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Beware of dodgy 'Native English' writers

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by alexau, Sep 9, 2010.

  1. #1
    Scam # 1
    - They say they are Native English writers
    - They say they are located in USA/UK/Australia
    - They use English/American names, for example John Smith
    - They use email addresses that match their names, for example john.smith12345 (at) gmail.com
    - Later, quick IP address lookup reveals that they are located in India, Pakistan, etc.
    - After you check their PayPal account details, you will find out that his real name is, for example Ravi Kumar, and not John Smith. You will also discover that a PayPal account is registered in India, Pakistan, etc.

    Scam # 2
    - Writers are actually located in USA/UK/Australia
    - They may actually have English/American names, for example John Smith
    - English may or may not be their native language
    - They take your order at Native English writers' rates
    - Later they outsource this work to cheap Indian writers
    - They create threads on DP or other forums and look for cheap writers
    - As a result, you end up paying $15-20 per article which costs $2-3, and getting articles that were written by Indian writers.
     
    alexau, Sep 9, 2010 IP
  2. adrienne04

    adrienne04 Peon

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    #2
    so sad that they are taking advantage of other people just for them to earn...why are they messing up the world??..
     
    adrienne04, Sep 9, 2010 IP
  3. cerno

    cerno Well-Known Member

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    #3
    How do the writers know you are not really from Russia?

    Who Cares.

    If you pay based on the quality of the content that is delivered it does not matter where the writer is located.

    Offer introductory jobs for $5 to $10 to write the first article you need and see what is delivered.

    When you find someone that actually does the initial assignment properly then give them the full project and pay a reasonable sum for the work.

    In my experience so far I have had worse problems with the actual US writers, about half that take assignments don't actually complete them because they don't want to do actual work, they just want to play around. I much rather have to polish up something that is in front of me close to what I needed as opposed to waiting for days and finding out I am getting nothing.

    What is promised or said about what work will be completed and by whom is meaningless, judge these guys and gals by what they deliver and treat them all with the same respect you expect regardless of their address.
     
    cerno, Sep 9, 2010 IP
  4. oo87

    oo87 Well-Known Member

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    #4
    One of the reasons it is so difficult to find quality native writers here on DP is because you hardly pay us a rate worth working for. Therefore, many of us work mostly based on referrals from other clients who do pay us well. All I see all day on DP are offers to hire writers who are native, talented and reliable for $3 - $5 per article, which is ridiculous.

    We are out there, and we are good. We have been at this for awhile, and can provide tons of samples, client names and contact info to check up on us, and even do telephone calls to work the details out voice to voice. If you get ripped off over and over again by these "scams" you probably didn't take enough time to check up on the writer before hiring.

    So, two lessons here:

    1). Pay at least the minimum standard rate for the industry.

    2). Check up on the writer's credentials before you hire.
     
    oo87, Sep 9, 2010 IP
    the Patrician and EmpowerMedia like this.
  5. l2azor

    l2azor Well-Known Member

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    #5
    oo87 is actually right.


    What are you paying alexau per 100 words? $5 per 100 words...?? NO.. you blaming Indian guys who don't have good language or produce huge number of mistakes in their articles? Why this happens? They are doing to earn money but why you give them work if you don't find quality samples? How many native buyers you know that scammed non native guys? and the native buyers who put this quote- ' I NEED CONTENT REALLY CHEAP' ? huh..

    Talent isn't limited to US UK writers. Anyone can have it and as far as disguising is concerned That's wrong, providing bad content is wrong. Are you ready to pay $10 for a 300 words article? NO why? because you are on DP. Buyers come here to look for cheap content- the only reason DP runs; you will find Indian and other non- native writers here and save your money. You must learn to differentiate between actual talent and scam.

    And do remember to pay more to the talent. :)
     
    l2azor, Sep 9, 2010 IP
  6. matei_iurea

    matei_iurea Active Member

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    #6
    "Beware of dodgy 'Native English' writers " You aren't native as well. Otherwise, you would have written the title with major letters - the first letter from each word -
     
    matei_iurea, Sep 9, 2010 IP
  7. alexau

    alexau Active Member

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    #7
    I personally have no problem dealing with non-native writers from India, Philippines, Pakistan, etc.
    - if they are honest and do not lie about who they are and where they are from
    - if they do not try to rip me off
    - if they charge an adequate rate

    Their English may not be perfect but very often they provide well-researched and good quality content.
     
    alexau, Sep 9, 2010 IP
  8. oo87

    oo87 Well-Known Member

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    #8
    Look, you are new, with only 29 posts and a low feedback score. You are hiring writers without properly checking out their work. You probably aren't offering good rates. You will have a hard time finding a reliable native English writer who will actually do the work, especially long term, for less than $0.02 per word, maybe $0.03. Really high end that have been in the game for years could charge as much as $0.05 per word for sales content or commercial PR. Just be prepared for that next time and start paying attention to samples. Try to get them to do a phone or Skype call (or Gtalk, now that it has opened to email users). That will save you a lot of grief in the end.

    For the record, I am a US based native English writer, and I charge $0.02 - $0.03 per word. I get plenty of work on this rate, and refuse to work with clients who don't pay at least that bottom rate for long term work. I am far from alone, and I would never work for the junk being offered in most threads on this forum.
     
    oo87, Sep 9, 2010 IP
  9. Oosha

    Oosha Well-Known Member

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    #9
    Native English writers’ rates???

    I agree scamming is wrong, irrespective of who does that…..

    But isn’t it quality you look for when hiring a writer? Doesn’t quality come into the picture when determining rates? Why should a good writer charge less just because he/she is from India, Pakistan or Philippines?

    I think the idea that being a native speaker is a qualification to write, is a rather misguided one.
     
    Oosha, Sep 9, 2010 IP
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  10. Topgear

    Topgear Banned

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    #10
    A men! It's taking jobs away from actual NATIVE members such as me..... not being rude but india and pakistan just cant get job done, and if they do it's just shabby
     
    Topgear, Sep 9, 2010 IP
  11. alexau

    alexau Active Member

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    #11
    this was the main point of my post

    Market dictates rates, not writers or customers.
    If you have 100 offers at $3/500 words rate, and 1 offer at $30/500 words from non-native writers, what would you chose?
    I do not believe that you will get 10 times better quality at $30/500 words rate.
     
    alexau, Sep 9, 2010 IP
  12. Kunalbhatia

    Kunalbhatia Active Member

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    #12
    Grow up and stop treating your nativeness as professional qualification. Everyone from non-native countries might not be good enough for the job, but stats show India, Pakistan and other non-native countries provide better/competitive writers than the whole Europe can ever provide.
    Reason:people here are willing to work hard and hence dominating the industry.

    Stop complaining and start working and maybe someday you will reach a level from where you start treating everyone with the same level of respect, irrespective of the country they belong to.
     
    Kunalbhatia, Sep 9, 2010 IP
  13. Senobia

    Senobia Notable Member

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    #13
    I got your laundry list of requirements from another one of your threads. Here's what you want:

    *tilts head and looks at you*

    Judging by the present thread, you seem to think that $3/500 words is more than fair - which translates to ONE SIXTH of ONE CENT per word.

    And you have the nerve the bellyache and WHINE...that you received exactly what you paid for? It doesn't work like that, see. You want to lash out at people who scam you without realizing the scam you're running yourself in offering these asinine rates with that long list of demands.

    To clarify, EACH market dictates the rates - not "the" market. The people who are willing to work for these prices are not in my market and they never will be. Nor are the buyers that hire them.
     
    Senobia, Sep 9, 2010 IP
  14. hedavies

    hedavies Active Member

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    #14
    I'm interested to know why you decided to start this thread, have you personally, had a bad experience when purchasing articles from DP?

    Regards.
     
    hedavies, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  15. gismo

    gismo Peon

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    #15
    cerno, im with you buddy. it all comes down to quality of the content. If you care what country they are from then your just racist.
     
    gismo, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  16. contentboss

    contentboss Peon

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    #16
    the problem with checking work first is that often these jokers ship you a REAL quality article at first, and it's only when they've hooked you that the content quality goes down.
     
    contentboss, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  17. alexau

    alexau Active Member

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    #17
    Hi Senobia, Please note that I have never mentioned on this forum the rate I am ready to pay.
     
    alexau, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  18. The Simpleton

    The Simpleton Active Member

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    #18
    Scamming buyers by pretending to be native writers is indeed wrong, but this doesn't mean everyone from these countries behaves like that! I've seen innumerable instances where people from the US/UK/Australia get scammed/cheated by people from Asian countries, and they immediately reach to a conclusion that the whole region is full of such people :D I can't imagine how many stories would come out if we started exploring from the other end, i.e., how many Asians have been tricked by their superior employers from the developed countries. Ok let's stay on topic and not go off somewhere else. I think writers should measure their own value, and stick to a rate no matter where they are from, or what the competition is like. I've seem some desperate writers from India agreeing to write ten articles for a measly $1. You may laugh at such people, or you may offer a friendly word of advice, but in the end, please leave it to the writers to decide their worth. And if you're scammed, don't judge an entire country just because of a bunch of people. If you're comfortable working exclusively with native workers, that's fine; there's no dearth of work for the others. Live and let live!

    No offense, but are you a writer? You start off by misspelling Amen and then don't use capital letters to begin the names of two countries, and there are a couple of grammatical errors immediately after that. I just hope this was a lazy post and does not reflect your real standard, 'coz if it does, then your thrashing (or bashing, if you will) of Indians and Pakistanis is completely unjustified!
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2010
    The Simpleton, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  19. Senobia

    Senobia Notable Member

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    #19
    Apologies. I was only referencing one of your other posts in this thread as an example:

     
    Senobia, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  20. Topgear

    Topgear Banned

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    #20
    Im sorry but where did you say i had a professional qualification?...... For all you know i could be a professor at oxford or even a English professor at Oxford but you'll that im not because of the grammar
     
    Topgear, Sep 10, 2010 IP