Is this the start of an overpayment scam?

A friend who is a certified French/English translator has told me of a request to translate a document but was suspicious when the person could not justify why he ('Capt. A Emerson' from the USA) wanted it done ... 'for personal reasons' and could not say how many pages or the intellectual depth for the document ...

She has just received the following two mails from this 'Capt'. since the initial contact ...
The first arrived yesterday ...........

Hello xxxx,

How is your day going? I just want to let you know the payment has been made but there seems to be a mix-up and will let you know what i found out later today.

Kindly watch for any deposit you have and get back to me as soon as you can.

Have a great day.

Sincerely,
Capt. A. Emerson

And then today she received this ....

Dear xxxxx,

The mix up is that the event planner got the amount for the translation while you got the amount for the event planner.

I believe it is something we can work out as soon as you have the funds available in your account.

I want you to check daily when the money is available in your account and get back to me.

Thank you so much for your time, patience and understanding.

I will be waiting to hear back from you ASAP.

Sincerely,
Captain A. Emerson

To me, this seems the start of an overpayment scam. France does not seem to have any support groups to help those being scammed or to advise them what to do, so I'm asking here!

Apparently she has already given her bank account details to 'Captain A Emerson' because the first inquiry (which I haven't yet seen) sounded genuine enough.... but if a payment arrives in her account, how can she get it sent back to the originator or have it 'ring-fenced' for her safety?

Scamwarner members, thank you so much for your help ....and does anyone know of this person? I am guessing it's an alias with an email address protected by a VPN ...

Your friend needs to stop all communication with them immediately, and she needs to contact her bank to report her account as compromised. She can report the scam to her bank so that they can close the account. The money that will be deposited from the scammer will be from another victim which could land your friend in some really big trouble. She needs to be proactive.

Can you post the email addresses the scammer is using?

It's sometimes galling to be proved right! I have already given her the advice you posted Tim, and will try to get the header of the original email (which I have asked her for). I will remind her of what you said, and try to accompany her to the bank to get her account sorted. Very many thanks for prompt and helpful advice.

Have not been able to scan the header but the emails are coming from [email protected] .

I am unhappy with the reaction of the lady's bank who have said that there is no danger to the account details being given (to a scammer) and will be going to the bank with her on Monday morning to discuss the matter and to get her account closed and another one set up. Their opinion was that if any money arrived ... then it would be a matter for the Gendarmerie (and we'll be popping in there too to chat to them) but because this sort of scam is practically unknown at our 'local villagey peaceful part of the world', they don't seem worried.

I have been able to prove to her how this person got her name ... and that she would not be the only one receiving a similar letter. I am having a problem in convincing her to drop him - she wants to say sorry, she can't do the work he asked for because it is too difficult ... but I hope that I've managed to show that this person is not interested in a translation but simply using it as a front to make money.

If anyone knows of an organisation in France that can support victims of scams or intervene with the banks to help someone who is at risk of being scammed please could you post this information here.

The money is supposed to be being placed in her account by 'wire transfer'. Does that imply any particular method of transmission, and how long does this sort of thing usually take (if there is a 'usual' time period, regardless of the efficiency of the 'mule')?

[AlanJones]

She/you needs to speak to her bank's fraud department, not branch staff or standard customer service.

That is why I'm going with her tomorrow morning at crack of dawn!

I accompanied my friend to the bank. I had to explain a lot about the scam technique but RESULT!!! Her bank account was closed on the spot and the promised transaction (3 times the price quoted for the service offered) had not arrived yet.

I now have to keep re-iterating that she should not even open any emails from the scammer, nor reply to explain that she is no longer interested in doing the translation work for him. Even though she has not lost any money or got involved in this illegal series of transactions, it is painful to see the emotional effects on a good woman, who believes that all people have good in them to discover that the 'person' trying to scam her is not whom he purports to be, and who is ashamed that she nearly fell for this.

It is so important to reassure the person who has experienced a scam or an attempt to scan. The psychological after-effects are real, unpleasant and will take time to heal.

Thank you to all the team at Scamwarners for your help.

I am so relieved to hear that. Tell your friend to be aware that the scammer may attempt to contact her using other names/email addresses in the future. Just delete/ignore any emails like that.

I am new here...I also work as a freelance translator online in Bulgaria, please can you post the full email sent for orientation purpose for myself and other who work online as freelance translator to be aware of the scam email sent. thank you guys for the hard work here