Warning about Bible Scammers

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kathleen1 Jun 16, 2011

Hi, I have been contacted by some people who got my email address from checking profiles at Sermon Index. They give a Nigerian address (2nd red flag) and make it clear they do not ask for money but give a 'testimony' and claim to be pastors and ask for me to ship them Bibles, study Bibles, the expensive kind so they can better teach the Word to their congregation. I found a couple websites with more information on this and lo and behold found an email almost identical except for the name to the one I got:

http://nigerianbiblescammers.homestead.com/scammers_request_page.html

http://www.scamorama.com/biblescam.html

I did go back and hide my email from showing on my profile here. For any legitimate member of this site, a personal message would work just fine and could lead to email sharing. But I just wanted to share this with you. I asked the person who emailed me how they got my email and name and they were kind enough to reply with a copy and paste of my profile info from this site which I immediately recognized. So heads up folks. Don't get scammed. I wasn't aware there was a black market in Nigeria for of all things BIBLES.

Kathleen

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Renoncer Jun 16, 2011

Thanks for posting this.
I also got an e-mail from people in Africa (I think it was also Nigeria, but I'm not quite sure) asking me to send Bibles. The first thing that came to mind is that there are so many scams that look just like that. But, I thought it would be worth praying about it, just in case this was legitimate. After all, if someone really needed Bibles for evangelistic purposes, I would like to help them. However, I never got quite comfortable with the request, and decided not even to proceed by contacting them and asking verification questions. Thank you for posting this message.

Renoncer

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StarofG0D Jun 16, 2011

Thanks for posting. I had also received something similar. But did not catch that it possibly from SI.

Agree with Renoncer, it is something to pray over even still.

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nigeriabible Jun 16, 2011

Michelle, you shoud pray about it. You all over da Internet.

http://twitter.com/#!/StarofG0D

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StarofG0D Jun 16, 2011

I meant the need for Bibles in Nigeria.

Are you the one sending these emails out brother/sister?

sermonindex Jun 16, 2011

We have recently put in extra security on the site that protects the emails from email harvesters that grab many emails at once to use for spam purposes. Amen to this post, please be prayerful and careful about any solicitations especially for money or bibles.

sermonindex Jun 17, 2011

I have friends who are particularly gullible to this kind of thing. Bless their heart that they want to help evangelize... but they meet people on Facebook and other social medias who claim to be Bible distributors in Africa, or run and orphanage in India. They tell me all about these people so I might get involved in sending them stuff too... but being naturally suspicious of things I investigate before I do anything. I hardly EVER find any information on these people, the orphanges, or the missions.

My friends think they are doing a greater work because they send Bibles or $$ "directly" to the person doing the work and skipping the "administrative middle man", but I say it's not being a good steward to send $$ or Bibles to someone you met on the internet and have never met in person... and who refuses to have any covering... or will not willingly divulge who their covering in.

But caring Christians are exceedingly gullible. It's sad to watch.

Krispy

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mguldner Jun 17, 2011

Oh I would totally send over some bibles in a heartbeat, if its a scam then perhaps one of the scammers will pick up one of the bibles I sent and come to the Lord. :) I would never send money though that all goes to places like GFA and VOTM safiest and most reliable places I have found to sow seed.

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kathleen1 Jun 17, 2011

you do realize it costs a lot of money to ship anything to Nigeria, don't you? I checked just out of curiosity and it is at least 45 bucks to ship something to Nigeria-before it's weighed according to the USPS. That's a lot of money to feed the black market so they can turn around sell the Word of God to someone who WILL read it at a much higher price which is sad and highly unethical considering how poor a lot of the genuine Christians are in these areas

sermonindex Jun 17, 2011

mguldner... There are plenty of reputable ministries out there that you can verify and validate. There is no need to respond to someone who seems shady and it's impossible to verify. We are called to be wise and to be good stewards.

If you want to do that, thats fine. Thats between you and the Lord... thats not for me to judge. I would just be very careful with this kind of thing.

Krispy

sermonindex Jun 17, 2011

What will they think up next! Thanks for this headsup! It is probable that the Bibles is just a start and that once they see you are willing to contribute they would then proceed to ask for money as well.

Nigerian scammers once got my email address by trolling through a Christian singles site that i had registered at.
They specifically target Christians because they figure that they will be easy prey for a scam that plays on a Christian's compassionate heart. The FBI told me they are unable to prosecute these scammers because of international difficulties in doing so.

sermonindex Jun 17, 2011

you do realize it costs a lot of money to ship anything to Nigeria, don't you? I checked just out of curiosity and it is at least 45 bucks to ship something to Nigeria-before it's weighed according to the USPS. That's a lot of money to feed the black market

Excellent point! That is it in a nutshell.

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sermonindex Feb 9, 2012

Thanks for this warning. I've seen different trollers on Christian sites, that work their way in to hijack the naive with hard-luck stories about their poverty, sickness, or a child's need for an operation.

Many of these came from Africa. Personally, I don't care if they have my email or not...it will not hurt me if they do, travelseast@yahoo.com

I have a fine anti-virus; spy ware, and am not too worried about donating to these slime anyway....so, have at it.

Never, Never donate to these strangers...no matter what they say, or threaten. Only give to trusted sites..[ this one counts..] and folks you really know.

I've been to India several times, and have seen criminal acts done against faithful American givers over and over and over too, by "trusted" Apostles with large ministries. It's a business to some.

Give where God leads you, and report their sites, and sooner or later, they may hopefully be caught and imprisoned....more and more are every day.