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How to deal with a new client via email?
Thread poster: Hong Nguyen
Hong Nguyen
Hong Nguyen
Vijetnam
Local time: 05:36
English to Vietnamese
+ ...
Apr 12

Hello,

I happened to get an email for a new customer translation service via their Gmail address. They found me via my Proz profile. They provided me a project for translating a document of 10,000 words. What should I do in this case?
Thank you so much for your advice!
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 23:36
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Hello Apr 12

A client who turns up out of the blue with a 10,000-word project deserves suspicion. What should you do? Investigate it thoroughly. Google their name and address. Is this potential client on Proz with a BB? In my experience, I'd say it's a scam…

Rachel Waddington
Yossi Rozenman
Zea_Mays
Richard Jacobs
Dan Lucas
Kevin Fulton
Jorge Payan
 
Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo
Local time: 23:36
Dutch to English
+ ...
Be careful Apr 12

I'm not sure what your question is. What do you mean by 'what should I do'?

Your first step should be to verify that the client is real and likely to pay you for your work. The gmail address and fairly large project straight off the bat are red flags but we don't have much information to go on. Is this a translation agency? Do they have a Blue Board rating?

It would be a good idea to get at least a partial payment up front if this is possible.

Richard Jacobs
Dan Lucas
Kevin Fulton
expressisverbis
Andrus Lauringson
Maria Laura Curzi
Hong Nguyen
 
Richard Jacobs
Richard Jacobs  Identity Verified
Holandija
Local time: 00:36
Member (2020)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Investigate, be careful Apr 12

Gmail is a big red flag for me, so google the client, see what their site is like (if they have any as they use Gmail), maybe even ask ChatGPT or something similar to do a thorough online search for them. But my guess is that it's a scam, and the fact they found your info on Proz.com doesn't mean anything really.

Dan Lucas
Rachel Waddington
Kevin Fulton
Jorge Payan
expressisverbis
Maria Laura Curzi
Hong Nguyen
 
Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
Sjedinjene Američke Države
Local time: 18:36
German to English
Don't bother to reply Apr 12

Give this offer no further thought. There little likelihood that a proposal from an unknown entity via Gmail is legitimate. I wouldn't be surprised if it came from a "non-logged-in user".

Dan Lucas
expressisverbis
Rachel Waddington
Hong Nguyen
Thayenga
Dalia Nour
Jorge Payan
 
Hong Nguyen
Hong Nguyen
Vijetnam
Local time: 05:36
English to Vietnamese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you for the advice! Apr 13

Thank you all so much for the valuable advice!
It means a lot to me. I will go through all the necessary steps before deciding to work with them. But probably not as it sounds like a scam project.
Have a lovely weekend!
 


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How to deal with a new client via email?







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