Wanted to pass out a warning to all speakers, sales trainers and coaches. Seems as if this scam is being proposed to women only right now but who knows guys…you maybe next. Trouble with this one is it really does seem legit. The websites are pretty good and the organization and Pastor will take your calls. To be fair, I don;t really think he is a Pastor, just pretending to be one. The email, you will receive is as follows:
*****************************
Dear Colleen Francis,
My Name is Pastor William Smith from the London Youth Community Here in London UK. We want you to be our guest speaker at this Year LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE which will take place here in UK.We are writing to invite and confirm your booking to be our Speaker at these year LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE.
The Venue as follows:
VENUE: Holy Apostles Church Hall,
47 Cumberland Street,
Pimlico London, SW1V 4LY
Website.www.londonyc.org
Email: info@londonyc.org or w.smith@londonyc.org Expected audience: 2500 people Duration of speech per speaker: 1 Hour Name of Church/Organization: LONDON YOUTH COMMUNITY Tel Phone: + 44 7077-087-949
Topic: LOVE AND RELATIONSHIP
Date:19th of August 2009-23rd of August 2009 Website:www.londonyc.org
We came across your profile on
http:canadianspeakers.org and we say it’s up to standard and we will be very glad to have such an outstanding personality in our mist for these overwhelming gathering. With your multi talented speech more lives will come close to GOD, Sorry about our late invitation it is due to the fact that our Speaker had back out because of her sudden illness.
Arrangements to welcome you here will be discussed as soon as you honor our invitation. If you have any more publicity material, please do not hesitate to contact me. A formal Letter of invitation would be sent to you as soon as you honor our invitation. We are taking care of your traveling and Hotel Accommodation expenses including your Speaker fees.
Stay Blessed
Williams Smith
w.smith@londonyc.org
LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE
**************************************
Just delete it. If you do call they will ask for your credit card number to secure a UK visa (which if you are Canadian you don’t need for this type of work) and travel arrangements. They will send you a contract if you ask for one. It is signed, but its not on any letter head. At least 10 speakers I know in Canada have all received this and we have done a bunch of research and work sussing it out…so you don’t have to. Best to trust me, delete it an move on.
Time to put my energy to good use now….(but sad I don’t get to go to the UK)
Colleen
It is still alive and well – this came today: The e-mail address however is from Wayne Erickson: middlesexuniversityconference@gmail.com
Respected Patty Purpur,
Am Professor Robert Brain from the Middlesex University
Here in London UK.We w ant you to be our guest Speaker at this
Year Middlesex University Seminar which will take place here in
UK.We are writing to invite and confirm your booking to be our guest
Speaker at this years event.We want our UNIVERSITY STUDENTS to have a
successful human relationship and realize the future ahead of them. That
is why we intend to use these conference to educate them.
Middlesex University.
The Venue as follows:
VENUE:Middlesex University in London, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BT
Expected audience: 850 people
Duration of speech per speaker: 1 Hour
Name of Organization:Middlesex University,
Topic:HONESTY AND TRUE/RELATIONSHIP
Date:29th November 2010
We came across your profile on
http://www.gdaspotlight.com/
and we say it’s up to standard and we will be very glad to have such an
outstanding personality in our mist for these overwhelming gathering.
Arrangements to welcome you here will be discussed as soon as you
honor our invitation. If you have any more publicity material, please
do not hesitate to contact us. A formal Letter of invitation and
contract agreement would be sent to you as soon as you honor our
invitation. We are taking care of your
traveling and Hotel Accommodation expenses including your Speaking
fee.If you will be available for our event,include your speaking fees
in your email so it can be included in your CONTRACT AGREEMENT.
Stay Blessed
Professor Robert Brain
Middlesex University.
Tel: +44 702 408 2535
I received this SCAM letter and the guy even called me. he didn’t even have a british accent! that should have been a clue! duh!
btw, here’s his website which he created the day before he sent me the email:
http://www.godwillendsuffering.webs.com/
hope this helps someone!
—
Event Organizing Committee
Event House Tachbrook Road
Feltham
Middlesex
TW14 9BH
London United Kingdom
3.4 km (2.1 miles) to London Hilthrow Airport
http://www.Godwillendsuffering.webs.com
Host Pastors: Dr Susan Lauren and Dr Charles Sturidge
Email: Godwillendsuffeing@gmai.com
Tel Phone: +44 7024045122 Fax: +44-871218-6533
Grace and Peace unto you Liz,
I am Dr Charles Vice President of the Event Organizing Committee of
the Event House Tachbrook Road Feltham, Middlesex, TW14 9BH, London
United Kingdom. We are writing to invite you to be our guest Comedian
at this coming year KEYS TO FAMILY HAPPINESS WOMEN CONFERENCE 2011.
After reading through your profile on (I don’t want my real name out there, I’m making this anonymous in the hopes it can help someone else)
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment.All travel
arrangements such as Flight fare, Comedy fees and Hotel accommodation will
be taken care of as soon as you honor this invitation, and you are
expected to speak for the 4days and 1-3hours for each day.
Special needs:
Disabled access, Toilet for the disabled, hearing aid loop, Large
print hymn book, Braille hymn book
Venue
Event Hall House Road Baptist Church
Event House 23 Great George Street Bristol BS1 5QZ
London United Kingdom
Website: http://www.Godwillendsuffering.webs.com
Expected audience: 3500
Date : 6th of January — 9th to January 2011
Topic: God Will End All Suffering! When? How?
We will send you all binding documents including a Letter of
Invitation and Contract Agreement as soon as you honor our invitation.
Email any questions you may have to:
Godwillendsuffering@gmail.com
We await your earliest response.
Remain Blessed
Event Organizing Committee
Event House Tachbrook Road
Feltham
Middlesex
TW14 9BH
London United Kingdom
3.4 km (2.1 miles) to London Hilthrow Airport
http://www.Godwillendsuffering.webs.com
Host Pastors: Dr Susan Lauren and Dr Charles Sturidge
Email: Godwillendsuffeing@gmai.com
Tel Phone: +44 7024045122 Fax: +44-871218-6533
Hey there,
This is still out there floating around. I received a similar invitation a few days ago. Definitely looks legit, but I also had a “check” in my gut …regarding it by the time I went to the site. Though it looked clean, there were some inconsistencies.
Thanks for this.
Dwann
They’re still at it, using the names Professor Mike Walls (associated with Loughborough University in Leicestershire UK) and Dr. Warren David, a British High Commission Official. I received the following letter a few days ago and wasted some time doing research online and reviewing contracts. As others have mentioned, there are MANY warning signs… such as poor grammar and typos for people who claim to be educated Brits, use of ‘generic’ emails rather than addresses from the University and the Government, and the hard push for cash payments. Please be careful and thoroughly vet the offers that appear too good to be true. Thanks for the original post! -H
My Name is Professor Mike Walls from the London Youth Community
Here in London UK. We want you to be our guest speaker at this Year
LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY which will take place here in UK.We are
writing to invite and confirm your booking to be our Speaker at these
year LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY.
The Venue as follows:
VENUE: Loughborough University
Leicestershire, UK
LE11 3TU
Email:ukloughboroughuniversity@gmail.com
Expected audience: 2500 people
Duration of speech per speaker: 2 Hour
Name of Organization: LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY
Tel Phone: (+44) 702-408-0342
Topic:BUSINESS
Date:7th of January, 2011.
We came across your profile on
http://www.maconferenceforwomen.org and we say it’s up to standard
and we will be
very glad to have such an outstanding personality in our mist for
these overwhelming gathering. With your multi talented speech more
lives will come close , Sorry about our late invitation it is
due to the fact that our Speaker had back out because of her sudden
illness.
Arrangements to welcome you here will be discussed as soon as you
honor our invitation. If you have any more publicity material, please
do not hesitate to contact me. A formal Letter of invitation would be
sent to you as soon as you honor our invitation. We are taking care of
your traveling and Hotel Accommodation expenses including your Speaker
fees.
Stay Blessed
Professor Mike Walls
ukloughboroughuniversity@gmail.com
LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY
Well scammers are busy even on the holidays. I received much the same type letter today. My husband and I have done our research as well, and are taking it a step further to actually notify the true ministry located in London that these scammer are using as an identity cover. It’s one thing to scam which is bad enough. It’s quite another to drag someone else’s ministry and name through the mud. To protect the innocent pastor and ministry I have removed their names in particular from the email and replaced it with ——
Here is the data that was submitted:
REQUEST FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT
,I am Pastor —- of the aforementioned organization (omitted by Linda), wewrite you to seek your engagement in our upcoming conference taggedRESTORATION PRAYER CONFERENCE AND BANQUET 2011″ coming up 10th – 13thFebruary 2011.DATE: 10th – 13th February 2011VENUE:——— ———— ——— : “SHOW THE LIGHT AND THE PEOPLE WILL FIND THE WAY”The purpose of these conference is to re-brand the heart,mind,body andsoul of Christians who have gone astray and are diverting their wholeattention into mundane affairs and ensuring that it is possible forChristians, whether new or of long standing, to deepen their spirituallives and gain eternal life. Also bringing a heart of deep compassionand a strong commitment to the fullness of life that is found only inthe redemptive love of Christ.You are hereby invited for a speaking engagement as God is going tofeed us with his words to edify our souls through his ministers.We choose you for this engagement because you have the real insightand intuitiveness of delivering a heart piercing speech afterdigesting your profile on (my website address was here) We are optimistic youwill indeed be a center of attraction for the audience to look up toas a role model through your inspirational and emotional speech.EVENT INFORMATIONAUDIENCE:1500AGE:18-55REFERENCE:EVENT BROCHURESIGNING OF AUTOGRAPH: ALLOWEDSELLING OF CD’S AND BOOKS: ALLOWED.SPEAKING TOPIC: THE EFFECTS OF COMPROMISING GOD’S STANDARDENTITLEMENTS: Event Organizing Committee will be responsiblefor your Hotel Accommodation, Feeding, and Airfare Ticket Booking.An Honorarium and ground transportation.We will be very grateful if you accept our invitation.Confirm to us via e-mail or direct mobile on this letter head if youwill be available for these engagement so we can go ahead withnecessary preparations.For more information about event please do not hesitate to send anemail to us ——–. We will be ready toanswer all your questions.Everyone is welcome here at ——- —— ——,and we look forward to meeting you soon!REMAIN BLESSEDPastor —— ——– Senior —— ——— ——– +44 704 575 0464
I responded to the email to ask for more information. They took my inquiry as a confirmation and send the following letter. In this following response letter, my husband and I began to see some things that did not sound right. Again, I have blocked out the names of the legitimate pastor and ministry name with the following ——- The names and phone number showing are not names or phone numbers listed on the real church website. After doing our own research we found this site. Thank you for confirming what we already suspected.
Letter number 2
Beloved Linda ,
We are so ecstatic you will be sharing in our gathering and i guess
you are definitely the type of speaker we require for our event. We
are so anticipating in meeting you soon. Everyone is so expecting your arrival.
We very much appreciate you for confirming to be our guest speaker for
these wonderful event. Its our maiden conference, this is the first
one we are having. Without any further delay the event organizing
committee have earmarked preparations on how to summon your arrival as
swift as possible. Preparations are stated below.
1) Find attached is a LETTER OF INVITATION AND CONTRACT AGREEMENT
which you are to sign and forward back to us via E-MAIL at your
earliest convenience for proper documentation. All information you
require is stated in this contract.
2) Your speaking fee is amounted to $8,500.00 us dollars to be paid on
installment, first part payment of $5000.00 us dollars and second
payment of $3500.00 us dollars that will be issued to you as soon as
you procure your UK ENTRY CLEARANCE.
3) With reference to figure (2) of these letter concerning UK ENTRY
CLEARANCE the E.O.C (Event Organizing Committee) wants to notify you
that due to new British rules a UK ENTRY CLEARANCE is necessary if you
want to be bonafide for these speaking engagement and has decided to
connect you with the UK BORDER AGENCY OFFICIAL with the address below.
Name: DR Warren B. Smith
Email: ukbacustomerservices@hotmail.com
Telephone: +44 207 558 8029
NOTE: All expenses you make to procure your travel document I.E (UK
ENTRY CLEARANCE) shall be fully reimbursed. Make sure you forward to
me a copy of your procured document for the approval of your deposit.
4) Confirm to us the closest airport to your residence for airline
ticket bookings,and the event organizing committee has acknowledged to
be responsible for you and your husband, hotel
accommodation,feeding,ground transportation including tangible
unforeseen expenses. The Chauffeur assigned to pick you up from the
airport is Mr Larry Williams. Kindly forward to me relevant
information of your husband immediately for our perusal.
5) You need not to worry about speaking equipments like
microphone,megaphone,transfix board,cables and projectors as all these
items will be provided by the E.O.C (Event Organizing Committee).
6) The theme of our 2011 conference is tagged “SHOW THE LIGHT AND
THE PEOPLE WILL FIND THE WAY” While the topic you are to give a speech
upon is tagged “THE EFFECTS OF COMPROMISING GOD’S STANDARD”.We hope
you should be able to enlighten the audience more about being honest
and to be very well discipline so they can inherit the eternal
kingdom. You are to prepare a speech as different session of audience
will be attending the conference each day.
7) You shall receive your event brochure as soon as you get to the
event venue on the day of your arrival.A cab is to pick you up from
the airport and drive you straight to your hotel rook thereafter a
welcome dinner party would be held.
NOTE:You are to arrive a day before the event commencement.
We urge you to go through the contract agreement and event preparation
very carefully to the best of your knowledge for any further inquiries
you can contact us via – EMAIL or Direct Mobile at (+44 704 575 0464).
We are so ecstatic to be having such of your wonderful personality in
our mist, our youth coordinator in person of Bro. James Crawford is
excited too and we are praying fervently for your safe arrival to our
country.
I will try to call you at my earliest convenience today or you may try
to call me as soon as you receive this mail. Kindly forward to me more
of your pictures for publicity and advert placement.
PEACE BE UNTO YOU.
PASTOR —— ——-
SENIOR PASTOR
——— ——— CHURCH
+44 704 575 0464
Hi Colleen – Thanks for posting this. I just got a similar kind of email. I notice they now do a bit of research about you and make the conference sound in alignment with your expertise. I had a weird feeling about it right from the start, but because I am right now living in the UK and have been in contact with several youth organizations for speaking engagements here…I thought it might be legitimate. However, the phone number doesn’t work, the email address is just a gmail account, not the organization’s email. Because I am here and the actual speaking engagement is at a university near where I’m staying I just contacted them and they said there was no such event and no such faculty member. So, when in doubt that is a great way to check. Thanks for saving me lots of time and hassle by posting this. – Carla
I received a similar email yesterday. I talked it over with my administrator and we decided to respond today. I sent an email asking some questions. I wrote that I needed to know the answer to these questions before I agreed to come. They took this email as an confirmation and sent me a contract. They attached a contract agreement and a letter of invitation.
In the email, it talked about getting a Visa or U.K. Entry Clearance. It talked about me paying for this and being reimbursed. Immediately, I didn’t feel right. I sent a text to my aunt who travels to UK frequently, she said that I did not need this document, only a passport (that’s what I figured). I also texted my administrator and told him that something did not feel right in my spirit and he begin to do some research as well. I thank God for the gift of discernment and for this blog. I was led of the Holy Spirit to google the phone number and email addresses and I was led to this site.
I can’t say thank you enough for posting this info! I really appreciate it! I am going to delete and disregard these emails. I would however like to know how these people are able to use legitimate pastors’ names/churches/email addresses to perpetuate this scam. I know WHY they do it, because of people like me who research. Yesterday, I researched this pastor and the church and found everything to be legit. I would have gone on with the process if I didn’t get that “feeling”.
Thank you so much for this post. I just received an email like this a few days ago asking me to speak at “The London Youth Conference”
<<>>
Many things didn’t seem right about this and I am happy I read this post before wasting anymore time on this matter.
DR WARREN EMAIL : drwarren@londonmail.com
As soon as you have procure your UK WORK PERMIT get back to me so I
can start up with your FLIGHT TICKET AND HOTEL RESERVATION
immediately.
Stay blessed
Prof. Smith Cole
[…] given me… and it had one hit and it was to Colleen Francis’s blog: EngageSelling.com. Check it out by clicking here! Colleen did a great job of warning speakers about this elaborate scam that has targeted speakers, […]
Thanks so much for posting this Colleen! I really appreciate it.
It saved me some serious time and headache!
I also gave you a shout out in a recent blog post!
Keep up the great work!
Thanks again,
Mitch
Thanks for the posting of this information, this SCAM is being modified and updated to new churches, new pastors, new topics, and new venues because people are becoming more aware of warnings such as yours.
I have received the folowing variation this week:
Victory Outreach Church
Greenforge Way
Springvale Ind Estate
United Kingdom
NP44 3UZ
http://www.victorychurch.co.uk/
Host Pastor:Pastor Richard Taylor
Email:victoryoutreachchurchoffice@gmail.com
Tel Phone: + 44 7045750464
Grace and Peace unto you XXXXX XXXXX,
We are Pastor Richard Taylor of the victory Outreach Church London
,United Kingdom.We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker
at this year Divine Restoration and Prayer Conference 2011. After
reading through your profile on http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.org/. The
lord has direct us to email you for this assignment.All travel
arrangements,speaking fee and Hotel accommodation will be taken care
of as soon as you honor this invitation.
Venue
Spurgeon Hall (Inside Church Premises)
Greenforge Way
Springvale Ind Estate
United Kingdom
NP44 3UZ
Date :21st of February to 23rd of February 2011
Topic:The Effect Of Compromising God”s Standard
We will send you all binding documents including a Letter of
Invitation and Contract Agreement as soon as you honor our invitation.
Email any questions you may have.
We await your earliest response.
Remain Blessed
Pastor Richard Taylor
Victory Outreach Church
Greenforge Way
Springvale Ind Estate
United Kingdom
NP44 3UZ
Followed by:
Dear XXXXX XXXXXXX,
Thanks so much for indicating your interest to be our guest speaker at
this year Divine Restoration and Prayer Conference 2011.We are very excited and happy to have such a wonderful personality in our mist. And i also want to thank you for visiting our website and the possibility of being blessed by my divine message.
The event organizing committees had a meeting earlier today to deliberate on getting you available here in the United Kingdom. We believe we serve the lord of Possibilities. Arrangements are stated below.
We have attached a formal Letter of Invitation and contract agreement. Please reconfirm to us your Mailing Address and Cell phone number for our perusal and further action. Note you are meant to arrive a day before the commencement of the event.
Please return a signed copy of the contract agreement for proper documentation.
We have agreed to buy you and any assistant you may wish to accompany you here flight tickets and to pay your Hotel accommodation expenses. Also your speaking fee is amounted to 8,500Dollars.$5,250 deposit is to be paid as soon as you procure all relevant travel documents so as to avoid any disappointment. You are informed to get across your UK Entry Clearance to us so your deposit can be approved according to our mandated rules and regulation.
You are advised by the Event Organizing committee to immediately contact the UK BORDER AGENCY staff to procure your UK Entry Clearance as soon as possible.
This will enable us to proceed with all arrangements to welcome you here in London due to the new British Rules. Contact the UK Border Agency staff information below for immediate assistance with her personal email address.
Name: Dr Warren Smith
Address :29 Brown Street,
Postcode: W1G 9QR
Country: London, United Kingdom
Email: ukbacustomerservices@hotmail.com
Tel: +442075588029
Please confirm to us the closest Airport to your location so we can start making arrangements to buy your flight ticket.Understand that you need to expedite action because of the short notice. Feel free to call me on + 44 7045750464
We await your earliest response
Be Blessed
Pastor Richard Taylor
Of course, when asked questions, “Pastor Richard” is more than happy to answer enough of them in such a vague way that you received a response but not an answer.
Then, when you communicate with the suggested contact about the “Entry Clearance” you receive another formal sounding response, this one asking for money (more than what the UKBA lists as a fee) for the Clearance Fee as such:
ATTENTION CLIENT:
I acknowledge the receipt of your mail and i understood all the content. Without any waste of time and due to short time you have left to proceed with the issuance of these important documents. I will therefore embark upon you obtaining a second tier UK ENTRY CLEARANCE.
These class of ENTRY CLEARANCE is for employee who falls under the category of religious activities and intends to impact knowledge and technical know-how to the citizens of Great Britain. Pertaining to the urgency and speedy alacrity of these project at hand,i will proceed to the UK BORDER AGENCY to get you all necessary documents
You are advised to immediately Provide me with the listed requirements.
1. Letter of Invitation
2. Full Name Of Applicant
3. UK Entry Clearance Fee 290pounds ($450)
4. Full Home And Office Address.
5. Date of Birth (D.O.B)
6. Valid Certificate Of Sponsorship (Already Submitted To My Desk By A
representative Of Victory Outreach Church)
When you apply you are awarded points based on your:
* certificate of sponsorship:
* English language skills; and
* available maintenance (funds). which is your requested UK CLEARANCE FEE.
Your Work Papers shall be ready in one week and you will be able to get your work papers prior to the event commencement. And as soon as your passport is ready do not hesitate to forward me necessary information so as to facilitate your Entry Clearance Submission.
I await the listed information to proceed to get you the documents as soon as
possible. Note without you providing these requirements I cannot proceed to get
you these documents. If i receive all information, then i shall
proceed to the UK Border Agency to get you your documents. Note you
can send all documents through email attachment.
You can send Clearance Permit Fee through Money Gram or Western Union to the
information below.
Name: Dr Warren Smith,
Address: LONDON UNITED KINGDOM
Postcode W1G 9QR.
After the transaction forward to me the (MTCN) numbers for verification
Make sure you attach the payment slip for record purpose.
In your service
DR Warren Smith
UK BORDER AGENCY OFFICIAL
+44 207 558 8029
The “Binding Documents” sent are informal as follows:
Victory Church
Greenforge Way, Springvale Ind.
Estate, United Kingdom
NP44 3UZ
http://www.victorychurch.co.uk/
Host Pastor: Pastor Richard Taylor
Email: victoryoutreachchurchoffice@gmail.com
Tel Phone: + 44 704 575 0464
LETTER OF INVITATION
Victory Church officially invites XXXX XXXXX to be our guest speaker at the Divine Restoration and Prayer Conference 2011coming up here in United Kingdom.
Location Address
Location:
Victory Church
Spurgeon Hall (Inside Church Premises)
Greenforge Way, Springvale Ind. Estate
United Kingdom. NP44 3UZ
Date: 21st of February to 23rd of February 2011
For: Victory Church
Name: Pastor Richard Taylor
Contact Person:
Date: January 21st 2011
Signature
(illegibale signature here)
and:
Victory Church
Greenforge Way, Springvale Ind.
Estate, United Kingdom
NP44 3UZ
http://www.victorychurch.co.uk/
Host Pastor: Pastor Richard Taylor
Email: victoryoutreachchurchoffice@gmail.com
Tel Phone: + 44 704 575 0464
January 21st, 2011
CONTRACT AGREEMENT
This letter of Agreement is made and entered into between XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX(hereinafter referred to as the” Speaker”) of USA and Pastor Richard Taylor (Herein referred to as the “Presenter”) whose organization name is Victory Church, United Kingdom.
The contact person for matters of this agreement is Pastor Richard Taylor who will act as agent for the presenter.
ENGAGEMENT: DIVINE RESTORATION AND PRAYER CONFERENCE 2011″
CONFERENCE THEME: “SHOW THE LIGHT AND THE PEOPLE WILL FIND THE WAY”
Host: Victory Church
Contact: Pastor Richard Taylor
Speaker: XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
Function: Divine Restoration and Prayer Conference 2011
Appearance Date(s): Date: 21st of February to 23rd of February 2011
Location:
Victory Church
Spurgeon Hall (Inside Church Premises)
Greenforge Way, Springvale Ind. Estate
United Kingdom. NP44 3UZ
Audience Size / Demographics: 1500
Topic: The Effects of Compromising God’s Standard
Time Table / Duration:
21st of February 2011 – approximately ____________ 4.00pm – 5.00pm
22nd of February 2011 – approximately ____________ 5.00pm – 6.00pm
23rd of February 2011 – approximately ____________11.00am – 12.00pm
Any additions or revisions to the timetable must be requested and approved in writing.
OTHER ENTITLEMENT:
Recommended Attire: Business / Business Casual
Travel Expense: Presenter will provide business class airfare for XXXXX XXXXXXX.
UK ENTRY CLEARANCE: to be taken care of by Speaker
Presenter will provide ground transportation to and from the Heathrow International airport in London for XXXXXX XXXXXXX.
Hotel: King-size bed, non-smoking room with late arrival guaranteed PLUS meals for XXXXXX XXXXXX.
Accommodations: London Hilton Hotel for 5nights
PAYMENT TERMS AND CONDITION:
Payable to: Speaker
Fee: 8,500.00 (USD) – plus expenses as outlined above
Deposit Amount: $ 5,250.00 (USD) Deposit due upon Procurement of UK ENTRY CLEARANCE and other relevant travel documents.
Balance Amount: $ 3250.00 (USD)
Fee Notes: Funds will be paid via Certified Bank Cheque upon conclusion of contract.
PLEASE NOTE: The first part payment of your fee will be issued out to you as soon as you procure your mandatory travel documents.
This is to ensure readiness on your part. The management does not want to undergo any loss for paying speaker travel documents due to act of insubordination from previous Speaker. The management has hereby laid down strict rules and regulations for Speaker to abide by in order to ensure an uninterrupted cordial preparation for this event. Any speaker who refuses to abide by these principles will forfeit his/her deposit and be terminated from contract.
IN WITNESS THEREOF the speaker and the Presenter have examined the forgoing provisions and have executed this agreement as of the dates shown below.
The above conditions are accepted by me:
Speaker Name: XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Signature: ________________________
Date: ________________________
For: Victory Church
Host: Pastor Richard Taylor
Date: January 21st, 2011
Signature
(again, an illegible signature here)
The old addage applies here: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
This email is also being sent out under the name of Professor Robert Brain of Middlesex University. What makes it automatically suspicious is that he uses a gmail account vs. a legitimate Middlesex University account. I googled his mane to find out if this was for real, and thankfully found this site. Thank you for warning fellow speakers!
We too received the same letter just this week! After the excitment were off, we began to pray and seek direction from the Lord. Here is a copy of the letter.
To: XXXX Church
Victory Christian Centre
121 Harley Road
Bermondsey
London SE16 2JY.
http://www.victorychurch.co.uk
Host Pastors:Pastor Richard Taylor
Email:victorychurchlondonoffice@gmail.com
Tel Phone: + 44 7024069826
Grace and Peace unto you XXXXXX XXXXX,
We are Pastor Richard Taylor and Janet Taylor of the Victory Church London ,United Kingdom.We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at this year LONDON VICTORIOUS CHRISTIANS CONFERENCE 2011.After reading through your profile on http://www.xxxxxxx. The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment.All travel arrangements,speaking fee and Hotel accommodation will be taken care of as soon as you honor this invitation.
Venue
Victory Christian Centre
121 Harley Road
Bermondsey
London SE16 2JY.
Date :4th of March 2011 to 6th of March 2011
Topic:Victory Through The Cross
We will send you all binding documents including a Letter of
Invitation and Contract Agreement as soon as you honor our invitation.
Email any questions you may have.
We await your earliest response.
Remain Blessed
Victory Church London
Victory Christian Centre
121 Harley Road
Bermondsey
London SE16 2JY.
http://www.victorychurch.co.uk
Host Pastor:Pastor Richard Taylor
Email:victorychurchlondonoffice@gmail.com
Tel Phone: + 44 702406982
We replied and this is the 2nd letter that was received.
Thanks so much for indicating your interest to be our
guest speaker at this year LONDON VICTORIOUS CHRISTIANS CONFERENCE 2011.
We are very excited and happy to have such a wonderful personality in our mist.The
event organizing committees had a meeting earlier today to deliberate
on getting you available here in the United Kingdom. We believe we
serve the lord of Possibilities. Arrangements are stated below.
We have attached a formal Letter of Invitation and contract
agreement. Please reconfirm to us your Mailing Address and Cell phone
number for our perusal and further action. Note you are meant to
arrive a day before the commencement of the event.Please send a recent
picture of yourself for advert purpose.
Please return a signed copy of the contract agreement for proper documentation.
We have agreed to buy your flight ticket and to pay your Hotel
accommodation expenses. Also your fee is amounted to
8,500Dollars.$5,250 deposit is to be paid as soon as you procure all
relevant travel documents so as to avoid any disappointment. You are
informed to get across your Work Permit to us so your deposit can be
approved according to our mandated rules and regulation.
You are advised by the Event Organizing committee to immediately
contact the UK BORDER AGENCY staff to procure your UK Work Permit as
soon as possible.
This will enable us to proceed with all arrangements to welcome you
here in London due to the new British Rules. Contact the UK Border
Agency staff information below for immediate assistance with her
personal email address.
Name: Dr Mary Davison
Address :29 Brown Street,
Postcode: W1G 9QR
Country: London United Kingdom
Email: Drmarydavison@mail2mary.com
Tel: +442075588029
Please confirm to us the closest Airport to your location so we can
start making arrangements to buy your flight ticket.Understand that
you need to expedite action because of the short notice. Feel free to
call me on + 44 7024069826
We await your earliest response
Be Blessed
Pastor Richard Taylor
We inquired of Dr. Mary Davison and got the following email:
ATTENTION CLIENT:
I acknowledged the receipt of your mail. I understood all the content.Without any waste of time and due to short time we have left to proceed with the issuance of these important documents. I will assist you to obtain a second tier UK WORK PERMIT. This class of work permit is for employee who falls under the category of entertainment and people who intends to impact knowledge and technical experience to the citizens of Great Britain. Pertaining to the urgency and speedy alacrity of these projects at hand, I will open a file on your name today to get you all necessary documents .
You are advised to immediately provide me with the listed requirements.
1. Full Names of Applicant.
2. Office Address
3. Date of Birth (D.O.B)
4. Letter of Invitation.
5. UK Work Permit fees ($450usdollars).including Courier service charges.
I await the listed information to proceed to get you the documents as soon as possible.Without you providing these requirements I cannot get you these documents.You can send Permit fees directly to my name Dr Mary Davison through Money Gram to this Address ,29 Brown Street,Postcode: W1G 9QR Country: London United Kingdom . Make sure you attach the payment slip and Reference number for record purpose and receipt.
In your service
Dr Mary Davison
UK BORDER AGENCY STAFF
Tel: +442075588029
Needless to say, Ishmael has been uncovered and we will wait for Isaac the promise!
Thank you.
Gee whiz, there goes my big chance to entertain in jolly old England. Yes, I got the same schpeal. My first clue came after they ignored my suggested honorarium and replied with one twice that size and mentioned the word “deposit.” That’s when I got busy googling. Thanks so much. P.S. Anybody want to book a Christian comedian and radio host? I really am as good as the pastor Richard Taylor said I was. 🙂
Hi,
I’m the webmaster of the Rebecca Romijn Fanpage (an American Actress). I have also received this email. Now it is from “Professor” from the London Youth Community. Exactly the same email.
Greetings,
The Rebecca Romijn Fanpage Webmaster
—————————————
Dear Rebecca Romijn,
My Name is Professor Mike Walls from the London Youth
Community Here in London UK. We want you to be our guest speaker at this
Year SURREY UNIVERSITY Event which will take place here in UK. We
are writing to invite and confirm your booking to be our Speaker at these year
SURREY UNIVERSITY Event.
The Venue as follows:VENUE: The University of Surrey,
Guildford,
Surrey,
GU2 7XH,
United Kingdom. .
Email:uksurreyuniversity@gmail.com
Expected audience: 2500 people
Duration of speech per speaker: 7PM-9PM
Name of Organization: SURREY UNIVERSITY
Tel Phone: (+44) 702-401-8034
Topic: MODEL
Date: Wednesday 30 March 2011.
We came across your profile on
http://www.motivational-celebrity-speakers.com and
we say it’s up
to standard and we will be very glad to have such an outstanding personality
in our mist for these overwhelming gathering. With your multi talented
speech more lives will come close , Sorry about our late invitation it is due
to the fact that our Speaker had back out because of her
sudden illness.
Arrangements to welcome you here will be discussed as soon as
you honor our invitation. If you have any more publicity material, please do
not hesitate to contact me. A formal Letter of invitation would be sent to
you as soon as you honor our invitation. We are taking care of your traveling
and Hotel Accommodation expenses including your Speaker fees.
Stay Blessed
Professor Mike Walls
uksurreyuniversity@gmail.com
SURREY UNIVERSITY.
(+44) 702-401-8034
[…] Warning: Speak Scam on the loose! | Sell More, Work Less and Make Jul 13, 2009. accomplise,armourbearer,wives or colleague in partnership?…. remarkable profile on kbullock27.web.officelive.com and we must say Warning: Speak Scam on the loose! | Sell More, Work Less and Make […]
My husband recently (3/1-2/2011) received the same type of letter. I tried checking them out as an established business in UK. I tried searching the UK business data bases, I found no listing for this ministry. My next attempt would had been to call the US Embassy in London, just to check it out and see if this ministry is really legit. I found it unusual that when you reply to get further information, in return they send you a contract that you haven’t even agreed to do. Strange that they would ask for a cell phone number, I would think they would call the ministry number on our website.
Christ The Rock Ministries
Salvation Army Bldg, 2nd flr,
25 Brownhill Rd, SE6 2HE
London United Kingdom.
http://www.ctrm.org/
Host Pastor:Pastor David French
Email:christtherockministriesoffice@gmail.com
Tel Phone: + 44 7024069826
Grace and Peace unto you Pastor Vince XXXXXXXXXXXX,
We are Pastors David and Patty French of the Christ The Rock Ministries London ,United Kingdom.We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at this year LONDON GLORY CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE 2011.After reading through your profile on http://www.vincejohnson.org. The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment.All travel arrangements, fee and Hotel accommodation will be taken care of as soon as you honor this invitation.
Venue
Christ The Rock Ministries Centre
Salvation Army Bldg, 2nd flr,
25 Brownhill Rd, SE6 2HE
London United Kingdom.
Date :22nd of April 2011 to 24th of April 2011
Topic:BUILDING AN ETERNAL HOME IN HEAVEN
Website:Coming up soon (Please send a recent picture of yourself)
We will send you all binding documents including a Letter of
Invitation and Engagement Agreement as soon as you honor our invitation.
Email any questions you may have.
We await your earliest response.
Remain Blessed
Christ The Rock Ministries
Salvation Army Bldg, 2nd flr,
25 Brownhill Rd, SE6 2HE
London United Kingdom.
http://www.ctrm.org/
Host Pastor:Pastor David French
Email:christtherockministriesoffice@gmail.com
Tel Phone: + 44 7024069826
Dear Pastor Vince Johnson ,
Thanks so much for indicating your interest to be our
guest speaker at this year LONDON GLORY CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE 2011.
We are very excited and happy to have such a wonderful personality in
our mist.The event organizing committees had a meeting earlier today to deliberate
on getting you available here in the United Kingdom. We believe we
serve the lord of Possibilities. Arrangements are stated below.
We have attached a formal Letter of Invitation and contract
agreement. Please reconfirm to us your Mailing Address and Cell phone
number for our perusal and further action. Note you are meant to
arrive a day before the commencement of the event.
Please return a signed copy of the contract agreement for proper documentation.
We have agreed to buy your flight ticket and to pay your Hotel
accommodation expenses. Also your fee is amounted to
8,500Dollars.$5,250 deposit is to be paid as soon as you procure all
relevant travel documents so as to avoid any disappointment. You are
informed to get across your Work Permit to us so your deposit can be
approved according to our mandated rules and regulation.
You are advised by the Event Organizing committee to immediately
contact the UK BORDER AGENCY staff to procure your UK Work Permit as
soon as possible.
This will enable us to proceed with all arrangements to welcome you
here in London due to the new British Rules. Contact the UK Border
Agency staff information below for immediate assistance with her
personal email address.
Name: Dr Mary Davison
Address :29 Brown Street,
Postcode: W1G 9QR
Country: London United Kingdom
Email: Drmarydavison@mail2mary.com
Tel: +442075588029
Please confirm to us the closest Airport to your location so we can
start making arrangements to buy your flight ticket.Understand that
you need to expedite action because of the short notice. Feel free to
call me on + 44 7024069826
We await your earliest response
Be Blessed
Pastor David French
A friend received the letter recently (Feb 20110) & we just confirmed that it was a scam. Christ the Rock Ministries, London does appear to be a legitimate ministry, but the letter is so fishy!
From: CHRIST THE ROCK MINISTRIES
Date: March 7, 2011 7:41:42 AM PST
Subject: LONDON GLORY CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE 2011 Documents
Dear ……….,
Thanks so much for indicating your interest to be our
guest speaker at this year LONDON GLORY CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE 2011.
We are very excited and happy to have such a wonderful personality in
our mist.The event organizing committees had a meeting earlier today to deliberate
on getting you available here in the United Kingdom. We believe we
serve the lord of Possibilities. Arrangements are stated below.
We have attached a formal Letter of Invitation and contract
agreement. Please reconfirm to us your Mailing Address and Cell phone
number for our perusal and further action. Note you are meant to
arrive a day before the commencement of the event.
Please return a signed copy of the contract agreement for proper documentation.
We have agreed to buy your flight ticket and to pay your Hotel
accommodation expenses. Also your fee is amounted to
8,500Dollars.$5,250 deposit is to be paid as soon as you procure all
relevant travel documents so as to avoid any disappointment. You are
informed to get across your Work Permit to us so your deposit can be
approved according to our mandated rules and regulation.
You are advised by the Event Organizing committee to immediately
contact the UK BORDER AGENCY staff to procure your UK Work Permit as
soon as possible.
This will enable us to proceed with all arrangements to welcome you
here in London due to the new British Rules. Contact the UK Border
Agency staff information below for immediate assistance with her
personal email address.
Name: Dr Mary Davison
Address :29 Brown Street,
Postcode: W1G 9QR
Country: London United Kingdom
Email: Drmarydavison@mail2mary.com
Tel: +442075588029
Please confirm to us the closest Airport to your location so we can
start making arrangements to buy your flight ticket.Understand that
you need to expedite action because of the short notice. Feel free to
call me on + 44 7024069826
We await your earliest response
Be Blessed
Pastor David French
My mom was sent this, but she replied she wasn’t a public speaker, just a singer. They apologized for the mix up, but offered a slot in the same venue. She was thrilled. My spidey-sense was tingling. This isn’t anywhere to be found on snopes.com, so I’m glad I found this. I had to break the bad news. I can imagine she’s crying into her coffee right now. Even though she was being had, I’m glad she was excited enough about this to post it on Facebook, otherwise I would have never been able to stop this.
But hey, if anyone needs a pianist or a gospel singer in the Dayton Cincy area, I’d love to pass it on to her.
Here’s mine. They were asking to send payment for a UK work permit through Money Gram. I was on the site when I realized for sure that something was wrong:
London City International Christian Center
The LCICC Arena
Royal Victoria Dock
London
E16 1XL.
http://www.lcicc.co.uk
Host Pastor:Pastor Williams Anderson
Email:pastoranderson@lcicc.co.uk
Tel Phone: + 44 7024069826
Grace and Peace unto you Pastor Devin Leftwich ,
We are Pastors Williams Anderson and Maria Anderson of the London City
International Christian Center.We are writing to invite you to be our
guest speaker at this year LIGHT THE FIRE AND DIVINE RESTORATION
CONFERENCE 2011.After reading through your profile on
http://www.vesselsofhislove.org/.The lord has direct us to
email you for this assignment.Your speaking fee and Hotel accommodation
will be taken care of as soon as you honor this invitation.
Venue
The LCICC Arena
Royal Victoria Dock
London
E16 1XL.
http://www.lcicc.co.uk
Host Pastor:Pastor Williams Anderson
Email:info@lcicc.co.uk
Date :6th of May 2011 to 8th of May 2011
Topic:Power of Restoration
We will send you all binding documents including a Letter of
Invitation and Engagement Agreement as soon as you honor our invitation.
Email any questions you may have.
We await your earliest response.
Remain Blessed
London City International Christian Center
The LCICC Arena
Royal Victoria Dock
London
E16 1XL.
http://www.lcicc.co.uk
Host Pastor:Pastor Williams Anderson
Email:pastoranderson@lcicc.co.uk
and then the follow up:
ATTENTION CLIENT:
I acknowledged the receipt of your mail. I understood all the
content.Without any waste of time and due to short time we have left to
proceed with the issuance of these important documents. I will assist
you to obtain a second tier UK WORK PERMIT. This class of work permit
is for employee who falls under the category of entertainment and
people who intends to impact knowledge and technical experience to the
citizens of Great Britain. Pertaining to the urgency and speedy
alacrity of these projects at hand, I will open a file on your name
today to get you all necessary documents within a week.
You are advised to immediately provide me with the listed requirements.
1. Letter of Invitation
2. Full Name Of Applicant
3. Date of Birth (D.O.B)
4. Full Home And Office Address.
5. UK Work Permit Fee ($850) Including Courier charges.
I await the listed information to proceed to get you the documents as soon
as possible.Without you providing these requirements I cannot get you
these documents.You can send Permit fees directly to my name Dr Rebbecca
Dixon through Money Gram to this Address ,29 Brown Street,Postcode: W1G
9QR Country: London United Kingdom . Make sure you attach the payment slip
and Reference number for record purpose and
verification.
In your service
Dr Rebbecca Dixon
UK BORDER AGENCY OFFICIAL
Tel: +442075588029