Agency asking to pay them $20 Thread poster: Yakov Katsman
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Yakov Katsman 
United States
Local time: 16:56
Member (2016)
English to Russian
Just received letter from Agency on PROZ with strange request - see below:
Dear Translator,
Hope you are well. I was wondering if you can collaborate with our
company for English to Russian translation projects. We currently
have few requests for Russian and are looking for a qualified
translator. If interested,
Please send me your resume.
You will need to fill and sign our NDA and other documents.
You will have ... See more Just received letter from Agency on PROZ with strange request - see below:
Dear Translator,
Hope you are well. I was wondering if you can collaborate with our
company for English to Russian translation projects. We currently
have few requests for Russian and are looking for a qualified
translator. If interested,
Please send me your resume.
You will need to fill and sign our NDA and other documents.
You will have to do a basic background check for which we will
reimburse you. Its done online and cost approx. $20.00. At the end
of the check, you will need to submit the report.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Amir Khan
KTL Communications LLC
Is it some scam? ▲ Collapse
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Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 16:56
Japanese to English
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| Background checks | Apr 22, 2016 |
Having worked with some agencies which require this, I can say that it is the agencies which pay for this.
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Maria Guzenko
United States
Local time: 16:56
English to Russian
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| same request | Apr 22, 2016 |
Hi Yakov,
I just got the same request. I'm going to ask them to pay for any testing.
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DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
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| 'few requests' to pay the payer to get paid | Apr 22, 2016 |
Funny, and what is the purpose to pay a prospect client (payer) upfront?
An upfront test payment from them would nicely do)
Last rare time I saw a similar case it was something like--oh gosh mine!--adding (!) to and maintaining (!) a computerized (!) database (!)
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Yakov Katsman wrote:
"You will have to do a basic background check for which we will
reimburse you. Its done online and cost approx. $20.00. At the end
of the check, you will need to submit the report."
I have searched the web for "basic background check". I had never heard of this before, to be honest. But why paying for what's apparently a basic preventive measure for a company?
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 16:56
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
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| 2 points to make | Apr 22, 2016 |
Susana E. Cano Méndez wrote:
I have searched the web for "basic background check". I had never heard of this before, to be honest. But why paying for what's apparently a basic preventive measure for a company?
1. The company will reimburse the translator for the amount to be spent;
2. It is not only a basic preventive measure for a company. Presumably it is beneficial to the translator, too. This is because other agencies might request the same background report from the translator.
I found the title of the thread misleading. You will not "pay them $20". It is the background check company that charges the fee.
[Edited at 2016-04-22 10:49 GMT]
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jyuan_us wrote:
1. The company will reimburse the translator for the amount to be spent;
They say...
jyuan_us wrote: 2. It is not only a basic preventive measure for a company. Presumably it is beneficial to the translator, too. This is because other agencies might request the same background report from the translator.
So the translator keeps the report or it's publicly available?
Interesting to be informed of this possibility.
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It's a scam, of course. If they need a background check done that badly and it only costs $20, they can pay for it upfront and subtract it from your first invoice if/when they ever give you work.
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SylvieLH
France
Local time: 22:56
Russian to French
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| probably a scam | Apr 22, 2016 |
I've never had such request so far. When I am requested to make a short translation test (not payed), I happen to agree if I feel I can get some job opportunities afterwards. But I would never pay to be tested. I work in order to get money, not to give money, whatever the purpose (test, translation) can be.
As this request was made through ProZ, I would refer this matter to Alexandro and ask him what he thinks.
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The Misha
Local time: 16:56
Russian to English
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| And that $20 part is the only thing that bothers you? | Apr 22, 2016 |
Otherwise, you are perfectly willing to submit to a "background check" by God knows who God knows where? I know I am not. In the US, we call it privacy, and I like mine just fine.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:56
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Never respond | Apr 22, 2016 |
Yakov Katsman wrote:
Its done online and cost approx. $20.00.
As a matter of principle I never respond to anyone who doesn't know the difference between its and it's. And "cost" should be"costs".
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| I would ignore them | Apr 22, 2016 |
Dear members,
When you do risk management, the burden of proof is inverted. Instead of you having to find a smoking gun in order to prove that an offer involves a scam, you should rather look for evidence that the offer is good. This way the gray area in between is also excluded and the analysis becomes cost-effective.
One of the rules of thumb I use when performing risk management is to NEVER respond to an offer that asks me to pay up-front to get a a job opportunity.<... See more Dear members,
When you do risk management, the burden of proof is inverted. Instead of you having to find a smoking gun in order to prove that an offer involves a scam, you should rather look for evidence that the offer is good. This way the gray area in between is also excluded and the analysis becomes cost-effective.
One of the rules of thumb I use when performing risk management is to NEVER respond to an offer that asks me to pay up-front to get a a job opportunity.
Please note that I am not saying that this is a scam, just that I apply a set of rules that would make me ignore this offer.
Freelancers are one-person companies, and each one should define their own set of risk-management rules. Asking for advice is a good idea, but your policies are your responsability, as you are the one who will pay the price if they fail to protect you.
I would simply ignore this offer without a second thought.
Regards,
Enrique ▲ Collapse
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Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 02:26
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
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SITE LOCALIZER | I knew it would come to this | Apr 22, 2016 |
The way prices were plummetting, this was only to be expected! Now we finally have seen the day, when we have to pay clients for doing their translations, instead of the other way round.
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The Misha
Local time: 16:56
Russian to English
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| No, we haven't, and we don't | Apr 22, 2016 |
Balasubramaniam L. wrote:
Now we finally have seen the day, when we have to pay clients for doing their translations, instead of the other way round.
The sky is not falling. It's still there.
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| Amir Khan????? | Apr 22, 2016 |
Sounds like a character from Startrek.
We need each other, so what about payment to register?????
Big scam, stay away from them! (when it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, walks like a duck....)
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