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:
I just got the Email from victorychurchuk@hotmail.com
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 13th through 16th of December 2017.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got your contact on “http://www.hopeforarabs.com/people/pastor/” 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 : 13th to December 16th 2017
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
Well, all I can say is … I’m sorry for all the rest of you suckers who got those bogus emails. They were obviously just trolling through all you apostates before they got to me, the one true, faithful, dynamic pastor/preacher they REALLY need to come over and evangelize all those heathen Anglo-Saxon hordes. Personally, I’m looking forward to being a humble part of seeing those thousands saved, hundreds healed at each service.
Good thing God still has His faithful remnant around, like me, to balance out all you false prophets. Just to show you I’m more spiritual than you – as if there were any doubt – after the conference I’ll make pictures of the newly converted masses available for only $19.95 USD each (plus S & H). Just send cash or money order (no checks, please – I obviously can’t trust you) to my Hotmail account.
Yes I also received the invite. My wise wife said “with all those grammatical errors this has to be a scam.”
Pastor turner we have received the same invite to speak at a conference. It is a scam.victory church in london.
Got the EXACT same email as Rev. Afdal W. except the event date is from Feb. 7-10, 2018.
But since I’m apostate and clearly not qualified, I’ll let Kent Keller attend in my place. 😉
They sent this to me from victorychurchuk@hotmail.com, 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: +447-024-054-446
Greetings unto you Pastor [My name]
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 through 17th of March 2018.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got your contact on “[my church’s website]” 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 : 14th to March 17th 2018
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
I received the following email:
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: +447-024-054-446
Greetings unto you Pastor Speights
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 25th through 28th of April 2018.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got your contact on “http://www.neabscobaptist.org/about/pastor-speights” 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 : 25th to April 28th 2018
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
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: +447-024-054-446
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 15th through 18th of AUGUST 2018.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got your contact on “America white page directory ” 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 : 15th to AUGUST 18th 2018
Theme: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard
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
+447-024-054-446
They’re at it again. I received the very same email earlier this week.
Thanks for posting this as it saved me $1000.00.
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: +447-024-054-446
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 15th through 18th of AUGUST 2018.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got your contact on “America white page directory ” 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 : 15th to AUGUST 18th 2018
Theme: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard
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
+447-024-054-446
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: +447-024-054-446
Greetings unto you Pastor Rev. Clarence Dalrymple
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 15th through 18th of AUGUST 2018.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got your contact on “https://clarencedalrymple.wordpress.com/about/” 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 : 15th to AUGUST 18th 2018
Theme: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard
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
+447-024-054-446
They invited me today. Identical wording to above. I declined as already committed but decided to research. It is a scam.
I received an invitation from Pastor Phil Today. Seemed fishy right off the bat.
I’m committed to ministering in US/Canada and one Southeast Asian country, so I doubt seriously if I would have further engaged. However, it looked too good to be true. I smelled SCAM right off the bat. Glad I found your remarks which confirmed it.
Received the same scam just recently. The follow up email was even worse requesting for money.
From: VICTORY CHURCH
Sent: Wednesday, 14 November 2018 10:42 AM
To:
Subject: FYI
Greetings unto you Pastor Pastor Naomi
Thank you for your mail response to our invitation. We noted as you outline in your mail. Pastor its by divine contact God connected us to you because we have been praying and God has given us answer to use you for the great assignment we have in Medford, New Jersey (USA)
There is this sick woman ,Vina Long (Late) but married a British Man Martin Long,(Late) without a child and the wife died of cancer last year. my self and the church has be the one praying for her in the hospital before she finally give up the ghost. She has handed over the property in Medford NJ (USA) , to the church and also left some huge amount of funds with a leaving financial security firm here in England.
The firm her late husband had a contract with after his death, lodge the funds with the security firm here in England.It was when the wife want to give up the ghost she disclose the funds and hand over the certificate of deposit to the church to establish a charity foundation in the name of the beneficiary that will help us commence this assignment and God’s project for you to be in charge to help the less privileged in your community,state and your country at large.
Now that God has chosen you to use it for orphanage the money to commence the project and you know the property in New Jersey is ready.I can ask the director of operation, of the financial security firm to take a picture of the fund and send to me so i can forward to you, also the agent in charge of the property in New Jersey to send me a picture of the house which i can send to you as well for your perusal as soon as i receive optimistic response from you to carryout out this God great assignment/ project to his Glory to secure our eternity.
In order for you to have an insight before i can file for claim documentation in your name as the next of kin. also introduce you to the director of operation of the financial security firm to open communication with him how you are to receive the fund to commence the project and as soon as the funds are confirm in your custody, my good self and wife and the church board of trustee will fly down to meet you in New Jersey for opening ceremony of the charity home and hand over the property documents to you as directed and instructed by the spirit to use the fund to commence the project.
I anticipate your optimistic response to give you more details to carry out and execute this project God has put in your custody without any hesitation you can as well pray for God has spoken to us he will as well give you the same dream in a two ways but the same meaning , like the two dreams he show Pharoh which Joseph interpreted the two as same, to give you directives and instruction to carry out this assignment.
We serve a God of possibility,
As we await your earliest response.
Peace and stay bless,
Pastor Phil
As a pastor here in South Wales, can I please clarify with you that these are completely fraudulent emails, with no connection to any churches here. The giveaway signs are the same in every communication. The email addresses are generic, not linked to the actual church websites. The phone numbers given are mobile numbers, not BT landlines. Also, in some cases quoted here, although the scammers have the names of actual Welsh ministers here, they have linked them to the wrong churches. For example, Phil Jones has never been at Victory church to my knowledge. If you want to check out if a communication is genuine, get in touch with the church their website, and by the UK landline phone numbers advertised on those websites. These scammers have probably never set foot in Wales in their lives.
Oh, and I forgot to say, any UK government agency has emails ending .gov.uk They will NOT use other email platforms.
Looks like the SCAM is still alive. I just received this incredible invite.
VICTORY CHURCH
4:37 AM (7 hours ago)
to XXXXXXX@gmail.com
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: +447-024-054-446
Greetings unto you Pastor XXXX
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 15th through 18th of March 2019.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got your contact on “http://peacockministries.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 : 15th to March 18th 2019
Theme: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard
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
+447-024-054-446
Another that I was sent:
Dear Pastor Doug Hartman,
Thank you for agreeing to be the Guest Speaker for our POWER
CONFERENCE 2019, from April 26th – 28th April 2019. Enclosed to this
letter is a Speaker Contract, invitation Letter, Speaking Schedule,
time and topic. We will require your Mailing Address, airport
information and recent photo for publicity materials and promotional
update on our website. You are required to read the contract
thoroughly, print it out, sign, and then send back a scanned copy of
the contract via email attachment.
In our first correspondence to you, it was clearly stated that the
event organizing committee will provide flight ticket,other logistics
and hotel accommodation at The Solar Strand Hotel. You are expected to
arrive on the 25th of April 2019.
VISA REQUIREMENT: Download the attached VISA REQUIREMENT Guide and
follow instructions stated in it.
Information in regards to Honorarium, Book/CD sales and other
Conference logistics has been noted in the Speaking Engagement
Contract.
In Him I Remain Faithful.
Pastor Andrew Hobbs
Grace Church Blackwood, UK
(44)702 403 7959
I have a request form on my site and this guy ANDREW HOBBS, from Grace Church Blackwood contacted me. I so speak internationally, but usually its based on referrals or people I already know. So, my wife and staff simply assumed scam. THe following is what was sent in Special Request page:
Request for the following Pastor or Ministry (more than one can be selected): Sr. Pastor Ralph Godfrey Jr.
Contact Information
Name of Requesting Church & Contact Person: Pastor Andrew Hobbs
Contact Address: Cefn Road,Blackwood,Gwent. NP14 3PR.
London
Contact Number: 7024 037959
email: churchoffice@gracechurchblackwood.org
Added or Special Request: Grace Church Blackwood Cefn Road, Blackwood, Gwent. NP14 3PR. Website: http://www.gracechurchblackwood.org/ Email: churchoffice@gracechurchblackwood.org Church Office Phone: +44 7024 037959 Greetings to you Pastor Ralph Godfrey, I am Pastor Andrew Hobbs of Grace Church Blackwood, United Kingdom. We are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at our upcoming conference tagged “POWER CONFERENCE 2019” coming up from 26th through 28th of Apr 2019. 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) Cefn Road, Blackwood, Gwent. NP14 3PR Date : Apr 26th to Apr 28th 2019 Scheduled Topic: Pursuit of Deep Christianity Theme: Reach Out and Touch Someone The weekend of the conference is going to be filled with incredible times of worship, clear and relevant teachings and powerful encounters with God’s presence and your expertise and experience in this field of work will be an excellent addition to our program (POWER CONFERENCE 2019), 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 (Pursuit of Deep Christianity), as we have read your profile on your online website (http://www.newlifetemplechurch.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 (churchoffice@gracechurchblackwood.org) 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 Andrew Hobbs Senior Pastor Grace Church Blackwood, UK +44 7024 037959
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: +447-024-054-446
Greetings unto you Pastor MARTIN LORD
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 10th through 13th of April 2019.
The lord has direct us to email you for this assignment after we got your contact on “https://www.gracechurchthunderbay.com/staff”, 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 : 10th to April 13th 2019
Theme: The Effect of Compromising God’s Standard
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
+447-024-054-446″,
I also just got it … Victory Church, London, UK. I could see that it was a scam, but wanted to see just what a Google search would pull up. Thanks for posting this.
Here’s the one I received. And they do have a website: gracechurchblackwood.org
Greetings to you Reverend,
I am Pastor Andrew Hobbs of Grace Church Blackwood, United Kingdom. We
are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at our upcoming
conference tagged “POWER CONFERENCE 2019” coming up from 7th through
9th of June 2019.
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)
Cefn Road,
Blackwood,
Gwent. NP14 3PR
Date : June 7th to June 9th 2019
Scheduled Topic: Pursuit of Deep Christianity
Theme: Reach Out and Touch Someone
The weekend of the conference is going to be filled with incredible
times of worship, clear and relevant teachings and powerful encounters
with God’s presence and your expertise and experience in this field of
work will be an excellent addition to our program (POWER CONFERENCE
2019), 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 (Pursuit of Deep Christianity), as we
have read your profile on your online website
(https://www.holycross.net//) 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 (churchoffice@gracechurchblackwood.org) 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 Andrew Hobbs
Senior Pastor
Grace Church Blackwood, UK
+44 7024 037959
Same here.. I was so happy for this invite, but yesterday, when REBECCA PAUL (the one which will help with the work permit) told me to transfer the money to her private account, that was when I was starting googling this. Thank you so much Patrick for writing this blog!
Other names mentioned:
Referend David Ison
Edward Smith
Badasses, really!
Thank you for posting this! I got an invitation yesterday from Reverend Donald Davis at St. Luke’s Church in West Norwood, London, England. It seemed a little too good to be true, and I have a skeptical nature, but the church has a website and Reverend Davis is the pastor there. But there wasn’t anything on their website about an upcoming conference, and I don’t know of any contacts who would have recommended me to a church in England. So, I googled the “sponsor” and found your post. So glad I did, although if I had gotten an email asking me for money, that would have ended my involvement. We weren’t at that point yet, and I’m happy that we won’t get there thanks to you.
I just got targeted last week. I won’t include all the email content as it’s very similar to what is already posted. I will note I was first contacted by
Reverend Dr David Ison of Saint Paul’s Church in Brixton England. reverenddr.davidison@gmail.com I googled the church and the Reverend and both appeared legit. All email from Ison even included a photo of the real Reverend. Looks like a headshot from a Facebook page.
After agreeing to my speaker’s fee he passed me off to the “President of the Events Committee,” Edward Smith (named in the original blog post), StPaulChurch.Events@outlook.com, who sent me a Letter of Invitation and Contract Agreement (which offered RT business class travel for me and an accompanying person (my husband was thrilled).
Smith passed me off to a member of the church who worked for the UKBA (United Kingdom Border Agency), named Rebecca Taylor, RebeccaTaylor.UKBA@workmail.com. Taylor sent me the Tier 2 Work Permit application as a pdf attachment and it appears to be the real form. I completed it and returned it and then got the same message others did about sending money, which the Reverend assured me I would be reimbursed. My instructions were to send it via MoneyGram. I confirmed that the amount being requested matched the amount the United Kingdom requires. I’m embarrassed to admit I sent it.
At the second request for money to cover the “bond” (in my case 1,300GBP of which I was requested to pay 650GBP, which would also be reimbursed when the Sponsor paid the rest of the sponsorship) was my end point and I began going over all of the “tells” that should have tipped me off in the beginning.
The last email I got this week asked where they wanted me to deposit the 1/2 of my speaker’s fee payment.
I completed a form online advising the FBI of the scam. While I don’t think they have compromised my computer and its contents, I downloaded a Password Manager App and changed all my passwords. I visited my bank today and they said if I was worried about my computer being compromised they recommended I contact my ISP and inquire whether I can have my IP address changed and consider having a professional scan my computer (versus just my virus app scan). The banker, who was the branch’s internet email scam person, said she didn’t think this was a computer hack but simply an email scam.
Feeling like an idiot.
Sadly, I just got the same scam emails. Came in through the form on my website. st. Luke’s Parish in West Norwood. Rev. Donald Davis. I ask for a website in my form and her said it was under construction. Of course I googled it and found it. Thanks for posting this so I don’t waste any more time and energy on this. Praying these people are caught but more importantly find Jesus whom they claim to be working for!
Thank you for this blog post! I just got hit with this this week although since I have readers in England I thought it would perhaps be possible. And I googled the name of the sender and it truly is a minister at a church. I’ll email the church to let them know, too, in case there are more.
Here is one I received today on my website form.
Name: Reverend Donald Davis
Email: reverenddonalddavis@gmail.com
Phone: (703) 180-1874
Please Contact Me By: Email
Tell me about your event and how I can help you.
Peace & Blessings to you John, I am Reverend Donald Davis, presiding minister of the St Luke’s Church, London, United Kingdom. We are pleased to inform you that we would like to engage you for a speaking event here in West Norwood,London at the Church conference coming up on the 16th, 17th & 18th of September 2019. 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.
Remain Blessed.
—
Reverend Donald Davis
St Luke’s Church
13 Norwood High St
West Norwood
SE27 0DT
London
United Kingdom
WEBSITE: CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND NOT ALL INFORMATION HAS BEEN UPDATED.
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
After the initial invitation, I asked for more details, this was the reply, I followed up with more inquiries. FOR SURE A SCAM , BEWARE!!!
Thank you very much for your profound interest in this upcoming conference, I have a few more details to share with you so you can have more insight on the conference and what the church stands for as a whole.
(Inaugurated in 1958, the annual Connaught Rd Lecture is given in The Apostolic Church on some aspect of the life and work of Bede or of Anglo-Saxon history or culture. The lecture is published in the year following delivery and copies can be obtained in The Apostolic Church or from lecture secretary) This is an age-long history of our church.
It is due to this age-long ritual of giving lectures that we have decided to keep lectures going though the type of lectures has evolved over the years we are proud to say we are keeping the hope alive! It is due to this that we are hosting the conference come 24th, 25th & 26th of Aug 2019 with about 600 people in attendance and we are pleased to notify you that you have been chosen by our Event Organizing Committee to speak at this event on recommendation of a staff of one of our sponsors, the YMF outreach and after checking your credentials and after reading blogs about you, we received the Lords direction to invite you to speak in this event and we also believe you are as well more than capable to deliver in this occasion, We have decided among the Event Organizing Committee to invite you to this program.
Since I was inaugurated as the Presiding Minister of this esteemed church, God has being helping us to keep hope and monuments alive and we have also being able to change the face of Christianity, and the church having a whole lot of history attached to it, for one, the site of the oldest stained glass and home to the then Venerable Bede (the scientist) and one of the oldest churches in this part, we also have about the oldest organ in England as well as the saxon crypt and we also have an history with the river Don. You can check out more about the church and its history at:
http://apostolic-church.org
Apart from the conference coming up by July, The church is as well involved in a few other projects. For one, the church has dedicated the new school building to the Most reverend Benjamin Hargreaves,(The second-ever Minister of the esteemed church) in view of his many achievements, the website is under-construction.
http://www.benjamin.lancsngfl.ac.uk/
Sending out the invitation to you is by virtue of Gods bearing plus human recommendation, We need you to use your wealth of experience to sensitize the congregation, We organized this conference and workshop also in the hope of trying to re-organize the Church and further extend our impacts, So we can have people listen and be inspired by speakers like yourself on topics ranging from business growth , surviving in a bad economy, Futuristic speakers , family matters, to healthy living, which is why we chose you to speak at this event as a keynote speaker. Also this conference will as well mark my four year anniversary as the Presiding Minister of this blessed Church.
The conference theme has been carefully chosen by the Lords’ inspiration due to the backdrop of the present situation in the United Kingdom and this year’s conference has been tagged. ‘Big things: How to Start small’
You can email us the keynote you would like to speak on as we would want you to be convenient with the keynote topic so we decided it would be better you choose it yourself as long as its motivational and inspiring! We will as well need your bio to put up on our website and start to design posters as well as hand bills,
We are inviting you so you can inspire this people, teach them how to triumph over the deflating effects of set-backs & self-doubt, how to break free from whatever is keeping them “small”, and become empowered by their challenges, rather than victimized. And most importantly, how to start great things with small efforts and steadfastness
We would like to know your standard speaking fee for this engagement as we do indeed have a sponsor, So we can negotiate this I believe, Our fees are based on budget and we are not biased with our speakers fee, We budget for every speaker according to what the Event Organizing committee deem fit, But we will also be glad to negotiate.
All travel arrangements such as Flight fare, Speaking fee deposit as well as Hotel accommodation will be taken care of by us as soon as you honor this invitation. The events committee will send you all binding documents including a Letter of Invitation and Contract Agreement as well.
Email us in ample time any questions you may have so we can move ahead.
You are blessed.
TIM JACK
+442070439799
http://apostolic-church.org
The Apostolic Church
Connaught Rd
Ilford IG1 1RN,
United kingdom
Haven’t gotten the money gram request yet, but I’m sure its coming.
Something wasn’t right! Too Quick and Easy sayeth the LORD!
Went to google maps and there is no church at the address they use
Here is who sent my “too good to be true” scam
Pastor Tim Jack (as if the name isn’t odd enough! emails that are not linked to the website of the church) timjack740@gmail.com
tonnyhaas101@hotmail.com
Wrote this-
Thank you Nancy Norton for indicating your interest to be our Guest Speaker at this year’s conference, May God forever be with you.
I am Tonny Haas , President of the event organizing committee of the The Apostolic church conference . We believe you have been notified by our Presiding Minister pastor Tim Jack, as we are in charge of the smooth running of this event and by God’s grace we are bound to succeed.
We are very excited to have you in this conference. The event organizing committee had a meeting earlier today to deliberate on getting you available here in the United Kingdom. We believe we serve the lord of Possibilities.
Note you are meant to arrive a day before your performance as to get familiar with the audio/visual gadgets that we have in place, and to get used to the environment as a whole and also get to relax from the jet lag.
We have attached a formal Letter of Invitation and a contract agreement,please reconfirm to us your Mailing Address for our perusal and further action.
Please return a copy of the contract agreement duly signed by you for proper documentation. Print it out, sign and scan back to us(Keep a copy as well). We have agreed to buy your flight ticket and to pay your Hotel accommodation expenses. Also your Speaking fee which amounted to 5.000USD will not be paid in full as yet, 2.500USD deposit is to be paid as soon as you procure all relevant travel documents so as to avoid any disappointment and the balance will paid in cash upon your arrival here. You are informed to get across your Work Permit in the UK to us so your deposit can be approved according to our mandated regulation as well as your UK visa for travels. If you do not have the permit please let us know so we can make arrangements for the documents to be processed quickly as the event is at hand. But if you do have the work permit just scan and send to us.
Please check the attached documents, It contains your letter of invitation as well as your letter of agreement. We expect your response in regards the documents asap. Thank you and may God bless us all.
Tonny Haas
President, Event Organizing Committee
The Apostolic Church
I just received the same invite to the same conference (August 23-25) from “Pastor Andrew Hobbs, Senior Pastor, Grace Church Blackwood.” It was word-for-word what I read from other “Andrew Hobbs” e-mails. This request came through our church e-mail this morning. Thanks for bringing this scam out into the open.
Okay, they ALMOST fooled me. I got the version from PASTOR ANDREW HOBBS, the same letter with dates changed reported in a comment above. The syntax seemed strange but at first I attributed that to different cultures (US and UK).
This is what almost fooled me:
– the part about “deep Christianity” seemed to reflect my personal ministry of spiritual formation so that was believable
– the website linked had a UMC (Methodist) cross and flame at the top
– googling the pastor’s name showed he is a real author with a book of seven sermons
– the website had a sample sermon on it which seemed very Methodist when I listened and read
These were the hints that made me realize it didn’t add up and hunt for this blog to confirm:
– While there was a Methodist logo on the website, there was no Methodist on the language
– the language of POWER CONFERENCE did not match the Academic style of the sample sermon on the website
– there was only one sample sermon (the archive didn’t work) and the accent of the preacher sounded US not UK
– the website had a picture of Asian children on it
– the book of seven sermons, when I read farther, was about angels and clairvoyance and such – not normally Methodist spirituality
These people are smart but not too smart. They clearly attempt to do different versions for different denominations, but it’s sloppy. Thanks be to God.
This is so sad! I quit before I lost any money. I’m embarrassed that I asked some friends to change our plans so I could speak there.
Steve
We received the same invite from ”pastor Hobbs” with the same dates in August. We googled the church address in the UK and found nothing but dirt! After searching for this ministry we found this.. thanks for posting.
Obviously hackers have hacked in to and infiltrated Church Web Sites to get sensitive personal information – I would advise all Churches who run Web Sites to get the best security systems and tools possible to shield and protect from being hacked and to protect everyone’s personal details/information. Defence Tunnels/Tubes/Pipes I’m told are quite effective. Church Web Sites take thousands and thousand of hits every week in an attempt by scammers to break in and retrieve sensitive information. Keep up to date with your shields and protection. Make sure you have a well educated IT person doing your stuff.
Also
Not in any judgmental way, as I don’t know any of the persons/Ministers personally mentioned above but if you are someone who is appointed to Preach/Teach by the Lord, be sure to Preach the Gospel according to Scripture and don’t make merchandise of it. Beware that local & domestic invitations to speak and of course International ones don’t minister in an ungodly way to your ego and pride. If you are appointed by the Lord Jesus stay humble, stick to the Scriptures (Preach & Teach the Truth In Love – don’t entertain itching ears and goats). and keep it free. The Gospel is Free. If indeed it is of God He will open the door and make a way. He will make sure your needs are met and your costs covered. I understand the word ‘Don’t muzzle the OX whilst he treats out the corn’ – Deuteronomy 25:4 & 1Timothy 5:18, And ‘God shall supply all of your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus’ – Philippians 4:19. Where God guides He provides (Not Scripture).
So brethren go forth humbly, preach the Gospel (Repentance from Sin towards God and Faith in Jesus Christ for Salvation)
Romans 1:16 (Said/Wrote the Apostle Paul) – I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the Power of God unto Salvation for all that believe, first to the Jew and then unto the Gentile.
The Promise of the Father (The Holy Spirit) came up on the Apostles that they may be empowered to Proclaim the Gospel.
The same is true for us
Let’s seek the Honour that comes from God Alone, Let our motive be to Glorify Him, for Souls to be won un to Him and For the Saints to be Strengthened in Grace and to be Built Up and Edified in the Truth (True Doctrine according to the Scriptures) in to Holiness.
Speak the Truth in Love – It’s not an easy thing to do, never has been, and especially in today’s society but by His Power and Grace as we Fellowship with Him we can do it – For His Kingdoms Cause.
Keep the Cross – Christ – Resurrection Central.
JESUS CHRIST ALONE!
I also got an email from the fake Pastor Andrew Hobbs. I was surprised the scammers went to the trouble of creating an entire website to make their scam look legitimate. However, some of the mistakes they made on their fake website (http://www.gracechurchblackwood.org/) are pretty hilarious. Their staff page lists 5 staff people, but the 5 pictures are of people who are–or used to be–staff at Mutley Baptist Church in Mutley Plain, Plymouth, UK. The funniest part is they use the picture of Beth Dymond, a young lady who serves as the Children’s Outreach Worker at Mutley Baptist, and the scammers say on their fake website that she is named “Roy Campbell,” and they describe this “Roy” as an old retired man who is married to a woman named Val. LOL As brilliant as this scam is, it’s a wonder they couldn’t tell that a picture of a young lady doesn’t fit with a description about a retired man. Also, the picture they used for the senior pastor Andrew Hobbs was actually Clive Burnard, who is now a Regional Minister with the Yorkshire Baptist Association. However, Andrew Hobbs happens to be the real name of a guy who claims to be a medium who is able to hear messages from the angelic realms through Melchizedek. It’s crazy how they piece together such random things from around the internet.
For reference, here’s the email:
GRACE CHURCH BLACKWOOD
Grace Church Blackwood
Cefn Road,
Blackwood,
Gwent. NP14 3PR.
Website: http://www.gracechurchblackwood.org/
Email: info@gracechurchblackwood.org
Church Office Phone: +44 7024 037959
Greetings to you Pastor (EDITED OUT),
I am Pastor Andrew Hobbs of Grace Church, United Kingdom. We are
writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at our upcoming
conference tagged “POWER CONFERENCE 2019 ” coming up from 23rd through
25th of Aug 2019.
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)
Cefn Road,
Blackwood,
Gwent. NP14 3PR.
Date : Aug 23rd to Aug 25th 2019
Scheduled Topic: Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing Christ
Theme: Reach Out and Touch Someone
The weekend of the conference is going to be filled with incredible
times of worship, clear and relevant teachings and powerful encounters
with God’s presence and your expertise and experience in this field of
work will be an excellent addition to our programme (POWER
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 (https://www.beanblossomchurch.com/) 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 (info@gracechurchblackwood.org) 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.
In His Grip,
Pastor Andrew Hobbs
Senior Pastor
Grace Church Blackwood, UK
+44 7024 037959
I got the same invite from Andrew Hobbs for a Power Conference in August 2019. Thanks for tip off. I am in Australia. Sounded weird.
I’ve received a number of emails (via our website contact from) over the last few days from speakers who have received a similar request supposedly from our minister, Richard Bray at St Anne’s Limehouse. Needless to say, we sent no such email and are not hosting a conference. I don’t know why they’ve chosen to use St Anne’s for the scam, but thankfully people seem to be picking up on the suspicious nature of these emails and contacting us to check they’re legitimate.
I received an invitation from Pastor Hobbs to travel from Canada to his church in Whales. I figured it was a scam, because I don’t get many invitations to speak locally, never mind globally. My Dad did some digging and found this site. Thank you for confirming what my gut was saying!
I received one as well. from pastor Chris White of the All Souls Church in London. Same exact verbiage as stated above.
So sad.
Thank you for this post!
I just received the “Pastor Andrew Hobbs” scam invitation, and thought some things were fishy. Thankfully, I did my research and found this site. Thanks so much for posting.
Grace Church Blackwood
Cefn Road,
Blackwood,
Gwent. NP14 3PR.
Website: http://www.gracechurchblackwood.org/
Email: churchoffice@gracechurchblackwood.org
Church Office Phone: +44 7024 037959
Greetings to you Pastor Dr. John Denney,
I am Pastor Andrew Hobbs of Grace Church Blackwood, United Kingdom. We
are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at our upcoming
conference tagged “POWER CONFERENCE 2019” coming up from 23rd through
25th of Aug 2019.
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)
Cefn Road,
Blackwood,
Gwent. NP14 3PR
Date : Aug 23rd to Aug 25th 2019
Scheduled Topic: Pursuit of Deep Christianity
Theme: Reach Out and Touch Someone
The weekend of the conference is going to be filled with incredible
times of worship, clear and relevant teachings and powerful encounters
with God’s presence and your expertise and experience in this field of
work will be an excellent addition to our program (POWER CONFERENCE
2019), 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 (Pursuit of Deep Christianity), as we
have read your profile on your online website
(http://www.priestrivercommunitychurch.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 (churchoffice@gracechurchblackwood.org) 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 Andrew Hobbs
Senior Pastor
Grace Church Blackwood, UK
+44 7024 037959
I am in Maine, and I received this same letter, from another church. I felt it was fishy from the start, and went checking and found this post. I received the email from a Revd. Richard Bray at St. Anne’s Limehouse.
I have sent an email to the real Richard Bray as well.
From: Vicar Revd Edward Carter vicarrevdedwardcarter@gmail.com
phone: +447031809672
Message Body:
Blessings to you from Paul, I am Edward Carter, presiding Vicar of the St Peter Mancroft Church,The Chantry Norwich,United Kingdom. We are pleased to inform you that we would like to engage you for a speaking event here in The Chantry, Norwich at the Church conference coming up on the 9th, 10th & 11th of July 2019. 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.
Remain Blessed.
—
Vicar, Revd Edward Carter
+447031809672
http://stpetermancroft.org.uk
St Peter Mancroft Church
The Chantry
Norwich
NR2 1QZ
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
I received the same invitation, I have Pastor friends in the UK who says that this church’s website has been hacked… they live near this church in Wales and went by to speak the pastor who had no idea this has happened!
Grace Church Blackwood
Cefn Road,
Blackwood,
Gwent. NP14 3PR.
Website: http://www.gracechurchblackwood.org/
Email: info@gracechurchblackwood.org
Church Office Phone: +44 7024 037959
Greetings to you Pastor John Herndon,
I am Pastor Andrew Hobbs of Grace Church, United Kingdom. We are
writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at our upcoming
conference tagged “POWER CONFERENCE 2019 ” coming up from 23rd through
25th of Aug 2019.
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)
Cefn Road,
Blackwood,
Gwent. NP14 3PR.
Date : Aug 23rd to Aug 25th 2019
Scheduled Topic: Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing Christ
Theme: Reach Out and Touch Someone
The weekend of the conference is going to be filled with incredible
times of worship, clear and relevant teachings and powerful encounters
with God’s presence and your expertise and experience in this field of
work will be an excellent addition to our programme (POWER
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 (https://www.mywoodlawnchurch.com/) 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 (info@gracechurchblackwood.org) 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.
In His Grip,
Pastor Andrew Hobbs
Senior Pastor
Grace Church Blackwood, UK
+44 7024 037959
They tried it on me as well – had me going for a while, but it is clearly an unfolding scam. I have spoken in the UK on several occasions and no “work permit” is required for that.
First I was contacted on my speaker site:
Blessings to you Tim, I am Edward Carter, presiding Vicar of the St Peter Mancroft Church,The Chantry Norwich,United Kingdom. We are pleased to inform you that we would like to engage you for a speaking event here in The Chantry, Norwich at the Church conference coming up on the 9th, 10th & 11th of August 2019. 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.
Remain Blessed.
—
Vicar, Revd Edward Carter
+447031809672
http://stpetermancroft.org.uk
St Peter Mancroft Church
The Chantry
Norwich
NR2 1QZ
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
Then I was told that the church committee had approved my fees, and was contacted by their president:
Thank you Tim Ash for indicating your interest to be our Guest Speaker at this year’s conference, May God forever be with you.
I am Edward Smith, President of the event organizing committee of the St Peter Mancroft Church conference . We believe you have been notified by our Presiding Vicar, Revd Edward Carter, as we are in charge of the smooth running of this event and by God’s grace we are bound to succeed.
We are very excited to have you in this conference. The event organizing committee had a meeting earlier today to deliberate on getting you available here in the United Kingdom. We believe we serve the lord of Possibilities.Note you are meant to arrive a day before your performance as to get familiar with the audio/visual gadgets that we have in place, and to get used to the environment as a whole and also get to relax from the jet lag.
We have attached a formal Letter of Invitation and a contract agreement,please reconfirm to us your Mailing Address for our perusal and further action.
Please return a copy of the contract agreement duly signed by you for proper documentation. Print it out, sign and scan back to us(Keep a copy as well). We have agreed to buy your flight ticket and to pay your Hotel accommodation expenses. Also your Speaking fee which amounted to $25,000(USD) will not be paid in full as yet, $12,500(USD) deposit is to be paid as soon as you procure all relevant travel documents so as to avoid any disappointment and the balance will paid in cash upon your arrival here. You are informed to get across your Work Permit in the UK to us so your deposit can be approved according to our mandated regulation as well as your UK visa for travels. If you do not have the permit please let us know so we can make arrangements for the documents to be processed quickly as the event is at hand. But if you do have the work permit just scan and send to us.
Please check the attached documents, It contains your letter of invitation as well as your letter of agreement. We expect your response in regards the documents asap. Thank you and may God bless us all.
I am saddened to say that I received this scam too. Seemed to good to be true. Email was from Edward Smith <Stpetermancroftchurch.events@outlook.com.
I got the email today, purportedly from gchurchblackwooduk@gmail.com (really from hanitadaniel00@gmail.com):
Grace Church Blackwood,
Cefn Road,
Blackwood,
Gwent.
United Kingdom
NP14 3PR.
Website: https://www.gracechurchblackwood.org/
Email: gchurchblackwooduk@gmail.com
Tel Phone: +44 7024 037959
Greetings unto You Pastor Daniel McFeeters,
I am Pastor Andrew Hobbs of Grace Church Blackwood, United Kingdom. We
are writing to invite you to be our guest speaker at Our upcoming
conference tagged “POWER CONFERENCE 2019” coming up from 23th to 25th
of August 2019.
VENUE: Conference Hall (Inside Church Premises)
Cefn Road,
Blackwood,
Gwent.
United Kingdom
NP14 3PR.
Date : August 23th to August 25th 2019
Topic: Setting Aside Mundane Affairs and Passionately Pursuing Christ
Theme: Reach Out and Touch Someone
The weekend of the conference is going to be filled with incredible
times of worship, clear and relevant teachings and powerful encounters
with God’s presence and your expertise and experience in this field of
work will be an excellent addition to our programme (POWER
CONFERENCE). 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 websit
(https://www.pastordaniel.net/about/) and aware of your great contribution to
this field of work.
We will send you all binding documents including a Letter of
Invitation and Contract Agreement as soon as you honor our invitation.
We look forward to a positive response. If you can RSVP in 48 hours to
our contact details (gchurchblackwooduk@gmail.com) and we will provide
you with additional information you might require.
We await your earliest response.
In His Grip,
Pastor Andrew Hobbs
Senior Pastor
Grace Church Blackwood, UK
+44 7024 037959
Scam still going on. I got a similar one today from Revd. Richard Bray
St Anne’s Church,
Three Colt Street,
London E14 7HA,
United Kingdom