There is another form of lowlife which entered my sphere of knowledge first thing on this otherwise lovely Sunday morning:
LINGVO POINT
Operating from http://www.lingvopoint.com, this directory claims to have 43,158 translators registered with it. This is a SCAM. As a translator, do not log in – under any circumstances.
As a buyer of translation services, do not engage the services of anyone via this site.
Let me assure you that NONE of the translators whose STOLEN details appear there have ever had any contact with Lingvo Point. Added to which, details as to rates bear no resemblance to reality, and in some cases, the language services which the translators themselves provide are skewed. (I have never been an interpreter, for example.)
Whoever is behind the scam seems to have compromised the data of a bona fide professional translator organisation called ProZ, to which all the translators, whose data it would appear has been stolen from their ProZ profile, belong.
Here is a (doctored) screenshot of the website itself:
You would do well to follow the advice of this scam page: DEAL WITH A TRANSLATOR DIRECTLY. Procure the language services you require from reputable companies, agencies and reputable individual translators only.
If the translation is too cheap to be believed, don’t believe it.
There is no such thing as a cheap translation. It may be cheap, but it won’t be a translation.
At least 43,158 translators are horrified to have their profile pictures appearing on this page. Most of us have spent years building our reputations for quality, accuracy and excellence.
Efforts are under way by those much more savvy than I to have this operation shut down.
This is the FALSE page the scammers created for me, without my consent:
Please make sure you publicise this fact. 43,158 careers are at stake.
Thank you.
The real Allison
Post Script: END OF DAY UPDATE
Thanks to the many translators who reported abuse by Lingvo Point, the site has now been blocked. Obviously, the fact that this happened raises many issues about data privacy. No doubt, the discussion will continue in the appropriate circles.
That elusive pair of jeans 
Thanks for sharing this and spreading the word! I’ve also dived into some details in my blog about what information has been stolen and what measures can be taken in situations like this: http://bestrussiantranslator.com/lingvopoint-steals-identities-proz-users/
Sadly this is not the first time it’s happening at Proz.
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True, ProZ regularly used to alert all its members about scamsters and their calculated methods. This will certainly help the translators to be more wary about such unscrupulous elements. Thank you.
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Thank you for the link to your blog, Dmitry, which I came across late last night, about twelve hours after I posted mine.
I had not seen your post before. I only hope that the 554 people who read my article yesterday will also see your comment. – and go and read your very well detailed blog. Would you mind if I posted a link to your blog on a Facebook page called Watercooler? This is where I was first alerted to my name being on the Lingvopost list. If you are already a member of the Watercooler group, then I shall leave you to post your own link.
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Yes, Kuttan, it certainly seems to me that we walk a very fine line between publicising and marketing our services and being vulnerable to attacks such as this recent scam. All those who use the Internet in their daily work need to keep vigilant, and act appropriately when something like this happens.
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