Originally, I compiled the following tips in my role as Webmaster of the Northern California Translators Association, where I am in charge of maintaining the member directory. My goal is to keep directory inquiries as scam-free as possible. These tips are for fellow translators, interpreters, and language professionals to help them vet potential clients and avoid being scammed or left with unpaid invoices. This has become especially important due to recent events in the language sector, including several agencies filing for insolvency (see for example here, here, and here), along with an uptick in scam activity abusing association directories.
In general, clients can be classified into 3 categories:
- Language service providers AKA agencies
- Corporate direct clients
- Direct clients who are private individuals
Vetting Language Service Providers/Agencies
While most agencies are reliable to work with, a few bad apples exist, some of which end up filing for insolvency. However, there are several ways to vet agency clients before entering into any contracts. I recommend conducting thorough due diligence by checking multiple sources:
- Payment Practices – fee-based, currently $29.99 per year.
- ProZ Blue Board – basic info free; in-depth reviews accessible only to paying ProZ members
- Various groups.io discussion groups (free): World Payment Practices Free/WPPF, Zahlungspraxis (for the German-speaking market, as the name implies)
- Private and unlisted Facebook groups (free), including Speaking Dolphins and others
- Is the agency a member of an association? If yes (verify!), and if they don’t pay despite you keeping your end of the bargain, you may have a recourse by filing an ethics complaint — but that only works if the agency is an association member, associations have no jurisdiction over non-members.
If you know of other resources not listed here, please let me know!
However, when dealing with an agency representative, make sure you are, in fact, dealing with an authorized representative and not an impersonator:
- Does the email come from a domain name (the portion of the email address after the @) that is exactly the same as the official agency domain name on the Internet? Many years ago, I was defrauded by a copycat scam agency that impersonated a reputable agency by changing the .com to a .net.
- Do you have a contract and agreement in place that outlines the fee, delivery timeframe, detailed scope of the project, payment terms, and other pertinent details? Some smaller agencies send these out via an informal email, which is fine, because it is in writing and thus legally binding (at least in most jurisdictions).
Vetting Direct Clients – Companies and Corporations
Many of the same guidelines apply when dealing with corporate direct clients. While there is no general database for companies or corporations, you can verify whether the company exists both online and in real life.
- Conduct a general search engine inquiry and check for negative press. If there’s lots of negative press, either stay away from the project or ask for pre-payment via a secure form of payment – NOT a check, not a bank certified check, and not a cashier’s check – these are very easy to fake! More on that below, see private individuals.
- Check Glassdoor for company employment practices. You’re likely hired as an independent contractor, but you can get quite a bit of information from how they treat their employees.
- Confirm the company’s existence. I have encountered fake companies with elaborate websites that didn’t exist at the listed addresses. In the US, you can check company registrations of all LLCs and Corporations with the respective state’s Secretary of State. In California, this is easy, but I recently had to navigate the business search maze in another state. But this is part of doing your due diligence and is worth it.
- Does the email come from a domain name (the portion of the email address after the @) that is exactly the same as the official company domain name on the Internet? If the email purports to come from a company, regardless how large or small, but the sender’s email address is a gmail, hotmail, yahoo, or other free account, it’s a scam. Note, on the phone, this is very hard to verify, because by default, mobile email programs do not display the sender’s email address. Always check business emails on a desktop.
- Do you have a contract and agreement in place that outlines the fee, delivery timeframe, detailed scope of the project, payment terms, and other pertinent details? An informal email is fine, because it is in writing and thus legally binding (at least in most jurisdictions).
- Consider whether you have legal recourse if the client fails to pay, particularly if they’re based in a different country. If the company is sitting on the other side of the planet, it might be hard to get paid if there are no means for debt collection available. You might think about pre-payment (more on that below, see private individuals).
Direct Clients – Private Individuals
It is very hard to vet direct clients, especially if you are transacting with the private individual entirely online, as is the case for most translation projects involving private individuals. Most of my direct clients use a free email address such as gmail, hotmail, yahoo, or others. There’s next to no recourse if the client disappears without paying. Small claims court may be an option in the U.S., but it’s usually more trouble than it’s worth. So, what to do?
I always insist on payment in advance via a payment processor with buyer and seller protection. Do NOT accept a check, not even a cashier’s check, because these can all be faked easily. For the buyer/seller protection to take effect, you will need a detailed agreement in place, including the fee, delivery timeframe, and project scope.
I personally use Stripe, because it has the lowest fees among the options I have tried. For European clients, I simply use a standard SEPA bank transfer. While SEPA is not 100% secure and irreversible, it’s a lot safer than a paper check in the US. Other options include PayPal and other payment processors, sometimes involving higher fees. I calculate the fees into my pricing, and so far, in 14 years, not a single private client has complained about having to pre-pay. After all, when you go into a store, you always pay before leaving with the merchandise.
In addition, I use an email template that outlines my terms and conditions in a professional manner and serves as the aforementioned detailed agreement. This not only creates a professional image but also ensures both parties are protected. I know I will get paid, and my clients know that I will deliver the translation on time, every time.
More Information on Scams
In the past, I have blogged extensively on scams in the language sector. NCTA has compiled a list of resources here. I will also be speaking about scams at the upcoming OSTI conference.
If you have any questions or know of some resources not listed here, please let me know!
