Mike,
I got the same solicitation last week and communicated with someone else
who had gotten it. I did respond, asking for some information, but I
have not heard back and I can find little info on the "author" or the
blog on the web.
Don
On 9/16/2011 1:59 PM, Palmer, Mike wrote:
Colleagues,
I have been solicited by this apparent scam a couple of times, and recently
I have been made aware of many more instances (i.e. just do a google search for
exact text, and you will find many hits). It is not clear what the scam is -
perhaps some form of Article Spinning - but since the text of the solicitation
is identical among instances (with the exception of the language involved, the
article to be translated, and the name of the translator) it must be from some
sort of bot. Even if responding is harmless, you probably don't want to
diminish your productivity by responding to the solicitation. I'd be really
curious if anyone has been able to track this down further - or whether it has
some sort of legitimacy at some level. We all appreciate the free flow of
information, but I doubt any of us want to fall prey to scam artists.
---Mike Palmer
The text follows, with the variable fields indicated by asterices (*):
Subject: The translation into **(language)**
Hello,
I am interested in your publication ***(url) *** and would like to translate it
to **(language)** language, so I can share it with the readers on my blog. For
doing that I need your written permission.
Of course, I will credit you as an author and your webpage as a source.
Certainly, I will be grateful if you do the same when I'll be done with
translation.
The translation is non-commercial and will be posted only on the Web, no print
copies are planned.
Do you prefer email or IM for contact (if any questions regarding the
translation arise)? AIM, MSN, Skype?
Regards,
****name****
--
***********************************
Don Cipollini, Ph.D.
Professor- Plant Physiology/Chemical Ecology
Director- Environmental Sciences PhD Program
Department of Biological Sciences
Wright State University
3640 Colonel Glenn Highway
Dayton, Ohio 45435-0001
(937) 775-3805
FAX (937) 775-3320
email: [email protected]
Lab Page: http://www.wright.edu/~don.cipollini
Env Sci PhD Program: http://www.wright.edu/academics/envsci/
