The "freebie back-translation" scam - is this a thing? Thread poster: Colin Smith
|
|---|
Colin Smith
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:59
French to English
+ ...
Forgive me if there is already a thread on this, but I haven't found it.
The last two jobs I applied for via the Proz jobs page featured a short translation test. Nothing untoward there.
In each case, the text to be translated (into English) was clearly a French translation of text taken from a UK company's English language website - one was a major UK cash transporter, and the other a reality TV channel. I found the originally English versions easily on their websites.... See more Forgive me if there is already a thread on this, but I haven't found it.
The last two jobs I applied for via the Proz jobs page featured a short translation test. Nothing untoward there.
In each case, the text to be translated (into English) was clearly a French translation of text taken from a UK company's English language website - one was a major UK cash transporter, and the other a reality TV channel. I found the originally English versions easily on their websites.
In both cases, I sent the test translations and never heard a thing from either company. Follow-up emails have been ignored.
Are these companies simply getting free back-translations (FR>EN) to assess the quality of a larger EN>FR project they have just completed for the clients in question? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mr. Satan (X)
English to Indonesian
Without any solid evidence, nobody can tell for sure. But the possibility does exist. Some opined the test should only worth an hour of the translator's time to finish. That would be 200 to 500 words for written documents, and 2 to 5 runtime minutes for audiovisual contents. A policy like this could mitigate the risk of being scammed. Even so, it may not be sufficient. Small jobs with such volumes are not unheard of, and they are below the minimum charge imposed by many freelance translators. It... See more Without any solid evidence, nobody can tell for sure. But the possibility does exist. Some opined the test should only worth an hour of the translator's time to finish. That would be 200 to 500 words for written documents, and 2 to 5 runtime minutes for audiovisual contents. A policy like this could mitigate the risk of being scammed. Even so, it may not be sufficient. Small jobs with such volumes are not unheard of, and they are below the minimum charge imposed by many freelance translators. It may not necessarily be outrageous to speculate that a rogue client is masquerading these small jobs as free translation tests. This is one of several instances where our own ToS can work against us. 
IMHO, a solution is to see if the test material contains 500 words/5 runtime minutes at maximum AND consisted of an amalgamation of random, unrelated contents being stitched together. On the one hand, this is bad because candidates would have to work on decontextualized source texts, which might affect their performance. On the other, this is good because it's highly unlikely this scheme would be utilized to scam people. To undermine the translators, a rogue client will have to segregate the main document from a project into different parts, mix them with other real or made-up projects, and send each candidate a unique copy for them to translate. Once all translators submitted them back, the rogue client would have to reverse the process. Remember that in every crime, an attacker will always target the lowest-hanging fruit.
But of course, there is a place for Occam's razor in most if not all situations. Without referring to you specifically, the translator may just suck and failed to pass the test. The client/agency didn't send a follow-up simply because they know full well that translators are going to fight tooth and nails to defend their translations. As for recycling web contents for test material, this can be attributed to laziness on the client/agency's part.
Colin Smith wrote:
Are these companies simply getting free back-translations (FR>EN) to assess the quality of a larger EN>FR project they have just completed for the clients in question?
Let's entertain your hypothesis. Why would the agency need a new translator to assess the output quality of their previous project? Can't the end client tell the agency directly that the translations are problematic? And if the end client had no complaint, why would they bother to revisit a past project? That's one flaw to this argument. The second, is if they care so much about quality that they decided to contact a new translator for a third opinion to maintain their reputation, wouldn't scamming people contradict this goal? I can't see any logic in trying to win the market by providing high-quality translations, while at the same time putting your company at risk of a criminal investigation and public outcry.
Then you may counter the points above by stating that perhaps the previous translator was incompetent, and they trust you more. And since their scheme is hard to divulge, they can get away with it easily. But that's a lot of assumptions.
Footnote:
Look, I don't oppose free tests like some translators on these forums do. Think of it like a trial period before you purchase a license for software. It's totally fair for the potential customer if they want to evaluate the program before making a commitment, methinks. While translators can showcase their past works as a portfolio on their websites, some of us who are subject to strict NDAs may not be legally allowed to do so.
[Edited at 2023-09-10 06:35 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » The "freebie back-translation" scam - is this a thing? | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
| | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
