Speakers Beware of Scam

Here is an email I received from one of our clients to today:

Hi Chad,

I have had correspondence with Bishop Desmond Inglesby of the Church of England, South Africa, but it now appears that it is a scam.  He invited me to speak at a conference in March in Cape Town, South Africa.  It was supposed to be their annual church conference.  It sounded perfect with about 1,500 people in attendance.  They sent me a formal contract which I signed and returned to them.

Below you will see my latest correspondence with the “bishop” using the email address [email protected].  I have also had correspondence with Ed Smart, who was arranging the business details.  His email address is [email protected].  He also uses [email protected].  They also had me wire money to Linda Jacoline in order to get a work permit.  Her email address is [email protected].

Please make sure the above four email addresses are blocked.  Thank you!

I sent two payments in order to get a work permit:

$940
$539

I was promised that I would be reimbursed.  Then they just asked for an additional $2,500.  That is when I decided to check further.  I went into the website of the Church of England, South Africa and saw their warning that there is a scam in which Bishop Inglesby’s name is being used to get professional speakers trapped.  (I checked their website when I first got the invitation and there was no warning, so apparently they have just discovered the problem.)

Here is the warning on their website:

Warning: Scam Alert

February 20, 2014

News

Dear Friends,

It has come to our attention that that there is a scam going around that attempts to use the identity of  Bishop Desmond Inglesby and the Church of England in South Africa. We are not able at this time to ascertain how the individuals intend to make money or use it for their own gain. The premise of the scam is an invitation from Presiding Bishop Desmond Inglesby to speak at a conference or seminar. It asks at the end to please begin correspondence with these people to an email address that looks like it belongs to the Presiding Bishop.

Should you receive such an email please would you:

1. Forward the email to [email protected] and
2. Report the email as Spam to your service provider.

Kind Regards,

Presiding Bishop Desmond Inglesby

Perhaps it would be useful for you to share this with other speakers with whom you are associated.