Warning       for our new members, about "John Francis" (nigerian scam)
  
  
     
GoTranslators:       www.gotranslators.com
      Contact: info@gotranslators.com
      
      
  
  
     
Dear Jovan         Odorovic,
      
Having been         informed by both Member and GoMember colleagues, we wish to alert you         to a new form of 'Nigerian scams' usurping the website of www.wordsolutions.net.         
      
 These crooks         contact translators via their personal contact form (and, as we have previously         explained, we cannot read personal emails sent via our servers         without this violating your privacy). 
      
For instance,         this e-mail received:
        
        MESSAGE DIRECTLY SENT
        BY CLICKING YOUR MAIL LINK
        [Private and unchecked mailing!]
      
Sender         IP: 41.219.147.90 [Port: 2147]
        Date: 05/01/2009 - 15H43 [BE time]
        (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1) / en-us)
        ----------------------
        Sender         : John Francis (wordsolutions30@yahoo.com)
        Recipient : xxx (xxx@gmail.com) 
        Attachment : --- --- 
        
        Subject : GoTranslators -Ttranslation job
        
        We currently         need translators for English to Greek translations respectively.Please         let me know if you"re interested.Thanks
        Regards,
        John
        WORD TRANSLATIONS SOLUTIONS
        www.wordsolutions.net
        Phone:6462916552
        Fax:1-1455-245-564
        
        +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
      
This         "Nigerian scam" is an old swindler process.
      
Mauritius         IP, false name, phone, address, surrealistic text, ...
      
 Crooks         of this type can get away with it for a long time before being caught         in the act because they use a number of plausible addresses and a number         of Internet Service Providers all at the same time.
        Even so, we can try and track them down by cross-checking…
        As a community, we can be sure that our actions will have greater influence!
      
If you are         one of the people who have been swindled by this kind of crook, please         do not hesitate in sending us the headers         of the first message received "from" GoTranslators         (in blue below) when you were in contact with them and any other details         which might help investigators to prevent these crooks from doing any         more damage (please e-mail luc@gotranslators.com).         
      
Example (as         above): 
      
From:         orchardvaletrust@aol.com
        Date: 09/01/2008         - 01H23 [BE time]
        To: (X)
        Subject: GoTranslators - Translation
      
----------------------
        MESSAGE DIRECTLY SENT
        BY CLICKING YOUR MAIL LINK
        [Private and unchecked mailing!]
      
Sender         IP: 41.219.243.24 [Port: 2036]
        Date: 09/01/2008 - 01H23 [BE time]
        (Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.11) Gecko/20071127         Firefox/2.0.0.11 TB Newsbar / en-us,en;q=0.5)
        ----------------------
        
        Sender         : Freebury Bob (orchardvaletrust@aol.com) 
        Recipient : You (youremail@yourprovider.com) 
        Attachment : --- --- 
      
We advise         you also to re-read our file: A to Z advice for freelance translators         on client relations. It contains lots of advice which will help         you to avoid bad professional encounters.
      
You can consult         our BAD PAYERS Tool which contains a list of all the         places where you can find out about the dubious clients who are running         wild in our profession.
      
Using the         header, you canalso form an initial impression of the seriousness of the         request made and, potentially, guard against any hidden attempt at fraud         on the part of your correspondent. How?
      
The         GoTranslators header features the Sender IP (for instance: Internet         Provider Sender         IP: 83.229.85.236)         address for the person contacting you. It is worth checking         the address and its actual origin in order to compare the address with         what your correspondent tells you about himself… In IT jargon, this         is known as a "WhoIs" request. 
        
        There are a number of free software packages that can be used with a Windows         operating system. From amongst these, the GoTranslators team has selected         Trace Route (http://www.d3tr.de/,         free download from: http://www.gotranslators.com/Upload/TraceRoute218.zip).         This software allows the user to identify the origin of any Sender IP         address.
        
        Once downloaded (1.55 Mb), copy the program to any directory (*) and run         it... 
      
(*) Do NOT         store the executable on the desktop. It will create additional files and         folders.
      

        
        It is now installed. To uninstall it, all you need to do is delete the         directory.
        
        To use it while you are connected to the internet:
      
 1-         Copy (CTRL-C) the IP address of the message received. 
      
 2-         Paste (CTRL-V) the address into TraceRoute as shown below:
      
      
 3-         Click on the "Whois and more" tab
      
      
4-         Click on the "as IP#" button
        
        You then get a series of details that may seem complicated at first         glance but they give you detailed information on the origin of the server         used by your correspondent (e.g.: below). 
      

        
        Equally, this information allows you to find the e-mail address of         the person responsible for the server in case of clear abuse :
      
          
      
 Finally,         in some cases, the data will refer you to other "WhoIs" sites,         or you can refine your search in order to gauge your correspondent a little         better: 
      
      
      
An Irish         correspondent using a Nigerian server?... There really is some doubt as         to the seriousness of the message!
        
        Please do not hesitate in using this tool in its freeware version         – it provides an excellent service every day in identifying and         disabling the main dangers of the internet!
      
      
  
         
      Hoping to be helpful,
      Luc Destruvaux
      GoTranslators
      www.gotranslators.com       
      info@gotranslators.com