Recently, the following e-mail was received by an MT in DC. Her Spidey-sense must have been working that day because she posted it on the AMTA DC listserve and asked for feedback. Here's the original e-mail:
To: [your name here]
Hello I am Pastor Jeremiah Williams of Christ Winners Ministry (CWM) after years of pastoring, we are slowly growing. I am focused and sticking to the vision God has given me, and humbly seeking and walking in His will and purpose. My desire is to be able to move in building more Churches soon but I am waiting on the go ahead from our Father. This has definitely been a year of revelation. However, I am appealing I have a member of my church who is suffering from partial stroke and complications of hypertension although she is from a wealthy family. After my careful search of the best and experienced healing Therapist in the U.S who will take care of her for proper massage to get her back to normal condition. Please I would like to know if you can be of help by becoming her Therapist and also to advice her best rehab hospital in the United States for proper medications. we will start travelling arrangements as soon as we hear from you. I shall be pleased to have your private phone number as to enable us discuss in the best way forward to handle her situation. May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always Pastor Jeremiah Williams
Submitter details:
Name: Jeremiah Williams
Email: pastor.jeremiahwilliams@yahoo.com
Phone: +233245003449
Let's use this classic scam e-mail to identify the 6 Tips For Recognizing E-Mail Scams (free to you as a loyal reader of this blog!).
...after years of pastoring, we are slowly growing. I am focused and sticking to the vision God has given me, and humbly seeking and walking in His will and purpose. My desire is to be able to move in building more Churches soon but I am waiting on the go ahead from our Father. This has definitely been a year of revelation.
This is not the way a normal e-mail asking about massage services starts. This scammer is starting with an emotional appeal. They are trying to get a personal sort of "hook" into you, as the reader, by appealing to the goodwill (or guilt) often associated with churches, religion, and pastors.
Think about it.....how many e-mail have you gotten from legitimate potential clients that start with a rambling personal introduction like this? Probably very few.
...I am appealing I have a member of my church who is suffering from partial stroke and complications of hypertension...
Double whammy here: the scammer is playing on an MTs inherent sympathies with the phrases "suffering", "complications", and then mentioning two common ailments.
Think about it though -- how often does someone who's suffered a stroke and hypertension think of massage as the response? That's not ordinary.
...although she is from a wealthy family....
This is the A#1 fer-shur mark of a scam -- the allusion to wealth, directly or indirectly. The scammer is trying to subtly tap into our greed. The scammer wants us to think "ooooooooh, I can make a LOT of money from this person!". If it's not the allusion to the wealth of the client, it's offering to fill your schedule for a week or 3 with an out of town dance troupe/sports team/tour group/conference attendees/etc.
Why? The scammer wants you to have dollar signs floating in your eyes. The chance to make above-average money will make many MTs forego their normal policies, including policies around payments, scheduling, healthy boundaries, etc.
(Side note: Interesting choice of language. "Although"...because wealthy people don't normally suffer from mundane things like strokes and high blood pressure?)
After my careful search of the best and experienced healing Therapist in the U.S who will take care of her for proper massage to get her back to normal condition. Please I would like to know if you can be of help by becoming her Therapist and also to advice her best rehab hospital in the United States for proper medications.
Blatant appeal to your vanity. They want you to let down your guard (as you preen your feathers in response to the flattery.)
Again, think about it...even when a potential client has heard rave reviews about you, do they use this kind of language in an initial e-mail requesting a massage with you? Probably not.
Another "tell" is the uneven-ness of the English (including irregular use of capitalization). Yes, there are many people in the DC area for whom English is a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) language and who don't write English as smoothly as a native English speaker. But I have yet to receive a scam e-mail that was written in normal English.
...we will start travelling arrangements as soon as we hear from you. I shall be pleased to have your private phone number as to enable us discuss in the best way forward to handle her situation....
A sense of urgency. "...as soon as we hear from you...." The scammer is trying to get you to react to the e-mail before you have time to ponder it, think on it, or talk to anyone about it. Reacting without considering always leaves us vulnerable.
As a sneaky little add-on, there's the test as to whether they've hooked you or not: the request for your private phone number. Not your business number, your private number. This is simply a test to see if you are willing to violate your own policies and procedures, your own boundaries.
Email: pastor.jeremiahwilliams@yahoo.com
Phone: +233245003449
Finally, the contact info. In this case, the scammer is using a normal e-mail. Many of the scams I've gotten have had e-mail addresses that were just a little bit odd or were clearly from outside the US.
The "+" in front of the phone number means this is an international phone number (and remember, the "pastor" never told us where he was writing from). You can look up international dialing codes at any of these sites:
Wikipedia
Wikipedia Travel
Country Code.org
This phone number is for Ghana. Lately, I've been getting more scams from African countries. Of course, the "Nigerian prince" scam is an oldie but goodie in internet scams, so maybe that shouldn't surprise me.
I'm not saying you wouldn't get a legitimate e-mail from someone in Africa. Just know that a lot of scams are originating in Africa. The one I got last week had a phone number in South Africa.
In summary, the more of these "tell-tails" that an e-mail contains, the more cautious you should be. These can also be found in legitimate e-mails but the more of these you have in one e-mail, the more likely you are looking at a scam:
- Emotional-trigger phrases (like church, God, pain, abuse, suffering, etc.)
- Greed appeal (directly or indirectly) or appeal to the potential for making an unusual amount of money, including any allusions to the wealth of the potential client
- Excessive flattery or flattery out of line with what they can actually know about your skills
- Urgency. They're coming next week! They're ready to get on a plane now! They need treatment immediately if not sooner!
- Boundary/policies violation request. It will usually be something small and otherwise kinda insignificant, so you feel bad for saying "no".
- Non-US source, especially if it is from Africa.
The very best piece of advice I can give you is this: listen to that little teeny tiny voice in your head that says "this just doesn't feel right". It's correct 99.5% of the time. (That other .5%? Hey, even our intuition has an off day but I'll put my money on my intuition even at the risk of missing that .5%.)
"Just know that a lot of scams are originating in Africa."
ReplyDeleteOr at least claim to be originating in Africa.
Scammers often use international phone numbers because having a number there makes them seem more legit, but they know people aren't going to initiate an international call, making it more likely that they'll share a private number.
And Africa is a good country to appear to be from because there's such a strong image of Africa as a savage wilderness that it's difficult for many to imagine any African country having an online version of the business white pages in which to look up phone numbers.
Excellent comments Sskipstress (is that you, Kathy?). I hadn't thought about that, just noted that the phone numbers most associated with the scams I've gotten have been in Africa.
ReplyDeleteThere's always layers to a good scam. :)
I just got the same scam with a new twist... an enclosed health report:
ReplyDeleteRe: MRS.XXXXX XXXX, 54 YRS OLD, FEMALE,
CARDIOVASCULAR ACCIDENT.
The above patient presented at hospital facility 4/12 ago with a Blood Pressure of 170/100 mmhg and 3/7 history of severe headache prior to presentation. She was managed as a case of Grade 2 Hypertension. The raised Blood Pressure was controlled with the following antihypertensive: tab. nifedipine and tab. atenolol. She was subsequently discharged but failed to keep her clinical appointments.
She presented again after 4/12 with hemiplegic (right side). A working diagnosis of cardiovascular accident secondary to severe hypertension was made. Patient has been discharged from hospital and visits the clinic as an outpatient on appointments.
In the light of the above, her condition has improved immensely evidenced by the well controlled and fairly stable blood pressure and her ability to walk firmly without any aid or support. Meanwhile she has residual spastic gait after recovery which gives patient great concern.
I am pleased to refer him to your facility for professional management as regards to the abnormal gait.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Owusu .A. Ansah FWCP
(Consultant Neurologist)
We just received the same email at our clinic. Really! If these people were any good, they'd hire a decent writer and probably make a lot more money.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, your post hits all the key points but I'd rank GREED as #1 and BOUNDARIES as #2.
This scam will not work on a professional RMT.
Best,
Beverly
Clinic Manager