Musings from an overworked translator

Non-payer warning: Ecole USA now operating as Ecole Global Solutions (EGS) and/or Global Solutions Group February 23, 2012

I have received word that the agency I refer to as “Dear Client,” Ecole USA, has no intention of ever paying their debts for translation services that have been rendered by numerous translators. If you are owed money (and I know many of you are based on the e-mails I have received) I suggest you file a police report for fraud against the following. If we can do it against Edith Trenou (aka Touareg) then we can do it against Ecole. My debt of $59.08 isn’t worth my taking any action (and frankly I feel I have gotten my money’s worth by writing about them in the blog). I plan on writing it off in April as a business loss. However, I know several translators are owed at least four figures.

They used to operate under the name Ecole BA SRL in Argentina. The information provided on the website is old. I have been told they moved their offices and have not told anyone the new information. They have also offices in the U.S. (Houston), under another name, EGS or Ecole Global Solutions. I have it on good authority that they are using it from now on and pretending they are somebody else.

The owners names are: DANIEL TOREA & CARLOS NACUZZI. They are responsible for all behind the scenes. The project manager CLAUDIA VOSS is the one who contacts the translators. There may be others working with them, because they allegedly hire and fire people all the time.

9/4/2012 Update: they have abandoned the @ecoleusa.com address and are now using @glsolutionsgroup.com. They are operating as Global Solutions Group

Warning about Touareg, Inc. / Touareg SARL / Edith Trenou February 17, 2012

Edith Trenou (a/k/a Edith Adjoke, Edith Adjoke-Trenou, Ameyo Edith, Ameyo Trenou, Edith Dackey, and Marie Edith Anna Rebecca Ameyo Dackey) doing business as Touareg, Touareg, Inc. (USA), and/or Touareg SARL (France) was booked at the Gwinnett County Detention Center on January 20th, 2012, on ten (10) felony counts of theft of services. Ms. Trenou was released on US$35,000 secure-bond bail and is under investigation by the Gwinnett County Police Department for theft of services.

http://www.gwinnettcountysheriff.com/asp/docketmonth.asp

Ms. Trenou’s predatory practices have been documented since at least 2006 and have affected scores of T&I professionals.

If you are performing or have performed any work for Ms. Trenou or her associates “Isabelle Vialette” or “Elodie Marias,” please get in touch with me at your earliest convenience. I can direct you to someone who can help.

Anyone who falls for this deserves to be scammed… February 7, 2012

I just received this e-mail, which was entitled “interpreter or translator request. Reservation”. My warning bells went off with the subject line and my suspicions were only confirmed as I continued to read. Can you count how many red flags this e-mail sets off for me? First of all, any e-mail that starts off with “Greetings” with no personal greeting gets immediately sent to the trash. He doesn’t mention what country it is. The U.S. is a big country. There isn’t even mention of a region, city or state. Not to mention he doesn’t even know what language I work in. Then it seems as if he needs an interpreter although he keeps mentioning he needs a “translator.” And I don’t know any conference that goes for 8 whole days. Good thing I don’t have a “facility to accept credit card payments.” Well, I do, but I’m certainly not going to share it with him… This e-mail went straight into the Trash after copying it for your benefit.

Greetings!

My name is Dr Jenkins Patterson, I want to make an enquiry for booking a translator for 10 people that will be coming to your  country for a 8 days meeting. bellow are details our program and translator requirements

From 16th May to the of 24th May 2012

Duration Of Services: 10:00am to 15:00pm (6hrs per day) for 8 days
We will need consecutive interpretation
calculate 6hrs per day for 8days , and get me the total cost.

Topic of meeting…disadvantages of a broken home..

NOTE…please i will like to know the languages you can translate.

Mode Of Payment: Payment would be made via credit cards for convenience purposes. Hope you have the facility to accept credit card payments?

types of CREDIT CARDS you accept so that we can make a deposit payment to secure the booking ASAP.

Kindly advise availability of a translator and the TOTAL COST including your mode of your services for the 8 days booking,

Get back to me with details so that we can make proceeds on the booking and as well make other arrangements for our trip.

Regards,

Dr Jenkins Patterson

Beware this scammer January 17, 2012

ProZ.com sometimes offers good services even though its moderation leaves something to be desired. It recently published a list of fake names and aliases used by ONLY ONE scammer on their site. This list was sent through WPPF, one of the non-payment listservs that I mentioned last week. As the list owner stated, “He must be very active, as Proz found necessary to publish the full list.”

Be sure to check out this list and be careful :

http://www.proz.com/blueboard.php/36175#

A scam that isn’t translation related September 27, 2010

I thought you all might need a chuckle this Monday. I received an e-mail from an acquaintance this morning informing me she was stuck in London and needed a loan. Yeah, right. I listen to the news and know not to believe this stuff. I responded to the e-mail telling her it looked like she had been hacked. The hacker actually had the nerve to respond to me.

It’s me.. this is for real, i’m doing everything i can to work my way out of here peacefully.. i have checked with the consulate but there is nothing really working out, most important is i dont have enough money on please, please i need you to loan me some, i can pay you back in couple of days.

I called her at work and let her know that she needed to call the police and her ISP as soon as possible. Since I know this kind of thing is brushed off by the police I took it upon myself to write the hacker back and inform them that I had just spoken with her and had given her the number to my “colleagues at the FBI.” I thought about mentioning the fact that she has a good friend with the State Department that would help her in a situation like this, but I didn’t want to give them too much information. I hope they soiled themselves just a little bit, but probably they will just cross her off the list and move on to the next victim. If you get an e-mail from a friend who was “mugged in London” and needs “help flying back home” don’t believe it or call the person and verify the information.