Since the inception of the internet, cybercrime has proved to be a difficult aspect of technology to mitigate. These crimes are widespread, affecting all industries and platforms, and can wreak havoc on the lives of those who are affected. From identity theft to illegal money laundering, the list of scams and potential outcomes is endless. With remote and freelance work gaining popularity, those working as or working with remote workers and freelancers are particularly susceptible. In the world of language translation, online translation scams affect both job seekers and businesses in need of these services. Learn how to avoid hiring these bad actors to conduct your business document translations:
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How Do Online Translation Scams Work?
At ASTA-USA Translation Services, Inc., we have learned of multiple cases of scammers fraudulently citing our organization’s name and company website in schemes to deceive professional translators in search of new employment opportunities. They prey upon people seeking translator jobs by stealing their personal identity or conning them into paying money upfront for nonexistent job training or false certifications. Businesses also need to be wary, however, because translation scams can—and do— target organizations as well. If a business posts a request for translation work or an opening for a translator position, it is virtually inviting fraudulent translators to come to its doors.
The business scam starts with a translator’s CV. The scammers obtain CVs and resumes from qualified or legitimate translators by posing as translation agencies. Then they slightly alter the CV, swapping their email address as the point of contact and changing the translator’s name to match the email. Afterward, they submit their faked CV to the company soliciting translation work or positions. The business reviews the CV and believes they are interacting with a legitimate translator who has a qualifying education, certifications, and professional references. After evaluating the information, they may forward the translation job to the impersonator. The scammer then simply feeds the job into an AI translation tool like Google Translate, pays an unqualified low-cost translator to do the job, or assigns the work as a “test assignment” to a translator that has been targeted through their initial portion of the online translation scams.
The result is the same regardless of the method utilized: the organization receives a poor translation and discards the product after realizing what happened. At worst, the organization uses a shoddy translation and suffers loss of revenue, clients, and professional reputation. Afterward, it is difficult to track these fraudsters down because they change e-mails and stop responding to all requests to remedy the situation. This happens much more often than one would expect. In fact, an informal translators’ organization called The Translator Scammers Intelligence Group (TSIG) reports to the American Translators Association that as of 2023, it has identified 22,405 email addresses tied to translation scams and that it turns up on average another 100-plus such emails every month.
How Can Businesses Protect Themselves from Translation Scams?
TSIG reports that while stolen CVs can be convincing, sometimes the scammers alter them in noticeable ways. Some telltale tipoffs include:
- An altered name that does not match the name on credentials cited in the CV, or does not match the real name associated with the businesses, works, or education cited in the CV.
- Use of a free email address, such as Yahoo or Gmail.
- Inaccurate postal codes to avoid matching with known scams but do not represent any real-world address.
Scammers also tend to make outlandish or unprofessional claims in their email messaging, along with simple mistakes, like saying they translate the “Greece” language or simply using poor grammar. TSIG suggests businesses can test a translator’s legitimacy by asking if they can translate via a non-existent rule or methodology. Businesses should also request to speak by phone or video chat because phony translators almost always insist on communicating only via email – although there are exceptions. It is also worth investing in background and education and certification verification checks, along with communicating directly with any professional references listed on the CV. Most importantly, if something feels “off” when you are interviewing a translator or translation service, trust your instincts and seek a more reputable provider to ensure accuracy and high-quality translations.
Consult a Trusted, Professional Translation Service
The most surefire way businesses can avoid online translation scams is to work with a known and respected company like ASTA-USA Translation Services. Founded in 1987, ASTA-USA has been providing translation of legal, financial, scientific, and technical government documents for some of the world’s best-known brands for more than three decades. ASTA-USA’s rigorous vetting process recruits only the most skilled language experts from our 700-plus primary translators and network of 12,700 translators and linguists worldwide. We require industry-specific knowledge and a minimum of 10 years of translation experience, ensuring that we will accurately replicate every translation from the source language—on time—every time. Connect with our professional translators today by giving us a call at 1.866.446.1860 or submitting an online inquiry to discuss your project.