Dodgy-looking Saint Petersburg site

[bobs12]

Just by coindcidence I happened upon an advert from this site looking for translators:

www love-formula com

The ad reads:

Duties: Writing [note: not translating] letters in English, holding electronic correspondence.

Requirements: Fluent English, fast typing (min 150 chars/min), attention to detail, high written literacy, careful, perseverent, responsible, good-willing [?!], communicable, female, living in SPb.

Conditions: Payment for trial period - $300 - $400, later $400 - $700


Does that look dodgy or what?

[andrewfi]

Why?

Looks like a reasonable set of requirements for an agency offering translations of correspondence.

Wages seem fair, the site exists.

[SANDRO43]

the site exists.

Yes, the site exists. However, even though it says ©2005 Love-Formula, it appears to be a newly/recently-created site :

1. Only 84 profiles
2. Many of their girls are also on YEVA4U, of which :
-  One is a scammer who has been contacting me recently
-  Two are double dealers reported on my website

So, on the whole, a bit smelly, I'd say.

[andrewfi]

But there is nothing odd about the advert as the OP thought. Agencies need translators. This is not recent news. What is new is that they are planning to pay decent wages.

[SANDRO43]

But there is nothing odd about the advert as the OP thought. Agencies need translators. This is not recent news. What is new is that they are planning to pay decent wages.

Andrew, if you put these facts together :

1. Writing, not translating (OK, it may be an innocent mistake/miswrite)
2. New site, few new girls, some with a shady past/present.
3. Decent wages (hazardous-job rates ? )

then you MIGHT feel a little suspicious of their operation. Anyway, only time and someone's personal experience will tell. Personally, I should steer well clear of them.

[Admin]

Andrew, if you put these facts together :

1. Writing, not translating (OK, it may be an innocent mistake/miswrite)
2. New site, few new girls, some with a shady past/present.
3. Decent wages (hazardous-job rates ? )

then you MIGHT feel a little suspicious of their operation. Anyway, only time and someone's personal experience will tell. Personally, I should steer well clear of them.

But there is nothing odd about the advert as the OP thought. Agencies need translators. This is not recent news. What is new is that they are planning to pay decent wages.

Guys,

This seems an excellent exchange to be a part of the Agency Standards discussion. How about it - care to contribute to the body of standards about what agencies SHOULD do?? Find it here -- http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?board=38.0

- Dan

[Michelangelo]

But there is nothing odd about the advert as the OP thought. Agencies need translators. This is not recent news. What is new is that they are planning to pay decent wages.

Duties: Writing [note: not translating] letters in English, holding electronic correspondence.

Hmmm... i read that as writing, or creating fake letters, to send to men.  Odd and dishonest...

[Bruno]

Just by coindcidence I happened upon an advert from this site looking for translators:

Bob, can you give us the URL where you have find these advert ?

[Michelangelo]

Bobs12 !

Every time I see that name I read it as...

Boobs

Guess you know what I'm missing... 

[andrewfi]

OK, so  firm that is willing to pay decent rates to people to do a proper job is one to avoid?

Hazardous job rates?

Don't be daft.
No wonder you guys are without girlfriends or heading toward yet another divorce.

[bobs12]

Two adverts:

http://www.rabota.ru/view/vacancy/8338510/

http://www.rabota.ru/view/vacancy/8338233/

The rates offered are too high for just 'writing back and forth with potential clients'-type jobs.

Make of them what you will 

[Michelangelo]

OK, so  firm that is willing to pay decent rates to people to do a proper job is one to avoid?

Hazardous job rates?

Don't be daft.
No wonder you guys are without girlfriends or heading toward yet another divorce.

Proper job? 

They advertised they wanted someone to WRITE letters, not translate letters.

Proper scam I suppose.

[Bruno]

Proper job? 

They advertised they wanted someone to WRITE letters, not translate letters.

Proper scam I suppose.

Again some fast theory about a imaginary conspiracy without any evidence...

Who say that these translator will write love letter ? Maybe, it is simply some director's secretary who reply to information query from customer... If it was Coca-cola in Russia who have publish so ads, everybody will have find these advert normal... Why a marriage agency who deal mainly with English speaking people cannot hire a translator for write letter and take care of electronic correspondence... these translator can write letter dictate by the director, reply to complain, explain the modality of service to customer...

Please, stop these paranoia behaviour... don't accuse someone to be a scammer with nothing real !

[bobs12]

Sorry Bruno, but I was referring to the wording of the advert in Russian. It doesn't mention anything about translating, it says the job is writing - a very distinct incongruity in a Russian advert for a translator.

Check out other translation job adverts on the same site to see the standard form for translator adverts - they specify the translating experience required (this job seemingly requires none - impossible for that salary - experienced technical translators don't generally make that much), the type of translation to be undertaken (technical, medical, personal, etc.).

I'm not saying it's an outright scam, I simply introduced it as 'dodgy-looking', which I stand by. The forum is titled 'Scammers and Suspect Agencies' - I'd say this looks a tad suspect. I can call & ask some fun questions if anyone is interested 

[Bruno]

Sorry Bruno, but I was referring to the wording of the advert in Russian. It doesn't mention anything about translating, it says the job is writing - a very distinct incongruity in a Russian advert for a translator.

 Переводчик (от 400 до 700 USD) 

Check out other translation job adverts on the same site to see the standard form for translator adverts - they specify the translating experience required (this job seemingly requires none - impossible for that salary - experienced technical translators don't generally make that much)

Требования:  Полный рабочий день   женщина, возраст от 21 до 28, образование высшее

Similar to the advert at http://www.rabota.ru/view/vacancy/8613137/

Требования:  Полный рабочий день   мужчина, возраст от 21 до 32, образование высшее

But these other advert have a salary of 1000$  ... maybe the salary is more high in the second because they ask a man 

[SANDRO43]

OK, so  firm that is willing to pay decent rates to people to do a proper job is one to avoid?

A new site with only 80+ profiles paying top salaries is rather ODD, in my PERSONAL opinion. The volume of letters to translate daily may not justify a full-time job, if translating is the real activity.

Hazardous job rates? Don't be daft.

The smiley face should have made you understand that it was said in jest.

No wonder you guys are without girlfriends or heading toward yet another divorce.

No need to get spiteful just because people do not agree with you. Bad show.

[Michelangelo]

Again some fast theory about a imaginary conspiracy without any evidence...
Please, stop these paranoia behaviour... don't accuse someone to be a scammer with nothing real !

Bruno, in American English writing a letter means you compose it.  Translating is something totally different.  The emphasis was added and deliberate in the ad.  They don't want translation...they want composing, or writing.

[bobs12]

But these other advert have a salary of 1000$  ... maybe the salary is more high in the second because they ask a man 

Yep, definitely. Also not a translation job, if you read the description, but a Moscow company that deals in charter flights... hmm... and they're only paying $1000, to a man.

Point made, thank you!

[andrewfi]

OK, I think we are looking at a slightly dodgy translation here.
The ad is asking for somebody able to conduct electronic correspondence with English speakers. There are two slightly different versions of the ad, but both describe pretty well to the reader what the job actually requires. If one were to go into greater detail more words and space would be required.

If a firm is starting up they will, if run by sensible folk, want to have people who are capable of doing the job. Usually the installation of people runs ahead of the customers. It seems hardly unreasonable that a firm should want to be able to cope with anticipated demand and thus the number of profiles means absolutely nothing. Tomoprrow they may have their datafeed installed and have thousands of profiles. Would that make you guys happier? Based upon what is written here, it would - it shouldn't!

This firm may be dodgy but based upon the meagre evidence presented here there is no way to objectively make such a judgement. Based upon the analytical skills displayed here, the ability of Russian wife seekers to find a reputable agency is a crapshoot at the very best.

What is being written in this thread does make some look daft. Sorry - take a step back and have another look!

Why am I getting a spideysense intuition that somebody is busy trying to drum up business for his 'friend's' scamcheck/flower delivery service? ???

Bruno ~ For once I agree with you!

[bobs12]

Sorry, the daft thing here is the people who go looking for Russian women in agencies.

Why am I getting a spideysense intuition that somebody is busy trying to drum up business for his 'friend's' scamcheck/flower delivery service? ???

WTF?!?!?!

Because your intuition is about as good as your ability to get a woman. I'm assuming you're here for the same reasons you're assuming I'm here.

I arrived here because someone sent me a link to the site. I am not a 'Russian wife seeker', thank you very much. I live in Russia, I am surrounded by Russian women, and I'd be quite happy not to have a Russian girlfriend but dammit, my choices here are pretty damn limited. I've never fing gone looking for a Russian woman in my life, there's so many here I'm tripping over the damn things.

Until now I found it hard to believe that people are stupid enough to get 'scammed'. Now I see how it works. You're assuming I'm trying to 'scam' or trick you somehow? How exactly is this thread going to create business for my friend? Do you think everyone on this board is going to suddenly rush to order a scam check on this company? 

As for 'drumming up business' - how do you figure that out 'spiderman'? I quite innocently pointed out something that looked a little suspicious which I found while looking for companies hiring translators. I use the net for research, not to look for women, and often share information I find with people who might be interested. If you're not interested, you have every right to look the other way.

By the way, what's dodgy in the translation?

Okay, let's try it another way -

"Hey look, guys! I found this really cool site with Russian women on it. They're even hiring a professional, English-fluent typist to make sure you'll be able to spend hours online writing to Russian girls in English..."

"If one were to go into greater detail more words and space would be required."

Wow, that's anal-ytical. Of course it would take more space. One extra sentence. Disaster.

Happy hunting folks.

[andrewfi]

OK, I am not here for the same reasons as you.

My early posts did not promote a 'friends' business and did not then move onto suggesting that other firms were disreputable based upon a pretty damn poor translation and, at best, meagre evidence.

I hope I am wrong because, if genuine, you surely have a valid input to make and local knowledge that most guys here lack.

You have no scam or trick to play on me and I did not suggest that you did. It concerns me a tad that you should jump to this conclusion in such a defensive manner.

In the ad, apart from anything else, you obviously misunderstood the context. It is not aimed at lovelorn Americans but at young Russian women looking for a job that uses their skills. It would be a mite surprising if an advertisement for a job read the same as an ad for their services, eh? I guess that you misunderstood the context otherwise you would not have been seeing shadows that likely do not exist. But, to repeat, it is possible they are not as they represent themselves, but there is nothing in this JOB AD that gives any impression this is so.

[bobs12]

My early posts did not promote a 'friends' business and did not then move onto suggesting that other firms were disreputable based upon a pretty damn poor translation and, at best, meagre evidence.

I apologise for the tone of the last post. It's been a long day and I'm typing in between students.

Other firms? Plural? I came across one advert and mentioned it. Guns down, sir.

Pretty damn poor translation? Okay, let's see your version! I do translations for a major telecomms company here, mate, and get paid well for it. I think you're the only person in the thread who thought I was saying the ad was aimed at Americans. Look back through the thread and get the context yourself. It seems you're having enough trouble with English, never mind Russian.

I have spent a lot of time browsing job boards & newspapers which means I have a reasonable feel for the standard form & content of a Russian job ad, especially for translators, and I can spot when wages don't sync with duties in the ad. Those are usually the ones that catch my interest as I'm always looking to get paid even fatter cash for even less work. You'd spot a dodgy job ad on an English site, right? The strangeness of that ad alone made me look to see who it was from. The rest from there on made me *suggest* to you all here that it might be a dodgy one, with information provided to help you decide.

As for jumping to conclusions in a defensive manner, well, that was in response to a fairly presumptious and offensive statement.

I'm sure there are other 'locals' on the site, but yes, by mentioning my friend I was indeed trying to pass on some 'local' knowledge. I know said friend, helped him out at times and know he goes an extra yard for everyone. I could as well keep all that to myself as I get nothing out of it and he has enough business as is. There are plenty of companies out there I know nothing about and can't recommend, which is why I'm not mentioning them or recommending them because I could really be misleading you if I did. To be honest I don't give a flying fig.

I still don't quite see your 'spideysense' link between the fact I mentioned him in an attempt to contribute something useful to a community I've just joined and also posted about what looked like a dodgy setup. My friend doesn't run a dating agency, so how could I possibly be 'promoting' him? If anyone is paranoid here, guess who I think it is?!

[jb]

Oh goody, now we get to see a couple of Brits in a cat fight over misunderstandings, context, and prose,,,how absotively and posolutly droll.

[andrewfi]

Is it any worse than reading your semi-literate commentary:
'prose,,,how absotively and posolutly droll.'

It matters not to me the origin of the crap, if people, not just bobs12 who simply misunderstood what he read and gave his poor translation greater significance than it deserved, are not able to apply a modicum of common sense to that which they come upon, then surely it is not a terribly bad thing to try to show to those people a different point of view?
Is that not the same as you try to do from time to time?

Mr Pot, please meet Mr Kettle!

[bobs12]

Oh you old people make me laugh so hard I could spew. I didn't even consider that Yankee b*sh*t worth a reply. God help any Russian women that you mail order halfwits get your hands on! I must say you've really reinforced the stereotype of Russian Bride Seekers as sad gits 

It matters not to me the origin of the crap, if people, not just bobs12 who simply misunderstood what he read and gave his poor translation greater significance than it deserved, are not able to apply a modicum of common sense to that which they come upon...

Blimey, still having difficulty understanding English mate? I'm waiting for your vastly improved translation that will give the job ad a whole new meaning, like 'translator required for entirely legitimate pruposes and definitely not for scamming dumb foreigners'.

Thanks for the material though, it made a good aside for a lesson today. Russians are always entertained by how dumb foreigners can be. We used your posts to practice modals of deduction, such as:

"Surely he can't be so stoopid?"
"He must be retarded."

And we even got in some past modals, like:

"He must have been dropped on his head when he was small."

And so on

It was fun.

...surely it is not a terribly bad thing to try to show to those people a different point of view?

Nope. Especially if it's not as far off the mark as yours is.

So what did I misunderstand? Try taking a look back through, get your facts straight, and stop thinking you're freaking Spiderman with some weird sixth sense that removes the need for you to READ. Or do you just eat html and interpret it in whatever order your large intestine chooses to render it?

Or maybe we should get paranoid and assume that you're actually a scammer yourself and this is your agency that we've uncovered 

Folks, have fun. I look forward to seeing more balding, myopic, Russian-women-obsessed, middle-aged losers get scammed because of a lack of brain activity. You might as well write a notice in this forum saying, 'Internet dating scammers invited. Meet Western men with more dollars than braincells. Some of these guys are so dumb they can't even read English. Visit http://www.mailorderhalfwits.com for more information.'