Is this a scam? Probably Téma indítója: PJavier Gonzalez
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I received an email from a guy called Steve John offering me a job (he has a gmail account, [email protected], but explained that he was a project manager of sorts.) He said the payment was $50 per page. We kept in touch only via Telegram. Anyway, I did a small translation and, when I delivered it, he asked me to send it [email protected] to have it ve... See more I received an email from a guy called Steve John offering me a job (he has a gmail account, [email protected], but explained that he was a project manager of sorts.) He said the payment was $50 per page. We kept in touch only via Telegram. Anyway, I did a small translation and, when I delivered it, he asked me to send it [email protected] to have it verified. After a couple of hours (way too quickly in my opinion) I´ve received an email saying that it was fine and put me in contact (again, via Telegram) with another person called Alexander Lorenzo, who was the person responsible to make the payment. He first sent me the link to an online bank, but the link was dead. So he send me another link to a bank called easy-access-finance.vercel.app. I registered and, sure enough, the payment was made. But when I tried to withdraw it I was asked for a code (the webpage said it was a Federal VAT number but, when I said I don´t reside in the States, I was told that actually they provide that code and asked me for a €230 fee for "administrative costs", which could be made via PayPal, Skrill, Western Union, etc.) Then I told Alexander that I didn´t want to pay that fee and if there was a way to get his money back, so he can pay me via PayPal or bank transfer. He immediately proceed to send me this:
"The code is an essential and non-transferable requirement for all our members. This code is crucial as it serves as the key for processing and withdrawing all your payments during your engagement with us. It remains valid throughout the entire duration of your work with us and does not expire until your involvement with our platform is complete."
When I insisted that I will not pay any fee just to be paid, they (now both Steve and Alexander) kept insisting that I should pay it, as that was they only way I´ll get paid and keep working with them. Again, I refused. And, after going back and forth with this, I finally told them to forget about it.
Has anyone have this experience? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | | Daryo
Egyesült Királyság
Local time: 14:36
szerb - angol
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this site easy-access-finance.vercel.app is a subdomain of vercel.app, a site/provider meant for 'total web newbies' who want a 'quickie website' cobbled from templates.
The 'contact info' for easy-access-finance is simply non-existent, nowhere to be seen; they use the word 'bank' without any mention of the country they're supposed to be based in, nor any mention whatsoever of which financial regulator authorised them to operate as a bank etc etc etc...
There is no way... See more this site easy-access-finance.vercel.app is a subdomain of vercel.app, a site/provider meant for 'total web newbies' who want a 'quickie website' cobbled from templates.
The 'contact info' for easy-access-finance is simply non-existent, nowhere to be seen; they use the word 'bank' without any mention of the country they're supposed to be based in, nor any mention whatsoever of which financial regulator authorised them to operate as a bank etc etc etc...
There is no way that any real 'bank' (or even a simple 'payment provider') would operate that way!
If you know who is the final client and you have kept EVERYTHING related to this job (so you can prove what work was done and that it's you who done it), you could contact the final client, inform them that you hold the copyright until being paid and request a payment from them.
Otherwise simply write off everything - and invest some time in improving your due diligence. You just got the proof that it's worth the effort. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 15:36
Tag (2020 óta)
francia - holland
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Also: the combo Telegram/gmail is a huge red flag. Project managers don't have gmail addresses (or at least not as their primary address).
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There are exceptions when it comes to Gmail. To begin with, I, for example, have been using Gmail since I moved to Portugal and have never cheated a single soul. Then, my oldest-standing client (a Belgian agency) with whom I've been working for many years also uses Gmail. Even more noteworthy, a few years ago, I was contacted by someone with a Gmail address saying that they had a long project (over 80,000 words) on human rights (one of my favourite subjects). After some hesitation and a long exc... See more There are exceptions when it comes to Gmail. To begin with, I, for example, have been using Gmail since I moved to Portugal and have never cheated a single soul. Then, my oldest-standing client (a Belgian agency) with whom I've been working for many years also uses Gmail. Even more noteworthy, a few years ago, I was contacted by someone with a Gmail address saying that they had a long project (over 80,000 words) on human rights (one of my favourite subjects). After some hesitation and a long exchange of e-mails, my correspondent, a PM in an important intergovernmental organisation, said that his Gmail address was used for first contacts to avoid being flooded with unwanted applications. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 15:36
Tag (2020 óta)
francia - holland
+ ...
I guess there will always be exceptions. Not sure this also applies to the combo Telegram/gmail, though.
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