | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
| | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
