I have used Craigslist many times to rent my rental properties, get rid of furniture, even used to do affiliate marketing through it (years ago). I had an website landing page that I needed translated and I wanted someone local to do it. I contacted a few people, one guy said he could do it for 0.06 cents per word, good price. I asked if he was from Vancouver and if we could meet to do the payment. I said this because I wanted to make sure he wasn’t a scammer. I already knew about online translation sites such as Google Translate. I also realize that it’s far from perfect to translate from English to other languages, so the best thing to do it hire someone to do it properly.
The guy calls himself “Chris” and he said he would start right away. He actually said he was from Vancouver, so I thought it would be fine. The next day (today), I emailed him to see how the project was coming along, and he said it was all done. Two minutes later I get an email from AlertPay.com (It’s an online payment processor, like PayPal) stating that deluxkicks@yahoo.com wants to be paid $72.00 U.S. Payment for the “translation”
screen shot of the email from AlertPay, from deluxkicks@yahoo.com (scammer)
Why is it US funds?
I then email him back asking why is it in U.S. funds and he says that he lives in Washington D.C. I told him to call me so I can talk to him, his number shows up as (301)437-9953. Maryland area code which is fine since Maryland is next to D.C. I ask him why he said he was from Vancouver in a previous and he said he needs to check his email (why?).
I tell him I wanted to deal with someone locally so I could meet them in person to make sure they weren’t just using an online translation web site to make some quick cash and scam me at the same time. Online translation sites do a poor job of making the article or words sounds proper. He says that I can let one of my friends who understands French to proof read it. He said he could email 1/2 the article for me to look at and then I could send the payment for $72.00 U.S after I approved. It all seemed like bull sh*t to me, such an easy scam really. “OK, send it and I look at it.”
Anyways he sends part of the article over and I went right to Google Translate and boom, it’s the same exact paragraghs word for word, just translated from English to French. Nice try scumbag.
You can give him a call if you want, (301)437-9953 ask for Chris the scammer. I think the number is a prepaid cell phone. Always be careful, someone is always ready to drain your wallet.
(screen shot of ad on Craigslist.com)
I found some one local who isn’t afraid to meet in person, lesson learned. Be careful on Craigslist.com deal locally!
January 13th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Thank you so much for posting this! I just had a close call with the very same guy. Like a trusting dummy I had already paid and then got a bad feeling… Thankfully Alertpay agreed to reverse the charges.
I’m going to post my cautionary tale on my own blog as well – maybe it’ll help stop that jerk from getting rich on this scam.
Phew. Again – thanks!
January 13th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
I’m glad you got your money back. All he does is use an online translator and give you your article translated in 2 seconds, the downside is the translation is 100% pure crap. The scammers phone number is, (301)437-9953. His email once again is deluxkicks@yahoo.com. Complete SCAM!
February 13th, 2010 at 12:31 am
Thanks for the heads-up! His other email is delpipidi2@yahoo.com
February 13th, 2010 at 7:46 am
Here is more info on this scumbag, apparently he sells Nike shoes, all his real contact info is here.
Address:3254 queenstown drive mount rainier MD 20712 USA
Phone:1-301-4379953
Contact name: Chris Delpipidi
July 13th, 2010 at 8:08 am
He’s posted also in Montreal and Toronto, he calls himself Chris Delpiero
August 6th, 2010 at 7:45 am
Unfortunately I got scammed by this guy. I’m pretty sure all he did was copy my resume into google translator – the result was a perfectly unusable document. $32 down the drain.
August 6th, 2010 at 7:48 am
File a complaint with PayPal! Don’t let that asshole get away with this bullshit!
August 27th, 2010 at 1:24 am
Dammit I wish I saw this sooner, I just got scammed by over $300 by this guy.
December 1st, 2010 at 2:38 am
few day ago i have decided to use alertpay for my game store [bdcybercore.com] but is this really alert pay is fake ?
December 2nd, 2010 at 7:00 am
Alert Pay isn’t a scam, it was the guy who used AlertPay.com who was the scammer…
December 4th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
AlertPay isn’t fake, the person who was using it was trying to scam me, it was not AlertPay’s fault.
January 13th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
I was scammed also: but I AM a professional translator! I only translate from French to English (English being my native language — professional standards dictate you only translate INTO your native language…). He subcontracted to me, and then wasn’t going to pay me — he coughed up half of it when I said I was going to contact Maryland legal authorities. He also violates Craigslist’s policies rampantly — Craigslist does not allow cross-city posting, yet he does this. I complained to Craigslist several times, literally years ago. They basically ignored me.
September 3rd, 2011 at 8:56 pm
I’m glad I did a search and found this. I’m emailing this guy for translation services. I guess I’ll have to find someone else.
Anyone got good suggestion for E->F translation? Places like http://www.languagemarketplace.ca are over my budget.