Thread poster: Sara Ruela
Sara Ruela
Sara Ruela  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 19:39
Member (2019)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Apr 1, 2020

Yesterday I received MY email template I use to contact new clients by [email protected], mentioning a company I have never contacted (Grampian).

In the subject line, it was mentioned: 'Check the attachment, I think we might have a few inconsistencies that need fixing before we send it further.' They put a link to an attachment. I tried to download the file but my computer reported it as dangerous,
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Yesterday I received MY email template I use to contact new clients by [email protected], mentioning a company I have never contacted (Grampian).

In the subject line, it was mentioned: 'Check the attachment, I think we might have a few inconsistencies that need fixing before we send it further.' They put a link to an attachment. I tried to download the file but my computer reported it as dangerous, I'm scared of opening as it could have some kind of virus.

I usually send this email template with my CV attached and sometimes, with my Degree Certificate and a Recommendation Letter.

My guess was that they sent the email to me by mistake.

I replied asking if they were impersonating me and telling that it is a crime and I would report to the authorities. I then received this email from G Suite Alerts:

'This Phishing message detected post-delivery alert is to inform you that Google automatically reclassified messages as phishing.

The alert details include:

Summary: Google detected and reclassified 1 message(s) from [email protected] as phishing post-delivery. These messages have either already been interacted with or been whitelisted. The messages will remain in the user's inboxes until removed manually. There was 1 recipient(s).
Activity date: Wednesday, Apr 1, 2020 7:13:00 AM (UTC)
Actor: [email protected]
Total messages: 1
Received by: [email protected]
Severity: MEDIUM'


I have found a Danielle Poole that works for the NGO Srebrenica (https://www.linkedin.com/company/remembering-srebrenica/people/) on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-poole-a7057b111/) but the profile looks fake, there's no photo and there's minimal information.

Be aware of this situation, this person is trying to impersonate me, using my professional data and signature.

I have reported this situation to Translator Scammers, and I will spread this as much as possible.

Let me know if any of you have been through a similar situation and what did you do.
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Katarzyna Slowikova
Katarzyna Slowikova  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 20:39
English to Czech
+ ...
What's going on here...? Apr 1, 2020

I don't understand why you think they're impersonating you. From what you wrote at the beginning I understood it was an email from a company you don't recall contacting, addressed to you and asking for additional details.
If it was an email offering (your) services to somebody (as impersonation), than I'm quite confused what's the role of that "company you have never contacted" in relation to the one in the domain.

I think the easiest way to clarify this would be to post the
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I don't understand why you think they're impersonating you. From what you wrote at the beginning I understood it was an email from a company you don't recall contacting, addressed to you and asking for additional details.
If it was an email offering (your) services to somebody (as impersonation), than I'm quite confused what's the role of that "company you have never contacted" in relation to the one in the domain.

I think the easiest way to clarify this would be to post the content of the initial message.

As to the LinkedIn profile, there're many with no photos and almost no information. This is no indication of the profile being "fake". Fake profiles tend to have a stolen (often cheesy) photo and info.
The Google warning - it's confusing but I for example get a warning of unauthorized access EVERY time I log into my account online (i.e. not in my email client). It has probably something to do with the cookies that I fight quite vehemently. So Google warnings in itself are not a safe indication that something sinister is going on.
It's also very weird for a scammer/impersonator to use an official domain with "org".

All in all, I'd be careful with publicizing this case before you really know what's going on, you may as well smear a perfectly legal and honest organization.

[Edited at 2020-04-01 11:54 GMT]
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Sara Ruela
Sara Ruela  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 19:39
Member (2019)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Confirmed scam! Apr 1, 2020

Obviously, I'm not accusing the NGO Srebrenic, I'm just disclosing the email that was used.

This was confirmed as a SCAM by Translator Scammers, I'm not authorized to disclose more information.

Be extremely careful to whom you send emails and your CVs!


 
Katarzyna Slowikova
Katarzyna Slowikova  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 20:39
English to Czech
+ ...
More confusion Apr 1, 2020

Sara Ruela wrote:

Obviously, I'm not accusing the NGO Srebrenic, I'm just disclosing the email that was used.


The email belongs to the NGO. So right now you're accusing them of being scammers.

This was confirmed as a SCAM by Translator Scammers, I'm not authorized to disclose more information.


What exactly was confirmed?
You're really not helping to clarify things.


 
Sara Ruela
Sara Ruela  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 19:39
Member (2019)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Goodbye Apr 1, 2020

Dear Katarzyna, I'm not going to start an argument with you, I'm sorry.
I have nothing left to say, I have given all the information I could. If the ProZ Team has anything else to make clear, they will contact me.
Have a nice day.


Jessica Noyes
 
Rachael Barton (X)
Rachael Barton (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:39
French to English
+ ...
Scam Apr 1, 2020

I think this is a scam. I received the same email, again as an apparent reply to an email I had sent but the timestamp from my email had been removed though I know it's old as the signature is an old one.

There was no mention of the company Grampian but the message I received simply said "Hello, Wanted to run this by you before we move this forward. Check the file attached and tell me what you think." followed by a hyperlink which said "Attached document".

I don't think
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I think this is a scam. I received the same email, again as an apparent reply to an email I had sent but the timestamp from my email had been removed though I know it's old as the signature is an old one.

There was no mention of the company Grampian but the message I received simply said "Hello, Wanted to run this by you before we move this forward. Check the file attached and tell me what you think." followed by a hyperlink which said "Attached document".

I don't think the scam has anything to do with the NGO Srebrenica but rather someone has managed to get hold of this email to make it seem legitimate. Next to the [email protected] email address it has the name "sumaya.salih" as the name of the sender which raises alarm bells to me as it does not match the email address.

I have written to the email separately to make them aware, so hopefully they can do something about it.
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Yolanda Broad
Katarzyna Slowikova
Wout Van den Broeck (X)
 
Katarzyna Slowikova
Katarzyna Slowikova  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 20:39
English to Czech
+ ...
Yes, THIS is scam Apr 2, 2020

Rachael Barton wrote:
"Hello, Wanted to run this by you before we move this forward. Check the file attached and tell me what you think." followed by a hyperlink which said "Attached document".


This is quite typical scammer gibberish.
A simple google search of the email body returned this forum:
http://www.master194.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=111234
I don't speak French but I understand (just based on GT) there's talk of hacked email account and later of a hacked server (?). So maybe the NGO's domain was hacked? And you received the scam email since your message was in the hacked mailbox? Did you contact the NGO previously?
This would also mean the NGO is being impersonated here, not the recipient of the scam email (which didn't make sense from the beginning).
Contacting them is surely a good idea but it would make sense to use a different address, if they have one. Or a different channel altogether, like that LinkedIn profile.

Checking the header will help clarify where did the email come from. I also don't understand where did the other name appear. I only see either address or a name as a sender - in Thunderbird as well as in my online mailboxes, never both of them next to each other. Unless you meant somewhere in the header.

[Edited at 2020-04-02 02:04 GMT]


 


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