I got this email recently; I’m 99% sure it’s some new kind of scam, but it’s not one I’ve seen before. Anyone have any info? Seems like it’s not totally automated, and targets Christians. Or perhaps it’s some sort of cult recruitment? The email address looks very computer-generated (firstnamelastnamesixdigits@gmail.com).
Good morning,
I am writing in accordance to my favourite Christian website, I could do with sending you some documents regarding Christ. I am a Christian since the age of 28, when I got a knock at the door at my house by a group of males asking me to come to a Christian related event, I of course graciously accepted.
I have since opened up about my homosexuality which my local church somewhat accepted, as I am of course, one of the most devout members of the Church. I am very grateful to the church for helping me discover whom I really was at a time where I needed to discover who I was the most.
I would like to obtain your most recent address, as I have seen on your website that you have recently moved house (as of 2016) to a Loughborough address. I would like to send you some documents regarding my struggles with depression and then finding God and how much he helped me discover my real identity.
I thank you very much for your aid in helping me find God and Christ within myself, as you helped me a lot with your website and your various struggles, which gave me strength to succeed and to carry on in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
Hope to hear a reply soon,
Kind regards,
<name>
The email does have a number of interesting features, beyond the email address. Mostly, the English suggests a non-mother-tongue speaker, as it has a number of grammatical/syntactical/word choice oddities. These are all odd wordings: “I am writing in accordance to”. “I could do with sending you”, “Christian related” (missing hyphen), “one of the most devout members”, “group of males” (which would normally suggest something malevolent, whereas for something expected, you’d normally say “group of men” (don’t ask me why!). The weird and wrong use of commas. “I of course graciously accepted” – the excessive politeness in this phrase is foreign to England!
Overall, intuitively (I can’t claim to have codified the different quirks that different non-mother-tongue writers make), it reads like its author is Asian. Especially that excessive politeness.
The main odd thing, though, is why he is emailing you, asking you to be able to snail-mail documents…. with no explanation of why he hasn’t already just emailed them (or asked permission to email them). Or why he doesn’t suggest meeting you, given that he claims to live near you. As (purportedly) an active member of a nearby church, it can’t be because he’s shut-in, or socially awkward. So, that all raises the suspicions that the thing is just a cover story: he just wants your postal address, and the rest is made up.
I’ve faced two scams in the last year in which people ordered goods in my name, using an address associated with me. For the most recent, they signed up a mobile phone contract, and I got sent the bill. Presumably the scammer (in my case, this is) moves around from month to month between different people, once the address owner receives the bill and gets the contract cancelled.
Hey, it’s been a long time.
I hope that you are well.
Let’s break this down.
1. I wouldn’t give too much thought into the email address seeing as how many sensible ones are taken.
So, that could be legit.
2. Your location is publicly available (“Loughborough address”)
So, that bit isn’t helpful.
3. “I could do with sending you some documents regarding Christ.”
Are there really some that you’re not already aware of?
Especially since you “helped [him] a lot with your website”
It could be a human spammer/scammer.
4. “I would like to send you some documents regarding my struggles with depression and then finding God and how much he helped me discover my real identity. ”
Well, the docs/details aren’t really necessary since he already states that he had “struggles with depression” and that “he” (Should be “He” although that typo does humanize the email), helped him discover his real identity.
While it’s true that our task is to share the Gospel and to testify, but he did, so he should be sharing it with those who haven’t found Him yet and have no need to send you anything.
5. “I thank you very much for your aid in helping me find God and Christ”
I thought that it was a “knock at the door” and “the church” that brought him to God.
If this person is sincere, he can read my reply and send a more detailed email to you as to why it is necessary to send you anything to your home address.
Right?
Jus’ lookin’ out for ya’.
Ahaha, hacking for christ, letter for christian people, yeah automate bot.