Is It a Scam or for Real?
Recently, I was contacted by e-mail to be a guest speaker for a Christian conference in the United Kingdom. The thought of going back to London was very attractive! The invitation appeared to be legitimate, including the conference website, church’s website, addresses, phone numbers, and a request for inquiry of availability to speak. I responded with a few questions to get a feel as to what the conference was like, because it seemed rather odd that the conference was next month and the conference website was “under construction.” Hmmm….
The pastor and I exchanged e-mails, and he sent me a formal letter of invitation and contract. Since I have my own legally approved contract, I wanted to run his contract by the Christian Law Association before I signed it and sent it back. One of their attorneys reviewed the contract and said that the only misgiving he had about it was that there was no back page that referenced the contract terms and conditions. At first glance, the rest of the contract appeared to be very legitimate and very thorough. But, there was one sentence on the second to the last page which referenced terms and conditions which weren’t present in the document sent. In other words, if I signed the contract and sent it back, they could add pages (which weren’t numbered either) with terms and conditions to which I didn’t agree.
Is this an Internet scam? Possibly - it sure does look like it (I also did more research and found out some other things which point to an Internet scam). But, I did my research on the subject, got others’ professional opinions, and asked questions of the person initiating the communication before I made my decision not to accept their false speaking invitation.
Dishonest folks have been around for years. But, their tactics and methods for deception are changing. Be careful and do the research before you agree to anything.
Until next time, be your best always,
Darcy
P.S. Two days after I began communicating with the church in London, I received another invitation to speak at a Christian conference in the United Kingdom in October. I think I may have been put on some type of 'scam' prospect list?
The pastor and I exchanged e-mails, and he sent me a formal letter of invitation and contract. Since I have my own legally approved contract, I wanted to run his contract by the Christian Law Association before I signed it and sent it back. One of their attorneys reviewed the contract and said that the only misgiving he had about it was that there was no back page that referenced the contract terms and conditions. At first glance, the rest of the contract appeared to be very legitimate and very thorough. But, there was one sentence on the second to the last page which referenced terms and conditions which weren’t present in the document sent. In other words, if I signed the contract and sent it back, they could add pages (which weren’t numbered either) with terms and conditions to which I didn’t agree.
Is this an Internet scam? Possibly - it sure does look like it (I also did more research and found out some other things which point to an Internet scam). But, I did my research on the subject, got others’ professional opinions, and asked questions of the person initiating the communication before I made my decision not to accept their false speaking invitation.
Dishonest folks have been around for years. But, their tactics and methods for deception are changing. Be careful and do the research before you agree to anything.
Until next time, be your best always,
Darcy
P.S. Two days after I began communicating with the church in London, I received another invitation to speak at a Christian conference in the United Kingdom in October. I think I may have been put on some type of 'scam' prospect list?
Posted by Darcy Keith at 8/24/2010 7:21 PM 
Categories: Self Improvement, Education
Tags: inspirational speaker motivational speaker Christian conference scam Christian Law Association brain injury Darcy Keith
Categories: Self Improvement, Education
Tags: inspirational speaker motivational speaker Christian conference scam Christian Law Association brain injury Darcy Keith
Good post!
I'm curious. What do you think they were trying to scam you out of?
Reply to this
Paul, They were trying to scam me out of money. When I would apply for my work order, they wanted me to send money to this particular address for approval. Another Christian speaker confirmed this for me.
Reply to this
I just going to say, that whatever issues I disagree with you, you have a great insight into my residence every day.
Reply to this