UK Speaker SCAM: Church and/or University in the UK looking for a keynote speaker for an upcoming leadership workshop; Tier 5 Work Permit fees required via Western Union. Here’s the full story:
UPDATE (March, 2015): I have been contacted three more times with similar offers. This scam continues unabated and I hope potential victims find this post before entertaining their speaking invitations.
On May 15, 2012, I was solicited by a church in the UK (via my website) to speak at their upcoming leadership workshop. A series of emails went back and forth, containing various details and expectations. In order to speak there, I would need a Tier 5 Work Permit from the UK Border Agency and because the event was quickly approaching, I was introduced by email to someone at the parish who works for the UK Border Agency and can get expedited processing for my application.
I was emailed an official 52-page PDF application for a Tier 5 Work Permit with specific instructions on how to fill it out. The form is legitimate and you can find documentation online confirming that only a UK employer can submit such an application. Once I had filled it out and gotten passport photos made, I was asked to send 583 GBP via Western Union so she could submit the application and pay the fee in cash.
They said they had a sponsor and offered to pay me $10,000 USD as a speaking fee, along with all travel expenses. This seems high for a church but does fall within my standard fee structure (at least for domestic events), so it didn’t seem too unusual at the time. Here are all the names and email addresses of the people I communicated with:
- Reverend Michael Silver rev.michaelsilver@gmail.com
- Reverend Brian Moody revbrianmoody199@gmail.com
- Reverend Phil Dunning revphildunning@gmail.com
- Edward Smith eechurch@hotmail.com
- Patricia Coleman UK Border Agency p.coleman@workmail.com (real name verified by Western Union)
- Susan Aires Dransfield Novelty Company dransfieldnoveltyco@london.com
- Phylis Kamps 321-200-1024 (mobile)
Here is a blog post that details how these same people have done this dozens of times since 2010. At the time of this writing there are 94 comments on their post and I will be adding my own shortly. I have included a number of emails below so you can get an idea of how these people communicate.
Email #1: Initial Solicitation
Name: Rev.Michael Silver
Email: rev.michaelsilver@gmail.com
Message: I am Reverend Michael Silver , presiding Minister of the Emmanuel Evangelical (Baptist) Chapel, Newport, United Kingdom. We are pleased to inform you that we would like to engage you to speak at our Church Lunch event here in Newport coming up on the 1st of June and we are also arranging our ‘Leadership development Program’ workshop on the 2nd & 3rd of June 2012.
Please we would like you to convey to us your availability for one of the dates as it can fit in your schedule. Also, please we would as well appreciate if you get back in-touch with us in ample time so we can start corresponding the details.
Thank you and expecting to hear from you soon.
Remain Blessed
Reverend Michael Silver
+447031873786
Emmanuel Evangelical (Baptist) Chapel,
Rutland Place,
Newport,
NP20 2EL,
Wales.
United Kingdom
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9.
Email #2: Initial Request for Money
Good day Patrick, I understand that you are Emmanuel Evangelical Church’s guest for their upcoming conference, Edward Smith informed me earlier, I have undergone this process for their guests in the past as well prior to this time as well so below are the details.
I have undergone this process for people prior to this time as well so below are the details. (It is a pity though that you do not have your Swiss passort intact and up-to-date as you would have been waived for this fee).
Our Government (United Kingdom) Main Application Fee for a UK work permit is £488 and £95 for homeland fee making an overall sum of £583, You should understand that as a United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand & European citizens holding their international passport, entrance permits are at a reduced fee at rate given above, other nationalities pay more. I will do the application and payment in your name at our Consulate and send you necessary binding documents.
Usually, It takes between 1-14 weeks to get a permit depending on the category such permit may fall into, But if we process expressly and I append the application as a staff it will take just about one week and a maximum of two weeks give or take some delays in courier or so since it is categorized as ‘ministerial/religious’ under the UK Tier 5 work permit, It will take a week and a few days to process. If you are ready to proceed (which I advise you should) We would as well need you to send to us the below stated documents.
Full Name of applicant:
Passport Number:
invitation Letter from Sponsor:
Now, you will have to make the application fees payment and I will later send you the official UK TIER 5 WORK PERMIT FORM and the UKBA SCREENING FORM as an allied country citizen you do not need to fill the immigration assessment form as you are already eligible. We might only need your thumbprints at the United kingdom border on entry into the UK.
Please, be swift with your response because you know documents after been processed by the UK immigration might delay a bit, give or take 2-3days, It would be advisable you start processes a bit ahead of time.
Have a Wonderful day.
Patricia Coleman.
United Kingdom Border Agency.
N.A.
p.coleman@workmail.com
790-871-7081
Email #3: Second Request for Money
Good Morning Reverend, Deacon Edward, At the start of work today, I was notified by the issuing dept. that Patrick’s work permit cannot be issued out as yet, Non-Briton Immigrants coming into the United Kingdom and taking up a legally paid job will need to secure their stay with a bond otherwise referred to as a repatriation fee, And since Patrick falls under such category as she is non-British immigrant, The Home office has required that such applicants pay a refundable sum of 2,500GBP as a ‘Bond’ to enact their stay. As soon as they get back to their respective countries, the fee will be paid back to them in full. This law has been in the books for a while but it wasn’t effective for a long time now, But the new excos at the Consul has decreed it should be applicable and be 100% effective henceforth for working immigrants applying for the work permit.
I am emailing you now so you can find a way to forward to me the funds so I can make the payments asap since you have advised that time is of essence in this application. I will forward to you the ‘bond holding letter’ in the name of the applicant which is Patrick, he will be able to claim the funds at the USA Consul when he gets back home.
Warren Germain already sent me the funds for his bond, He will get the documents today, I have forwarded to him the fedex tracking number so he could monitor as well (Just informing you).
Reverend, Edward, send the funds to me on Patrick’s behalf as he might be relunctant to send such amount of money, So I need you to forward the funds on his behalf, Once he is back in the USA the bond will be liquidated and you will negotiate on how to have the funds back.
PLEASE REPLY SOONEST !!!
Patricia Coleman.
United Kingdom Border Agency.
N.A.
ukba.patriciacoleman@workmail.com
790-871-7081
Final Thoughts
It should be noted that there were well over 50 or 60 emails involved in this process, involving Reverend Michael Silver, Edward Smith and Patricia Coleman. Many details were discussed. I was even sent a hotel confirmation at the Park Plaza Cardiff (Greyfriars Road, Cardiff, CF10 3AL, United Kingdom) along the way. So the whole thing appeared completely legitimate at the time. I would even say it was more organized than other events I have spoken at.
So, what can I say? They got me. I’m embarrassed. In the end, it’s not that big of a deal. The money transfer cost me $1048 USD (Western Union is a rip-off) so it’s not really that much money, but that’s not the point.
My speaking career has taken me to every major city in the USA and cities across Canada and Mexico, as well as destinations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. I get many solicitations that seem “too good to be true” so I can’t really filter on that criteria. Here are the red flags which I ignored:
- Public email addresses only (gmail, hotmail and workmail).
- No mention of the leadership workshop on the church’s website.
- I was requested to send money urgently to an individual.
When I was invited to speak in India, I had to get a VISA first and it cost me $160 USD, but I made those arrangements directly with the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. So my learning point is that I will NEVER send money to an individual again.
I have filed a complaint with Western Union but have heard they can’t do much. It doesn’t really make sense to me. The person who picks up the funds has to show identification verifying their identity. That means there must be something the authorities can track. But who’s going to hunt that down? Anyway, if anything comes of it, I will update this post.
Also, it’s worth mentioning that the recipient DID pick up the funds in the UK. So I’m sure Patricia Coleman actually exists and I’m also sure she was in the UK on May 29, 2012.
Did this scam happen to you?
If you have had a similar experience, please tell your story in the comments below. I am publishing this post to hopefully help other speakers avoid this situation in the future. There are well over 100 comments on this post so far, all from other speakers who were contacted by these people. By adding your experience, it will improve the ranking of this post and make it easier for other speakers to find. Thank you.
For Aspiring Speakers …
Patrick Schwerdtfeger has a detailed blog post (over 4,000 words) describing the process of becoming a keynote speaker, including embedded videos and complete disclosures about the business of professional speaking and his own experiences along the way. It’s the highest-traffic post on this website. Read the post here:
The Scam continues. I received the following from Victory on June 14, 2015.
Victory Church
Harmon Chapel
Nolton Street, Bridgend,
London, United Kingdom
CF31 3AA
Website: http://victorychurch.co.uk/
Email: victoryoutreachconference.pari@gmail.com
Tel Phone: + 44 702-404-3724
Greetings unto You Prophetess DeBorah Allen,
We are Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones of Victory Outreach Church, United
Kingdom. We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at Our
upcoming conference tagged “Faith Restoration conference and Banquet”
coming up from 14TH TO 16TH AUGUST 2015.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after reading through
your profile on http://powerprayers.org/
speaking fee and accommodation will be taken care of as soon as you honor
this invitation.
VENUE: Conference Hall (Inside Church Premises)
Harmon Chapel
Nolton Street, Bridgend,
London, United Kingdom
CF31 3AA
Date : 14TH TO 16TH AUGUST 2015
Topic: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard
Theme: Show The Light and People Will Find Their Way
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 and We will be happy to answer all
Your questions (victoryoutreachconference.pari@gmail.com).
We await your earliest response.
Stay Blessed
Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones
Victory Church, UK
+44 702-404-3724
I replied the following:
As a Prophet of GOD, it has been revealed to me that this is a SCAM. You will Reap what you have SOWN and regret your involvement in such an abomination! I have been shown your deceit and all that are involved in this unGODly theft of GOD’s people.
Sincerely,
Prophetess
They replied the following:
Story for the God’s.
Reigning in his mercy.
#nodanger#
God’s favorite.
I was asked to day to make our pastors aware of this scam. I am the kind of person that never trusts anything where I have to send money. Why doesn’t anyone ever suggest they take whatever fee you have to prepay out of what they are intending to pay you? If you are going to pay me $10,000 to speak, take out that $1,000 fee and pay me $9,000. That will shut the scammer down!
I received a very similar email from Pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston; Hillsong Church of Christ UK. The invitation seemed unlikely and preposterous, however I gave due diligence investigating the request. The fee offered was 8500.00 US Dollars – 5250.00 payable only after procurement of UK Entry Clearance from the UK Border Agency (UK Visas and Immigration). The balance of the fee was to be paid on fulfillment of contract. The wording is almost identical to the letter shared above. Thank you for sharing and saving me the embarrassment of being naive…the correspondence all seems to be legitimate…however investigative diligence proves to be very worthwhile. (Wednesday June 24th 2015)
I got one too from a guy named Thabo Makgoba from a church in S Africa. I did not send $$. It smelled like a scam. It was.
I am currently in communication with these individuals. I wonder if I can assist police in nailing these people? Anyone have information on that? I have not sent any money as I prefer to do research on my potential hosts before entering into contracts with them.
They contacted me two days ago. It looked credible, except for the spelling of the “lord of Possibilities”. Notice: “lord” with lower case “l”; but “Possibilities” with upper case “p”, twice! That’s what raised my suspicion.
I received one too and as the article states the process is very organized like a legitimate church. But because i prefer to do background checks on host i never send the money. and the western union thing raised a red flag for me. But it was so well crafted they send the church actual website, with an actual Pastors Name etc. but the emails were different on the website from the initial message that was send and the i googles church scam and came across this article that confirmed it
I received this
Dear Pastor xxxxxxx,
Thanks so much for indicating your interest to be our guest speaker for the “Restoring Faith Conference and Banquet”. We are so ecstatic and happy to have such a wonderful personality in our midst.
The event organizing committee had a meeting few hours ago to deliberate on getting you available here in the United Kingdom after receiving your letter. 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 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 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 in USA 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 regarding the process.
Name: Patrick May,
Country: United States
Postcode 68004
Email: ukbacustomerservices@live.com
Tel: (858) 437 9571
You will be able to sell your merchandise. such as books, Cd’s and other items, the expected attendance is 1500 congregations.
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 44 702-404-3724.I will try to give You a call at My earliest convenience probably today.
We await your earliest response
Be Blessed
Pastor xxxxx
Victory Church, UK
+44 702-404-3724
This looks like a Nigerian operation. The wording of the communications are similar. I spent nearly 8 years in Africa and this is typical of Nigerian type scams.
I fell for it myself. They used my connection to John Maxwell to give more credibility. I searched everything they sent me and everything looked legit. When the third and final need for fees came I stopped. My bank alerted me to the scam. I’m not even sure if the church is legit or not although they seem to keep things updated. I’m really pissed that I fell for it. I even found the person who’s name is being used on Facebook. I contacted the church directly through their web page email. Even phone calls have connected. My contacts name is Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones of Victory Outreach Church, United Kingdom and the agent for the Border Patrol is Patrick May. Use the names if it helps others not fall for it.
I received my invitation to speak this morning from Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones, Victory Church, (victoryoutreachchurchuk1@gmail.com). They found my email address on our church website.
According to another site, these emails are coming from Nigeria. You have to marvel at how that one country manages to produce so many internet scams. Do you know that this site comes up first when one googles UK entry clearance for religious speaker ?
Another email received last week with the same theme. Contacted the church directly and there are no such events planned.
From: bishopdaviscranshaw@gmail.com
Blessings to you from netherlee parish church, I am Bishop davis cranshaw, presiding Minister of the netherlee parish. We are pleased to inform you that we would like to engage you for a speaking event here in ormonde at the Church conference coming up on the 9th, 10h & 11th of november 2015. The conference is tagged: ‘Big things: HOw to start small’.
Please we would like you to convey to us your availability for one of the dates as it can fit in your schedule.
Also, please we would as well appreciate if you get back in-touch with us in ample time so we can start corresponding the details.
Thank you and expecting to hear from you soon.
Church Address:
130 Ormonde Avenue
Glasgow
G44 3SL
Scotland
Office Telephone:
0141 637 2503
Email: Click to email
Website: http://www.netherleechurch.org
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9
Got this email yesterday. Seemed outrageous to offer this to a preacher they have never met. A little research made all the more suspicious, or just plain naive from the church’s point of view.
Victory Outreach Church
Clarence Hall,
Crickhowell, London
United Kingdom
NP8 1BN
Website: http://victorychurch.co.uk/
Email: victoryoutreachoffice@gmail.com
Tel Phone: + 44 704-575-0464
Greetings unto You Pastor Dan Walsh,
We are Pastor Jonathan Rogers of Victory Outreach Church, United Kingdom.
We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at Our upcoming conference
tagged “Divine Restoration and Testimony Conference” coming up from 3rd to 5th
of Mar 2016.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after reading through
your profile on http://www.wildwoodak.org/. All arrangements,
speaking fee and accommodation will be taken care of as soon as you honor
this invitation.
VENUE: Conference Hall (Inside Church Premises)
Clarence Hall,
Crickhowell, London
United Kingdom
NP8 1BN
Date : Mar 3rd to Mar 5th 2016
Topic: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard
Theme: Show The Light and People Will Find Their Way
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 (victoryoutreachoffice@gmail.com).
We await your earliest response.
Remain Blessed
Pastor Jonathan Rogers
Victory Outreach Church, UK
+44 704-575-0464
As with DeBorah, I too received a communication from a Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones of Victory Outreach Church, United Kingdom (21 Jan 2016). Interesting how the alarm bells start ring at “We are” when it should have been “I am” and the British have a “U” in honour The essence of the letter/invitation was very flattering to say the least, after all, we all have egos and sincerely want to be noticed and appreciated. But the first alarms were in the address and the telephone number. Bridgend is in Wales and not London and the telephone number would not have been for a “Land-line.”
Another thing that would have been interesting, if I had the time to mess around and take matters further, is the fact that yes I do live and pastor a church in Mississauga, Canada but I am an ex-pat Englishman not a Canadian citizen.
Be careful and stay safe my friends, I hope these people will sometime read 2 Corinthians 5:10 and be moved to repent and be baptised, for they are words that may not apply to them because they are meant for the born-again Christians.
I have just received one today, 29/02 /2016. The wording is similar to those sent to Prophetess DeBorah. I had mixed feeling that it was a scum though I had never heard of Christian scums. I then shared it with my husband who said, “If you think it is a scum, then it’s a scum”. He was right. As we searched the internet for their names, church, email address, it all came up wrong. Their email address did not match with their church name. I thanks God who has given us the gift of discernment.
The email reads:
Greetings unto you Pastor Lizzie Mirembe Levett
We are Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones of Victory Outreach Church, United
Kingdom. We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at Our
upcoming conference tagged “Faith Restoration conference and
Banquet”coming up from 19th through 22ND of APRIL 2016.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got
your contact on “http://itswrittenministries.org/about-us/” All
arrangements,speaking fee and accommodation will be taken care of as
soon as you honor this invitation.
VENUE: Conference Hall (Inside Church Premises)
Harmon Chapel
Nolton Street, Bridgend,
London, United Kingdom
CF31 3AA
Date : 19th to APRIL 22ND 2016
Topic: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard
Theme: Show The Light and People Will Find Their Way
We will send you all binding documents including a Letter of
Invitation and a speaker Contract Agreement document as soon as you
honor our invitation,with your Full names and address,direct telephone
number,scan copy of you recent picture.
We await your earliest response.
Stay Blessed
Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones
Victory Church, UK
.
“We are Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones of Victory Outreach Church, United Kingdom. We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at Our upcoming conference tagged “Faith Restoration conference and Banquet”coming up from 24th through 27th of MAY 2016.”
This was part of the email I received. Thank you for your warning, will save me a lot of time. Not sure I would have done much about it, but it is nice to know that my instinct was correct.
Today I have received a similar invitation. I checked the name of the Pastor Phil on Google and thank you that this scam info was posted. The poor chap doesn’t know that I am already in UK…already uprooted from my country Pakistan by the fundamentalist & extremists. .
Thank you ..can anything be done officially by the UK government?
Stay Blessed
Rev Dr Robinson Asghar
Just got an email 3/31/2016 — very similar, but with same address. — Thank you all and God Bless You! I Bless God through His wonderful Son, Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit lead me here. I pray for others to find this site and be helpfully warned and Blessed!
Thank you!
Also, something I noticed. There is a comment on this forum by “Dan Walsh on January 21, 2016 at 4:07 pm”. The letter we received was from a “Donald Walsh” with a picture on website “http://gracetchurch.org” and phone # (44) 070 2404 3724. I wonder if the scammers are using our names and pics to scam others.
Lord Help! Oh by he way, I sent the following back … We know you are a scam/scammer and we plead the Blood of Jesus on you! Repent and turn from your wicked ways! Jesus forgave the murdering thief while on the cross and if you seek Him with your heart, ask for forgiveness and TURN from your wicked ways, you too will be forgiven. In Jesus’ Name I pray for you, Amen!
Do NOT contact us again! In the name of Jesus!
Still going strong! They have upgraded to using legit emails instead of gmail. The website is very well done, well polished. It’s still active as the “conference” isn’t until next month. Who knows how many poor pastors will fall for this. I just received this email:
Grace Tabernacle Church.
Harvey Toad Road, Wellington Hill
London, UK.
N10 1LT.
Website: http://gracetchurch.org
Church Office Phone: (44) 70 2409 3852
RE: PASSION CONFERENCE 2016
Dear PASTOR XXXXXXX,
I am Pastor Donald Walsh and on behalf of Grace Tabernacle Church (GTC), in association with PoundBox and other sponsors, we are pleased to invite you to be one of our Guest Speaker in our PASSION CONFERENCE 2016.
The conference will be held from Thursday 12th – Saturday 14th May
2016 at Fairfield Halls in London. It’s an hour drive to London Heathrow Airport. London is the largest city in UK, situated in the heart of England. London Heathrow airport (LHR) is the busiest airport in the Europe and has direct flight to numerous cities in Europe including Major Hubs such as Amsterdam and Paris. A number of Asian and Middle Eastern airlines also serve the airport, along with numerous US carrier. The Fairfield Halls is adjacent to London Heathrow Airport. The purpose of this conference is to trigger the pursuit of deep Christianity among youth, young adult, old and partial christians.
The Conference Theme: SHINING LIKE STARS IN THE WORLD THROUGH THE GOSPEL Scheduled Topic: Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing Christ.
Your expertise and experience in this field of work will be an excellent addition to our programme (PASSION CONFERENCE), as many of our visitors will look forward to hearing and learning from your work.
It is an honor to be able to invite you to be a guest speaker for a talk on (Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing Christ), as we have read your profile on your online website (http://www.xxxxxxxx.church), and aware of your great contribution to this field of work.
GTC is planning an optional tour of local tourist attractions on the afternoon of Saturday 14th May. Free for Invited Speakers.
Participants are requested to cover the cost of this trip in cash, to be collected during the conference. Please check the Grace Tabernacle Church Website for updates on useful information, such as Conference Theme, Topic ET AL.
We look forward to a positive response. If you can RSVP in 48 hours to our contact details (office@gracetchurch.org) and visit our website: http://gracetchurch.org/. from there, we can provide you with additional information you might require.
PS: Flight arrangement, hotel accommodation, ground transportation and honorarium will be sorted by the event organizing committee.
Greater Peace
Pastor Donald Walsh
Senior Pastor
Grace Tabernacle Church, London
(44) 70 2409 3852.
This is the 4th or 5th time we have received this scam invitation and have never responded. Today I copied and pasted some scam links and send it back to him requesting that they take us off their list. I am also reporting the address to gmail. I hope this helps others not to be victimized. When invitations come in, I always check to see if they have a website and if their church is legitimate. If you don’t find them on the internet, they probably cannot afford to bring you over to the UK as they promise and they are not a legitimate organization. Every legitimate church of any size has a website these days.
Victory Church
Harmon Chapel
Nolton Street, Bridgend,
London, United Kingdom
CF31 3AA
WEBSITE: CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND NOT ALL INFORMATION HAS BEEN UPDATED.
Tel Phone: +44 702-404-3724
Greetings unto you Pastor …..
We are Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones of Victory Outreach Church, United
Kingdom. We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at Our
upcoming conference tagged “Faith Restoration conference and
Banquet”coming up from 27th through 30th of JUNE 2016.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got
your contact on “http://www.rockchurch.com/pastors_staff/dan_roth”
Alln arrangements,speaking fee and accommodation will be taken care of
as soon as you honor this invitation.
VENUE: Conference Hall (Inside Church Premises)
Harmon Chapel
Nolton Street, Bridgend,
London, United Kingdom
CF31 3AA
Date : 27TH to JUNE 30TH 2016
Topic: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard
Theme: Show The Light and People Will Find Their Way
We will send you all binding documents including a Letter of
Invitation and a speaker Contract Agreement document as soon as you
honor our invitation,with your Full names and address,direct telephone
number,scan copy of you recent picture.
We await your earliest response.
Stay Blessed
Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones
Victory Church, UK
Hello People of God,
I received this email on yesterday April 15th. I notice that the dates on the invite are different from the ones on the website. The site is repetitive and gives information that you don’t usually see on a site. I continued to google and found this page as I read through the info I found several similarities in the correspondence sent to me. Thank you for the heads up, it is my prayer that God Bless each of you 10 times over for any money that was taken from you and that the anointing on your life increase because of your willingness to serve the people of God.
Be Blessed,
Prophetess Jean T. Parker
Grace Tabernacle Church London
5:59 PM (14 hours ago)
to me
Grace Tabernacle Church.
Harvey Toad Road, Wellington Hill
London, UK.
N10 1LT.
Website: http://gracetchurch.org
Church Office Phone: (44) 70 2409 3852
RE: PASSION CONFERENCE 2016
Dear Prophetess Jean Tillman Parker,
I am Pastor Donald Walsh and on behalf of Grace Tabernacle Church
(GTC), in association with PoundBox and other sponsors, we are pleased
to invite you to be one of our Guest Speaker in our PASSION CONFERENCE
2016.
The conference will be held from Thursday 23rd – Saturday 25th June
2016 at Fairfield Halls in London. It’s an hour drive to London
Heathrow Airport. London is the largest city in UK, situated in the
heart of England. London Heathrow airport (LHR) is the busiest airport
in the Europe and has direct flight to numerous cities in Europe
including Major Hubs such as Amsterdam and Paris. A number of Asian
and Middle Eastern airlines also serve the airport, along with
numerous US carrier. The Fairfield Halls is adjacent to London
Heathrow Airport. The purpose of this conference is to trigger the
pursuit of deep Christianity among youth, young adult, old and partial
christians.
The Conference Theme: SHINING LIKE STARS IN THE WORLD THROUGH THE GOSPEL
Scheduled Topic: Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing Christ.
Your expertise and experience in this field of work will be an
excellent addition to our programme (PASSION CONFERENCE), as many of
our visitors will look forward to hearing and learning from your work.
It is an honor to be able to invite you to be a guest speaker for a
talk on (Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing
Christ), as we have read your profile on your online website
(http://www.truepraiseministries.com),and aware of your great contribution to
this field of work.
GTC is planning an optional tour of local tourist attractions on the
afternoon of Saturday 25th June. Free for Invited Speakers.
Participants are requested to cover the cost of this trip in cash, to
be collected during the conference. Please check the Grace Tabernacle
Church Website for updates on useful information, such as Conference
Theme, Topic ET AL.
We look forward to a positive response. If you can RSVP in 48 hours to
our contact details (gracetchurchcenter@gmail.com) and visit our website:
http://gracetchurch.org/. from there, we can provide you with
additional information you might require.
PS: Flight arrangement, hotel accommodation, ground transportation and
honorarium will be sorted by the event organizing committee.
Greater Peace
Pastor Donald Walsh
Senior Pastor
And the scam goes on. I am very glad that you posted this information. I was hesitant to think that this was a legitimate opportunity as I’m just entering the world of being a public speaker (though I have been a pastor/preacher for over 26 years). I am keynoting on occasion and hope to truly launch a full-time ministry/career as a public speaker and author. So, I quickly did a google search and your article was right at the top. Thank you!
And the scam goes on. I just received the email you’ve described and I am very thankful that you posted this information. I was hesitant to believe that it was a legitimate offer as I am just launching into the world of public speaking, though I’ve been a pastor/preacher for over 26 years. I’ve keynoted a few venues and have written some books. As I hope to grow in this ministry/career I wanted to believe it was legitimate. But I did a quick google search and your article was first on the list. Thank you!
I received a similar email on April 15, 2016 from Pastor Donald Walsh
Senior Pastor,Grace Tabernacle Church, London
(44) 0702 409 3852. The email smelled funny to me since I have been speaking at churches throughout the USA and internationally for decades. Never have I gotten such an impersonal invitation. I suspected the money request would have to do with the “Work Visa.” I did a quick search and found this site and it confirmed my suspicions. How do these people get by with this for so long?
Just got the same email invitation to our church email from “Apostle Donald Walsh”! They have upgraded the website since the last time they tried it but there are still errors. Thanks for posting!
We Just received one from Donald Walsh just yesterday…. as I investigated, I had a email bounce, they also try to get you to send you banking information to their Tier 5 expeditor. Please never send any financial information to a third party. It can all be directly through the government if they need it. Praying for these scammers and that they get set free from the spirit of deception.
Greg
I just got the “Donald Walsh from Grace Tabernacle” email. Today is April 29, 2016. The scam is still going. My second in less than a year. Everything about it seemed like a scam for these reasons: it was all over email; it seemed rushed; the event is in a couple of months, etc.
I just received the Donald Walsh from Grace Tabernacle Church scam email. Thanks for posting this!
Thank you for posting this website. Grace Tabernacle Church (with a website and supposed Senior Pastor Donald Walsh) sent me a very similar invitation to be a key speaker at their Passion conference June 23-25, 2016. I did not have peace about continuing with the process. I got all the way to going to the bank to wire the money for VISA and Health Surcharge. The bank told me I needed the name of the person or organization along with the full address. When I emailed asking for that, “Dr. Dickson Watt” replied to me “Attention Client: Due to the difficulties you are going through in wiring the stipulated fee to our designated country processing officer bank account information, Do move forward and wire the fee via (Money Gram) to our Alternative country processing officer as soon as possible. His info is attached below:
Name: Harris Johnson Christopher, State: Texas, City: Houston, Postcode: 77082. After the transaction do send me the receipt for retrieval and record purposes.. ”
Some more red flags: While the contact info was all UK, I phoned “Dr. D. Watt” and no one picked up. He did not work through the British Consulate here in Toronto, Canada. No matter what time I emailed from Canada which at times was night time in UK, I received a rather prompt email reply… means working outside regular office hours. I asked the church for references or the association of churches it was part of and in reply was told they had received a recommendation from someone in USA about our ministry. They talked about the officer of their UK Border Control in the Country where I am but only give me USA banks and contacts when I am in Canada.
I hope this helps others.
As a traveling speaker with a website since website since 1996, I have been contacted numerous times with scam speaking invitations. Off the top of my head, here are some tip-offs that the letter is a scam:
1. The events are usually scheduled for a date within 3 months. It would be very unusual to bring in a speaker for an international event on such short notice. Most international speakers book at least a year in advance.
2. The email addresses are not specific to the ministry website, ie: they are from gmail, yahoo, etc.
3. The letter may contain significant typos, such as neglecting to capitalize Lord.
4. The invitations are based on your writings. It would be quite unusual to invite a speaker that hasn’t been heard. Many writers are horrible oral communicators.
5. The topic they say they want you to address does not match any you are known for, yet they say you are a good match.
6. The church they claim to represent might be real, but the church’s website makes no mention of the conference.
7. The church body or building described on the website is often too small to put on an event of such cost and magnitude.
8. If you respond, they ask you for money to cover Work Permit related expenses. A very strange request for someone who can afford to pay a generous honorarium.
Someone pretending to be the pastor of a London church (a real church, checked on line) invited me to be a speaker at a conference. The e-mail exchange, initiated by him/her is copied below. From the diction & idiom I am quite sure the sender is not a Brit.
On Wednesday, May 18, 2016 11:19 PM, David King wrote:
You’ll need to find another King David to speak.
God didn’t tell me to accept your invitation, and
– as I said – I’m not available.
dk
______________________________________________
On Wednesday, May 18, 2016 7:33 PM, “VICTORY CHURCH, UK” wrote:
Greetings unto you Pastor David King,
Thank you for your mail response to our invitation.You are the one the
Lord directed us to come minister in this year Greta conference. We
serve a God of possibility and we believe in water baptism and
miraculous touch of God,sign and wonders.
God brought King David out of the bush and you are name sake of King
David in the Bible so if you honor our invitation as God has directed
us to contact you,kindly get back us and to enable us give you more
details and send you a speaker contract agreement document and a
formal letter of invitation document for better understanding,send to
us your full names and address,direct telephone number and scan copy
of your recent picture for the hand bill.
Stay bless,
Pastor Phil
__________________________________________
Subject: Re: Greetings unto you Pastor David King
Date: Wed, 18 May 2016 19:26:32 -0500
From: David King
To: VICTORY CHURCH, UK
Brothers,
I am quite baffled as to why you think the Lord directed you to contact me,
an ordinary pastor in a small Reformed / Calvinistic church in Wisconsin.
So I feel honored, I guess. But I am not really free to accept the
invitation;
and, judging from your statement of beliefs at your web-site, I think we
diverge on a few points of doctrine that would be significant (baptism
of the
Spirit, miraculous gifts of the Spirit, to mention two). I wonder if
perhaps
you do not have me confused with someone else who would be more
sympatico.
But I pray the Lord’s blessings upon you,
David
Pastor David King
Christ Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Janesville, WI – USA
___________________________________________
On 5/18/2016 6:54 PM, VICTORY CHURCH, UK wrote:
> Victory Church
> Harmon Chapel
> Nolton Street, Bridgend,
> London, United Kingdom
> CF31 3AA
> WEBSITE: CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND NOT ALL INFORMATION HAS BEEN UPDATED.
> Tel Phone: +44 702-404-3724
> Greetings unto you Pastor David King
> We are Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones of Victory Outreach Church, United
> Kingdom. We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at Our
> upcoming conference tagged “Faith Restoration conference and
> Banquet”coming up from 19th through 22nd of JULY 2016.
> The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got
> your contact on “http://christ-opc.org/about.html” All
> arrangements,speaking fee and accommodation will be taken care of as
> soon as you honor this invitation.
> VENUE: Conference Hall (Inside Church Premises)
> Harmon Chapel
> Nolton Street, Bridgend,
> London, United Kingdom
> CF31 3AA
> Date : 19TH to JULY 22ND 2016
> Topic: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard
> Theme: Show The Light and People Will Find Their Way
> We will send you all binding documents including a Letter of
> Invitation and a speaker Contract Agreement document as soon as you
> honor our invitation,with your Full names and address,direct telephone
> number,scan copy of you recent picture.
> We await your earliest response.
> Stay Blessed
> Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones
> Victory Church, UK
Hey, I just got the invite to speak today. First, I was sceptical because who invites you to speak by just reading your bio on a website? Secondly, who invites you to speak without any personal details about you or themselves. Thirdly, who invites international speakers at such a short notice of time (less than two months). Thank you for this post and warning saving many of us of our time and resources for the kingdom.
Just received the scam today. Same story, read the bio off our website. Please speak at our leadership conference. Wouldn’t have gone anyway, but good yo know it is a scam.
Got the letter yesterday from Grace Tabernacle Church and there is a Passion Conference on July 28th-30th. The letter is even signed by the senior pastor listed on the website and the telephone is the one listed by the website as well. The giveaway is the gmail account one is asked to respond. Also the cost of the trip is to be paid by the participant IN CASH on arrival in London and that response must be made within 48 hrs. Pray no one will fall for these individuals.
Just received the scam today for Passion Conference UK 2016 from NOT ‘Pastor Sherard Wood
Victory Church, UK(44) 703 193 3462’.
Watched for the gmail account and the conference doesnt exist and it didnt feel right.:)
just received this email . . .seems they now have a website!!
Grace Tabernacle Church.
Harvey Toad Road, Wellington Hill
London, UK.
N10 1LT.
Website: http://gracetchurch.org
Church Office Phone: (44) 70 2409 3852
RE: PASSION CONFERENCE 2016
I am Pastor Donald Walsh and on behalf of Grace Tabernacle Church (GTC), in association with PoundBox and other sponsors, we are pleased to invite you to be one of our Guest Speaker in our PASSION CONFERENCE 2016.
The conference will be held from Thursday 20th – Saturday 22nd of August 2016, at Fairfield Halls in London. It’s an hour drive to London Heathrow Airport. London is the largest city in UK, situated in the heart of England. London Heathrow airport (LHR) is the busiest airport in the Europe and has direct flight to numerous cities in Europe including Major Hubs such as Amsterdam and Paris. A number of Asian and Middle Eastern airlines also serve the airport, along with numerous US carrier. The Fairfield Halls is adjacent to London Heathrow Airport. The purpose of this conference is to trigger the pursuit of deep Christianity among youth, young adult, old and partial christians.
The Conference Theme: SHINING LIKE STARS IN THE WORLD THROUGH THE GOSPEL
Scheduled Topic: Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing Christ.
Your expertise and experience in this field of work will be an excellent addition to our programme (PASSION CONFERENCE), as many of our visitors will look forward to hearing and learning from your work.
It is an honor to be able to invite you to be a guest speaker for a talk on (Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing Christ), as we have read your profile on your online website, and aware of your great contribution to this field of work.
GTC is planning an optional tour of local tourist attractions on the afternoon of Saturday 22nd August. Free for Invited Speakers. Participants are requested to cover the cost of this trip in cash, to be collected during the conference. Please check the Grace Tabernacle Church Website for updates on useful information, such as Conference Theme, Topic ET AL.
We look forward to a positive response. If you can RSVP in 48 hours to our contact details (info@gracetchurch.org) and visit our website: http://gracetchurch.org/. from there, we can provide you with additional information you might require.
PS: Flight arrangement, hotel accommodation, ground transportation and honorarium will be sorted by the event organizing committee.
Greater Peace
Pastor Donald Walsh
Senior Pastor
Grace Tabernacle Church, London
(44) 70 2409 3852
Received much the same email July 12 via our website. They used the name of Peter Lott of Victory Church, UK, and the “Passion Conference 2016” approach. (Theme: Shinning [sic] Like Stars in the world through the Gospel)
They gave this phone number: (44) 703 193 3462
This email address: victoryoutreachchurchoffice@gmail.com
Part of the text: I am Pastor Peter Lott of Victory Church, United Kingdom. We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at our upcoming conference tagged “PASSION CONFERENCE 2016” coming up from 24th through 26th of Sept 2016.
The purpose of this conference is to trigger the pursuit of deep Christianity among youth, young adult, old and partial Christians.
VENUE: Conference Hall (Inside Church Premises) High Street, Chepstow, Monmouthshire, UK
NP16 5LH
Date : Sept 24th to Sept 26th 2016
Scheduled Topic: Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing Christ
Theme: Shinning like stars in the world through the Gospel
Its still going. I just got invited to speak at Victory Church UK’s Passion Conference. It was not an invite from that actual church but it is very well organized.
I too received an email for the Passion conference August 2016. I did start on completing the forms but for some reason my Spirit was not settled, the amount for the work visa was wayyyy too much and it was going through moneygram so i decided to dig further and lo and behold I found this link with the same letter from grace tabernacle yet using different pastoral names…..in the name of Jesus i bind the Spirit of deception lies and love of money. May the Lord Jesus bring this scam down to nothing. In Jesus’name I pray.
God bless you all xx
Just got my invite today. Sherard Wood of Victory Church, UK wants to know if I can speak at their Passion Conference in September. Looks like they’ve overbooked. Thanks for the scam alert.
Yes, I received the same e-mail. But, the only reason anyone falls for this is their own ego. I have never known of any church that will spend $5,000 – $10,000 on a speaker without at least a phone call. Obviously, a bit more refined than the former Nigerian scams. Valid church and pastor names – – why wouldn’t anyone just check it out on the internet and make a phone call?
INFO IN THE E-MAIL:
Pastor Sherard Wood
Victory Church, UK
(44) 703 193 3462
INFO ON THE WEBSITE:
Church address: Victory Church, Greenforge Way, Springvale, Cwmbran, NP44 3BA
Office info Email: office@victorychurch.co.uk
Phone: 01633 867401
– – The next thing they will do is create an entire webpage for a fake mega-church and then the money will really start rolling in.
I received the email from Dan Walsh Grace Tabernacle, I looked up Dr. Dickson Watts to see if he was on staff with the UK Border Agency Home department. There was a man last name Dickson and another last name Watts but no Dr. Dickson Watts. I thought it strange to get an invitation from a pastor and church I had no connection with. I am not known as a conference speaker so it all seemed strange. This whole thing was just to good to be true. Thank you so much for exposing this scam. It saved me a lot of time, money, and embarrassment.
The scam continues, but why?!!
Ok, this is a hot mess!!! Why are these people allowed to continue doing this.
I was contacted via email by a fake Peter Jenkins. I called the real Victory Church and they informed me that it was indeed a scam, and there was nothing that could be done. Why?!!!
Well, here I am adding to the list of victims. Can someone please tell us how to track and stop this madness?!!
Hello everyone. I have been contacted by these people as well within this past week. Here is the email I received below. Please read it carefully as you’ll see the pattern with the scam. PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY TO THESE PEOPLE.
Greetings to you Bishop Tyrone Smith,
I am Pastor Peter Jenkins of Victory Church, United Kingdom. We are
writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at our upcoming
conference tagged “PASSION CONFERENCE 2016” coming up from 28th
through 30th of Oct 2016.
The purpose of this conference is to trigger the pursuit of deep
Christianity among youth, young adult, old and partial Christians.
VENUE: Conference Hall (Inside Church Premises)
High Street,
Chepstow,
Monmouthshire, UK
NP16 5LH
Date : Oct 28th to Oct 30th 2016
Scheduled Topic: Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing Christ
Theme: Shinning like stars in the world through the Gospel
Your expertise and experience in this field of work will be an
excellent addition to our programme (PASSION CONFERENCE), as many of
our visitors will look forward to hearing and learning from your work.
It is an honor to be able to invite you to be a guest speaker for a
talk on (Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing
Christ), as we have read your profile on your online website
(http://tlcmd.org),and aware of your great
contribution to this field of work.
We look forward to a positive response. If you can RSVP in 48 hours to
our contact details (vocinquiry@gmail.com) and we will provide you
with additional information you might require.
PS: Flight arrangement, hotel accommodation, ground transportation and
honorarium will be sorted by the event organizing committee.
Greater Peace,
Pastor Peter Jenkins
Victory Church, UK
(44) 70 2409 3852
Received this email this morning. I am the college and media director for our church so I get to filter all the web contacts before they reach our lead pastor. This sounded odd so I did my due diligence before even considering showing this to our pastor. Checked the website of the church, had no mention of the conference and didn’t look “under construction”. Also google mapped the address of the chapel and there was no listing of it. When I googled “Harmon Chapel” this site came up. Thanks for posting. I’ll include the email we received below.
VICTORY CHURCH UK
3:06 AM (5 hours ago)
to bcc: info
Victory Church
Harmon Chapel
Nolton Street, Bridgend,
London, United Kingdom
CF31 3AA
WEBSITE: CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND NOT ALL INFORMATION HAS BEEN UPDATED.
Tel Phone: +44 702-404-3724
Greetings unto you Pastor
We are Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones of Victory Outreach Church, United
Kingdom. We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at Our
upcoming conference tagged “Faith Restoration conference and
Banquet”coming up from 16th through 19th of November 2016.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got
your contact on “http://www.nmministry.net/” All arrangements,speaking
fee and accommodation will be taken care of as soon as you honor this
invitation.
VENUE: Conference Hall (Inside Church Premises)
Harmon Chapel
Nolton Street, Bridgend,
London, United Kingdom
CF31 3AA
Date : 16th to November 19th 2016
Topic: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard
Theme: Show The Light and People Will Find Their Way
We will send you all binding documents including a Letter of
Invitation and a speaker Contract Agreement document as soon as you
honor our invitation,with your Full names and address,direct telephone
number,scan copy of you recent picture.
We await your earliest response.
Stay Blessed
Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones
I just received a request from this group yesterday. I’m from a town in the middle of Australia. I went straight to finding their website and your site appeared first. Thank you for the insight to this group.
I received this letter, also, 2 weeks ago.
One convincing aspect is the complete schedule of events that they sent with my name included.
My letter stated it was from Wales, and there was a website for Victory Church for me to see.
Thanks so much for your spreading the word about this scam!
This same information was sent to us in Hawaii. Website seem legitimate,topic right up our alley, and caused an excitement for a while. Our heart is to minister the Word of God and this would have been the first international opportunity. MoneyGram would not allow sending money to an unknown person, who, by the way was in Ohio. This dudes name was Pastor Sherard Wood of Victory Church, UK on High Street, Chepstow, Monmouthshire, UK. All real places. Beware…
I just received this one to our church email address.
From: VICTORY CHURCH UK
Sent: Tuesday, 27 September, 8:02 PM
Subject: Greetings unto you Pastor xxxxx
Victory Church Harmon Chapel Nolton Street, Bridgend, London, United Kingdom CF31 3AA WEBSITE: CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND NOT ALL INFORMATION HAS BEEN UPDATED. Tel Phone: +44 702-404-3724 Greetings unto you Pastor xxxxxx xxxxx. We are Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones of Victory Outreach Church, United Kingdom. We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at Our upcoming conference tagged “Faith Restoration conference and Banquet”coming up from 16th through 19th of November 2016. The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got your contact on “http://www.xxxxxxx.org/” All arrangements,speaking fee and accommodation will be taken care of as soon as you honor this invitation. VENUE: Conference Hall (Inside Church Premises) Harmon Chapel Nolton Street, Bridgend, London, United Kingdom CF31 3AA Date : 16th to November 19th 2016 Topic: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard Theme: Show The Light and People Will Find Their Way We will send you all binding documents including a Letter of Invitation and a speaker Contract Agreement document as soon as you honor our invitation,with your Full names and address,direct telephone number,scan copy of you recent picture. We await your earliest response. Stay Blessed Pastor Phil Lyndon-Jones Victory Church, UK