So today, I got another email - this one from a guy named Piotr in Poland. He's 33 he says and has been a fan of mine for many years. Well, now, this time I sense a scam of some kind. First of all, a 33 year old Polish guy is NOT my target demo (not that men don't read my books but, um, no) and second of all, I noticed that of the day's hits on my website, someone from Poland checked me out -but not anything beyond my contact page (go, Homestead!).
I decided to do a little investigating...sure enough, this guy Piotr Haase has sent the EXACT SAME email to lots and lots of people. So...
...yes, the German fans did the same thing. [sigh] I contacted one of the blogs where the names and email were re-posted and asked the writer how she had verified the authenticity of the fans. They did write back with the correct info so she felt confident and sent them some pictures. I warned her that Piotr may be the next person to contact her - and he was!! Not long after I emailed her about this (her name is Cecilia Brainard, btw and this is her blog), she posted the SAME LETTER I had gotten and warned her about.
Now, what the heck...is there an autograph scam out there I don't know about? Is there something you can do with autographs of people who are not exactly household names? After all, if you follow the trail of these blogs the "fans" are posting on or to whom they are emailing their letters, you will discover the people they are asking are only semi-well-known (I'm speaking mostly for myself here), so what gives? What's the deal?
For your information, here are the letters I received. Fellow writers, have you gotten them? And if so, what did you do about it?
The German one--
Hello C.Leigh!We are great Fans in Germany of you and therefore we would be very happy,if you can send us 4 handwritten pictures of you.Many thanks in advance for your kindness.
Bye Bye
Anika,Denis,Bodo and Silke from GermanyAdress:Anika Eppert
Holmblick 36
D-18225 Kühlungsborn
Germany
The Polish one-- Hello C.Leigh Purtill!
My name is Piotr Haase. I am 33 years old. I live in a little village in Poland,
together with my wife Kate and two sons Albert and Adrian. We are happy and we lead quiet live. I have been your fan since many years.
I really admire you and I think you are very good in that what you do.
I was wandering if you could. Send me your autograph.
I would be grateful.
Thank you in advance.
Your sincelery
Piotr Haase
MY ADRESS:
PIOTR HAASE
STOJESZYN I nr 12
23-310 MODLIBORZYCE
Okay -update - a third one just popped into my inbox:
Hallo C. Leigh Purtill
Ich bitte um zwei Autogramme.
Sage vielen Dank und wünsche Ihnen viel Erfolg.
Would you please send me two Autograph and Signature.
Thank you.
Monika Förster
Esmarchstr. 8
42283 Wuppertal
Deutschland
WHAT the frak????
151 comments:
Don't mean to scare you, but is this a way of getting your signature for the purposes of identity theft? My wife and I bought this product just in case.
http://www.zanderins.com/idtheft/idtheft.aspx
You never know.
A.
Fortunately, my autograph is not my signature and in this case I didn't even have headshots to send but instead sent this year's Christmas cards so I don't think it's a problem for me but yes, you are absolutely right! That's what I was concerned about - some sort of identity theft!
Weird.
I checked my favorite sites for exposing hoaxes and didn't see that one. I wonder if we should keep checking back?
This is SO strange! I wonder what they could possibly be pulling here!
I think the signature thing sounds good but what a strange way to try to pull off identity theft!
Lisa and Cupcakewitch - the fact that I got these last 2 AFTER I sent cards out makes me wonder if there is a connection among them. For instance, if I hadn't responded to the first, would I have gotten a second and third?
This gives me the creeps! If you figure it out, post about it so we know what it is. F-R-E-A-K-Y
Hi, C Leigh, I found your site because I was searching for this very same scam. I'm a children's author in the UK, and this past week I've had all three of the same emails you did. Did you get one from Gaowei in China yet? I'm guessing they're probably autograph vendors, maybe? But I'm suspicious, too (and feeling rather foolish for responding so enthusiastically to Annika and Bodo!). Hmmm... I think more info needed.
Patrick Ness
Patrick, I haven't gotten the one from China yet but I did get yet another from Germany! My husband emailed them all and actually got a response from "Annika" who told him they liked to collect autographs so maybe that really is it. I think all of us responded enthusiastically to the first email - and then became increasingly less positive with the subsequent emails.
I received the request from Anika, Bodo & company and as our posters weren't ready yet I waited several weeks before sending them out. They went out a couple of weeks ago and just the other day got the requests from Lorenz Schop, Gao Wei, and Monika Forster. It seemed an unlikely coincidence so I googled the addresses. the 3 German ones were in different locations, so this is not a local scheme. I also found another person's blog (Bill Sorice, actor) with the same autograph requests posted. I had personalized (what a sucker!) each photo for Anika, Hans, Bodo, and Silke, so I doubt they'll fetch much on the open market. It is strange, though. I'm going to look into it more and I'll let you know if anything really interesting surfaces. The internet has given us so much worldwide publicity but one still has to be careful in any crowded place, real or virtual.
Maybe this should be sent to Writer's Beware. If this problem is that big, and it sounds like it is, others should be warned too.
Hi There!! I am from Mexico and we have manage a singer web page (www.ManoellaTorres.com). As you say, it was strange for us that some fans in Germany knew about Manoella and therefore asked for her autograph. I wrote them back thanking them and also asking how they knew Manoella and what songs they liked etc.. They never replied, but after that we received a similar email from a "fan" in Croatia!!!
So today, "googling" the entire text I found out many many many pages with the same post....
As we did not get a response, we did not sent the autographs
Saludos
Well this is so sad, here i actually thought people were asking for my autographs. I sent the first two and have in the last week received about 8 requests. At first I thought it was because of a press release but now that I read this I fear the inevitable, a hoax. The newest one is from
GRAYDON WALL
21 HATHERTON GARDENS
WOLVERHAMPTON
WEST MIDLANDS
WV10 8DT
ENGLAND.
The one thing I noticed was a similarity in writing style. What I don't understand is how such a scam could be working so internationally, China, Germany, Poland. Maybe we should call the authorities?
Camille - I just got that one too. I've tried asking some of them what exactly of mine they are fans of but have never gotten a reply. The one thing you shouldn't feel is silly about sending something to the first ones - just look at the number of people who were also duped! I really don't know what they're doing with what we send...
Hi, Frankly, I'm not sure what the scam could be apart from pretending they are our "fans". I pretty much knew that the fake fan in the Czech Republic didn't really know my work, but that she was just a collector who got my address from some website, so I sent off a publicity photo with details on my film. I then got several more requests from the Czech Rep. Today, I found Piotr Haase's e-mail and checked him out. What's a guy with a name like Piotr doing with a wife named Kate? Anyway, they could be crazed autograph seekers collecting autographs of 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and in my case 6th rated celebs, hoping they'll be worth something or they could be crooks of some kind. It beats me! But sending an autographed photo to the Czech Rep. costs $2.00 and it's not something I plan on continuing to do. By the way, I have gotten autograph requests from American seekers through the mail, and I doubt they knew who the heck I was either, so there are people who just collect. It costs these Euro e-mail collectors nothing to get free stuff! Good luck with your writing. Eric Bruno Borgman
Hi All
Don't want to seem like a smart-ass but I Googled Anika and found your website BEFORE I sent anything off. I'm a film and TV composer who has authored a book titled The Emerging Film Composer. Talk about a limited interest subject. So far I've only received the first request from the 4 "fans". Guess I won't be responding. Thanks for starting the blog and please keep us posted.
I'm glad you found this first, Richard! You're not a smart-ass - just smart. The rest of us are naive egoists who think it's natural for us to get fan requests like these! LOL!! Maybe since you didn't respond to the first one, you won't get the rest...
Cheers~
Dear Leigh,
I found your blog when I was Googling "autograph scams" wondering if I was the only author who has been bombarded with requests. It was an eye opener to read the comments! Like you I got a request from four people in Germany asking for autographed pictures. I was very flattered. My books are published in Germany so it did not seem like an outragous request, so I sent off pictures with autographs. Anyway, the requests started rolling in, from Germany, Poland, China and others. I just got another today. Once I got the second request I thought somethign was up so I e-mailed back asking which books of mine specifically they liked. Have not heard back. I don't know what the scam might be. Fake IDs? Two of my pictures were of me dressed as a pirate, so that won't do them much good. None of my computer savvy friends have any idea what this might be about. I'd love to hear from anyone else with any ideas.
James L. Nelson
Hi Leigh,
I also found this post searching for "autograph scams." I write crafting how-to books - but I'm not a "celebrity" - and I received a weird letter by snail-mail in my PO Box today requesting an autograph. The person describes himself as a "reader" who visited my website, with no mention of crafting or of any reasonable reason he would want my autograph. However, this one came from inside the United States. I'm not finding anything relevant online, so I thought I'd post a comment here for other authors to find in case they receive something similar. (Although the letter is hand-signed, the rest is printed from a computer and sounds very generic, so I suspect I'm not the only one who received one.)
Thanks for posting about your experience! :)
I got the same email, but I didn't respond.
Hey all - thanks for posting your comments and experiences with these autograph "hounds." Check out my most current post for an update on the situation.
I've recieved the same email at my comedy website. I have recieved requests in the past from active duty military men, but found the whole Germany thing strange. After google searches brought up the same letter in the same font elsewhere, I became apprehensive. I found your Blog via google, and will be placing the postcards intended for these folks into the shredder. Maybe they are waiting to hear that one of us is lost at sea or something, so they can sell the signature of a rare up-and-comer gone too soon. Thanks to everyone that participated in this blog. It helped me decide not to involve myself.
Thanks for your story too, Tom. Glad you found this first. Did you happen to read my follow-up? My cards were being sold on eBay in Germany...last time I looked, it was 1 euro - a total bargain, just in case I suffer untimely...!! :)
I got the exact same autograph requests! They came from my professional website (not my blogger one).
They seem awfully odd. I started researching and found your post. I pray it's not identity theft. I sent photos to Bobo et al in Germany. I wonder if there is anything I can do to protect myself. If you find out, please let me know.
Much Appreciated, Leigh
Fleur, did you check out my follow-up post a couple weeks ago? I found my autographed card for sale on eBay Germany (only 1 euro, quite a bargain!) so hopefully that's as far as it will go for you.
Btw, did you ever read the books by Diane Leslie, "Fleur de Leigh's Life of Crime" and "Fleur de Leigh in Exile"? I love those books...
I just got my first one from Anika and friends an hour a go and at first was flattered then suspicious.. now educated..oh well...
thanks to everyone for posting
Leigh: I too am just a semi-well-known author (like your comment) and I received the exact email from Anita, Bode, Silke, etc. in Germany, then also the email from the guy in Poland. Since then I have received several more from Europe. I have received a few emails from readers in other countries in the past, but those people have always mentioned the title of the book. So I emailed Anita, Bode, et al, and asked how they knew of me. "Anita" wrote back and "she" did identify one of my novels, so I sent them some bookmarks for that title, but after I started receiving basically the same email from others in Europe I too grew suspicious and am no longer responding.
Mike Whicker
Indiana
I received a similar request from a guy named Andrzej Migdalek who has apparently also requested the autograph of the mayor of Menlo Park. I suspect he's up to the same business as the others. The email I received is the same, word for word, as the one sent to the mayor (see link).
http://ccin.menlopark.org/archive2/4136.html
Paul, that's hilarious and quite brazen, altho it seems far more likely that a mayor would have the ability to comply with the request.
And, apparently it's not just authors. I'm a relatively (OK, extremely) obscure musician in rural New York State, and I just now received the email from Graydon Wall, a "great admirer" of my "work." He apparently visited my eponymous web site, and is now interested to know my "favourite leisure" interests and would like my autograph.
My best guess is that he (and others like him perhaps) is hoarding autographs and bio info of unknown folks who may have the potential of hitting it big, thereby giving these folks a sort of ground-floor opportunity of having something in their spare room that's worth something. I dunno.
I cannot imagine what other benefit there is to be derived.
I am certainly grateful to you for writing about this. I'm suspicious of just about every unsolicited thing that comes my way via the internet.
Wishing you all the best in your career!!!
~Marji in New York
Dear Leigh,
I´m a writer of novels and live in Austria. May books are availabe in Germany and Austria, and today I got a mail from Andrzej Migdalek from Poland, who would like to have an autograph.
I´m definitely sure, I have no fans in Poland ... so please, stay careful
best wishes,
Andreas Gruber (Vienna, Austria)
I do not work in the arts, and I just got such an email from England.
Obviously they want my signature for various documents and my photo for fake ID.
I replied with an email asking if they knew my brother-in-law who is a detective in their community. :)
I just received an email from Andrzej Migdalek. I'm an aspiring author, so naturally I was flattered. Thanks to your blog I did not reply.
-Dejiridoo
I found your site looking up 'autograph scam'...I've been receiving similar requests - people who at least know my name but who never actually mention my work (I do cartoons for Playboy Magazine). I don't recognize the same names, though. Just got one from Imre Hargitai Jr., from Hungary. I don't have head shots (who wants a picture of a cartoonist?), but I do sell books of my work, signed, so in the beginning I wrote back suggesting that possibility. Or at least that they send a SASE. Never ever hear back. Now the writers seem to make a point that they're poor and house-bound and collecting signatures is the way they get through each miserable day. Another odd point is that these come in waves - a half dozen or so, and then none for a year, and now they're starting up again.
My sketches can fetch some bucks on ebay, but my face? And the signature I use on my cartoons is not my 'legal' signature, anyway.
I found your site looking up 'autograph scam'...I've been receiving similar requests - people who at least know my name but who never actually mention my work (I do cartoons for Playboy Magazine). I don't recognize the same names, though. Just got one from Imre Hargitai Jr., from Hungary. I don't have head shots (who wants a picture of a cartoonist?), but I do sell books of my work, signed, so in the beginning I wrote back suggesting that possibility. Or at least that they send a SASE. Never ever hear back. Now the writers seem to make a point that they're poor and house-bound and collecting signatures is the way they get through each miserable day. Another odd point is that these come in waves - a half dozen or so, and then none for a year, and now they're starting up again.
My sketches can fetch some bucks on ebay, but my face? And the signature I use on my cartoons is not my 'legal' signature, anyway.
I found your site looking up 'autograph scam'...I've been receiving similar requests - people who at least know my name but who never actually mention my work (I do cartoons for Playboy Magazine). I don't recognize the same names, though. Just got one from Imre Hargitai Jr., from Hungary. I don't have head shots (who wants a picture of a cartoonist?), but I do sell books of my work, signed, so in the beginning I wrote back suggesting that possibility. Or at least that they send a SASE. Never ever hear back. Now the writers seem to make a point that they're poor and house-bound and collecting signatures is the way they get through each miserable day. Another odd point is that these come in waves - a half dozen or so, and then none for a year, and now they're starting up again.
My sketches can fetch some bucks on ebay, but my face? And the signature I use on my cartoons is not my 'legal' signature, anyway.
dabeagle - I haven't heard about the housebound ones yet. That's certainly a new twist! Yes, I noticed they come in waves -and if you respond to one, the rest seem to follow like ducks in a row. Maybe we should post the next round of names so others can be wary. Thanks!
I know a musician (a very close personal friend, not the FOAF as in urban legends) who has received three requests of the same kind for autographs. She also is not anyone's idea of a household name. The requests came from Germany, Singapore and Argentina. It really seems as though there's something subtle going on: recipients are all "under the radar" types, whether authors, film types, or musicians. Does anyone have any idea who might be able to answer the Big Question: How can an autograph be used in any kind of scam??
I just received an email from 'Piotr Haase' today. I wont be responding.
If he is a legitimate person, then he is certainly not a legitimate fan, otherwise he wouldn't be mass sending out emails to all sorts of people with the same generic comments (they would instead be personalised, and reference something specific that I have done or am doing).
Here is the exact email I received...
'Hello Dean!
My name is Piotr Haase. I am 34 years old. I live in a little village in
Poland,
together with my wife Kate and two sons Albert and Adrian. We are happy and
we lead quiet live. I have been your fan.
I really admire you and I think you are very good in that what you do.
I was wandering if you could. Send me your autograph.
I would be grateful.
Thank you in advance.
Your sincelery
Piotr Haase
MY ADRESS:
PIOTR HAASE
STOJESZYN I nr 12
23-310 MODLIBORZYCE
POLAND'
Possibly my signature is required for some sort of domain transfer? as most of that info is easily findable. Or bank details? that seems a little harder though?
The address I received the email from is 'piotr.h2@poczta.onet.pl'
Piotr is still at it, huh? I wonder how successful his ploy (and others) has been in securing autographs for himself. Or eBay - which is where I found my signed cards in Germany.
I was suspicious also by the generic, nothing specific request. My request came from GRAYDON WALL also. So I googled his name and found the same email on various sites.
I'm usually more than glad to send an 8X10 promo w/ Autograph to my real fans, but this email (which was generated from my website)smells of spam and social marketing. Or worse, I.D. theft.
I was suspicious also by the generic, nothing specific request. My request came from GRAYDON WALL also. So I googled his name and found the same email on various sites.
I'm usually more than glad to send an 8X10 promo w/ Autograph to my real fans, but this email (which was generated from my website)smells of spam and social marketing. Or worse, I.D. theft.
I found your comments after searching "autograph seekers scam". I too am a not so well known name, I co authored Power Failure, the Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron. 2 - 3 years ago, I received a spate of autograph requests. Each one sounding legit, and a little different, all from the U.S. I signed at least 2, then started to become suspicious and stopped. After a hiatus, I've just recently begun to get the requests again - usually hand written, with words of admiration, etc. What's up with these things?
Hi there,
Thanks for these posts - have had the "Andrzej Migdalek" request come via my website. I'm a (very) small time actor here in the UK & have occasionally had the genuine autograph request but those have always come via my agent. Luckily I checked the net & found these posts before replying...
Hi,
I got one just the same. I'm a Circus Performer and as soon as you enter my site you can see that I am a girl. They wrote this.
MR
Jacqueline Le
England Variety Performer
.
I collect autographs of famous people all over the world.
I would like a poster or ma piece of paper signed by you.
Could you send me ad autograph to my address..
Thank you very much. Best wishes.
This is my address
.
Andrzej Migdalek
1000-lecia 22/6/1
41-933 Bytom
Poland/Polonia
I'm going to send GoogleMail an email saying that they are spam and if they could deactivate the account. Might as well try too keep us safe!
In the mean time beware of this email as well aandrzejmigdalek@gmail.com
Thanks!
cool! I'm well known enough to get these emails. Nice! I posted a notice on my facebook page.
I just got mine today from England. Wierd thing to get since I am based in the states. Upon Checking through the Google machinery I was led to Your blog. So, I'm posting and saying I will be ignoring the autograph request and leave it at that. The one thing that does keep me wondering, however, is if there was an encrypted code associated with this email that got dumped in my system upon opening the email. I guess time will tell.
How sad. I received the Anika und Denis request on July 26, 2009. So much for my Germany fanbase. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. At the very least it has saved me the expense of international postage. Cheers!
I run a website for a top-tier NASCAR driver in the U.S. and we have received requests from PIOTR HAASE in the past and received another today. Thank you, Google ...
Dear Camille- 4 March 2010
I have just received a request from Graydon Hall. i am an actrress and was about to reply when I thought I would check his name out. I'm so grateful for your blog and the information. It does sound like a hoax.
Giselle Wolf
Andrzej Migdalek is at it again! Thanks for your blog, which gave me the useful information I needed to decide not to reply.
I, too, have been contacted by Bodo, Annika and co in Germany (last year), and by Graydon Wall in Wolverhampton today. I've also received one from Jonathan Schmidt (also in Germany), Joe Hammell (in the US), Lenny DiSilva (also in the US), Sean Kelley (USA as well) and Michael Teal (UK). If any of those are genuine, I'm really sorry - but I'm 'naming names' to hopefully help some potential scam-ees.
To Anonymous at 6:35, March 8 - thanks for the addition of these new names! Sorry to hear you were contacted too~
Uhh - you all are somehow great!
I've never wrote in a blog - yours is somehow really lovable, curious and nice.
I'm another 6th grade artist, from germany -no annika! - and love the way you all deal with your "prominence". I just found your blog 'cause of Mr.Graydons wish to receive an autograph of my great person...
And now - he won't get it.
Big hug to all of you and some more real fans!!
Sabine
dear all!
i´m a german actress, as well got a request of one of the "fans" from england you mentioned above for my autograph and the question of what my leisure interests were...i found your blog when i googled the name of the fan.
...may-be it´s just the hobby of some people to collect autographs from as many people as you might reach, in this way i´d feel sorry, but after reading your blog, probably i won´t reply ...
all the best to all of you! b.
To Sabine and Anonymous 3/22 - good that you googled the names and found the info. As sad as it is to learn the fans are probably phony, at least you know you're not alone! Cheers~
Hi all,
I am an actress who just had a first film out and got a fan mail fro Graydon Wall. Before I did anything i googled the name and found all of this!! Thank you for posting as now I will definitely not be sending off any signatures. It makes me really sad though as I was so excited to get my first fan!
Anonymous
thanks!
I just got the same mail from 'graydon wall'
I'm an italian actress, I was curious to see who the heck was writing to me from UK tonight asking to post him my autograph and to tell him about me... I immediately found his name on this blog and found out graydon wall is writing to so many of you... what is the point? what do they look for with such requests?
good luck to all
valentina carnelutti
I just got an email from Andrzej Migdalek. I googled his name and found your blog, and I thank you and the others who posted here. This guy copied the opening line from the article on me at en.wikipedia.org. Here's his message:
MR
Richard B. Bernstein
constitutional historian and author of several books on that subject
.
Good morning
My name is Andrzej Migdalek.
I am a collector of autographs for 20 years.
I collect autographs of famous and popular with the world of politics, culture, science and sport from around the world.
In my collection I have over 6 thousand of the original autographs.
I kindly ask for an autograph.
An autograph would be an honor for me.
A heartfelt greeting from Polish.
Yours sincerely:
Andrzej Migdalek.
Below I've included your postal address:
.
Andrzej Migdalek
st. 1000-lecia 22/6/1
41-933 Bytom
Poland / Polonia
Needless to say, thanks for the heads-up. I'm going to ignore this one.
RB - I love that he used the Wikipedia entry - that's hilarious.
That’s so weird that it’s hard to believe in. I’m a quite young Italian actress (not 21 yet), and even if I started to train when I was a child, I’m not famous at all, I just played in one Italian film and my character wasn’t even a main one. My agency (and not me) has received right now a mail for me, from the UK (with my name and their address), but I didn’t read it yet; the agent’s just emailed me the sender’s details:
Graydon Wall, 21 Hatherton Gardens - West Midlands
I was so curious (I thought it was going to be a very good international job opportunity –because I’ve been living in London for a year and just come back, looking for an international agent too – and I didn’t even suppose it could be a fake fan) I’ve googled it and found out this saved and blessed blog. What a kind of scares me, is that the only movie I played in, is a film Valentina Carnelutti played in as well (and we’ve never had to act together so we’ve never met). I don’t know… shall we be much more worried and try to stop them? Anyway, thanks so much for all your careful posting!!
Cecilia Carponi
That’s so weird that it’s hard to believe in. I’m a quite young Italian actress (not 21 yet), and even if I started to train when I was a child, I’m not famous at all, I just played in one Italian film and my character wasn’t even a main one. My agency (and not me) has received right now a mail for me, from the UK (with my name and their address), but I didn’t read it yet; the agent’s just emailed me the sender’s details:
Graydon Wall, 21 Hatherton Gardens - West Midlands
I was so curious (I thought it was going to be a very good international job opportunity –because I’ve been living in London for a year and just come back, looking for an international agent too – and I didn’t even suppose it could be a fake fan) I’ve googled it and found out this saved and blessed blog. What a kind of scares me, is that the only movie I played in, is a film Valentina Carnelutti played in as well (and we’ve never had to act together so we’ve never met). I don’t know… shall we be much more worried and try to stop them? Anyway, thanks so much for all your careful posting!!
Cecilia Carponi
Cecilia, that certainly is a random pick for an autograph seeker, isn't it? A small role in 1 film. Well, on the positive side, maybe Mr. Wall believes you will one day be a superstar and he wants to be prepared for that day. :)
Cheers and glad you saw this first~
It looks like Andrzej Migdalek is going after both ends of the age spectrum. I have 50 years on Cecilia, and am a (semi)retired academic whose first book won a prize (over 25 years ago), which may have been the hook that our dear friend the collector used. In any event, Leigh, perhaps you could write your next novel about this incident. I'd be happy to contribute, for a slight fee (a copy of the novel). Or maybe we should put together an Andrzej Migdalek fan club and all of us try to collect his autograph!
Best, Mike Maltz
Mike, love the idea of a "fan club" going after Andrzej's autograph!! LOL!!
Just received the request from "Anika,Denis,Bodo and Silke from Germany". They are still going, it seems.
Jeremy, just say no! LOL!! Or else be prepared for the onslaught of the others...cheers~
I just got the Bobo and Silke one too! There is a facebook profile for Anike. Dare me to add her?
Mary, ha! That would be hilarious, huh? Friend her and then start harassing her all the time, like send her requests for every single game app on Facebook...:) If you do, please share!
hi, i just received the same email from 'fans in Germany' and googling a bit found your page. yup, scam it is. whatever kind it may be :)
Crazy, huh, juno? Just don't reply to one or you'll get all of them in you inbox!
I just received the same email from my blog:
"Hello
Would you please send me two Autograph and Signature.
Thank you.
Merry Christmas
Monika Förster
Esmarchstr. 8
42283 Wuppertal
Deutschland"
I am not sure what is it?
www.adrienmork.com
Adrien - your card/picture would end up on eBay, most likely. At least she added a Merry Christmas wish to yours, thus differentiating it slightly from the usual request!
Cheers~
I am a Mayor of a small town in Texas. I got a request for an autograph from Poland from an individual who claims they collect political signatures. I have a Polish sur name so I thought there could be some validity. After reading your posts I decided not to send my autograph.
Mr. Anonymous Mayor - that was exactly my line of thinking too. Altho I'm American, I was born in Germany and that fact is in my bio in various places so I assumed, as you did, they were connecting with me because of a shared heritage.
Glad you did the Google search *before* you bothered!
Thank you all. Another name to look out for is Damian Pyka, whom several fellow authors have heard from as well. I don't know how they can use the signatures, but it's not worth taking a chance.
Renee, thank you so much for that name. I'll be on the lookout!
Hi everyone,
Thanks for posting the name of 'GRAYDON WALL' on your blog. I also got a fan letter from him today at the theatre where I am performing in London. Thought I should google him before taking any action and I am glad I was able to read all your comments about this person's history in regards to his autograph's requests.
The letter is going straight to the bin!
Again, thanks a lot.
Best,
H.S.
Glad it helped you, H.S., and good luck with your show!
Hi - I just received the letter from andrzej migdalek directed to my boss who is a professor of aeronautics. Weird. Thanks for keeping this blog going Leigh, I am still shocked that this "scam?" hasn't been put up on the usual scam sites.
Jennifer
Jennifer,a professor of aeronautics? Wow, that certainly is a head-scratcher! Glad the blog post helped!
Cheers~
Are you able to track his ip adress? You could learn a lot that way.
Booklover3, no, I never did track him or the others down that way. I wonder if anyone else tried to. If anyone did, perhaps they can weigh in. Thanks!
~cheers!
Leigh .. I have had the exact same word for word email from "Piotr"
Also I have ha da request from Forster of Wuppertal but mine is from Bjorn ... like you don't sign my full name in autographs I just use my first name .. what on earth is this about
Jamie, thanks for adding the additional name so people doing a Google search will get that one too. This post gets a lot of hits when artists are searching for info on this scam so if you get more names, come back and add them! Thanks so much!!
I'm a film director in Hollywood and got a typed letter sent from a 15 year old Cliff Someone or other from Canada. The letter was exceedingly well written and designed to pull on the heartstrings - Cliff even said he was bed ridden for 2 years with cancer! How could your heart not melt?
He also wanted to know all about my history and named many people I had worked with on particular films. He sent three notes cards with the titles of three of my films and a space for me to sign. I called my director's union to see if they had heard of any scam but their lawyers said they hadn't.
Then today just got another one sent to my home address - this time from Victor Luke of California asking for the same thing. His business card says he's a lawyer and Google checking him revealed his addresses did not match up.
So I too can't figure out how they plan to exploit this but am convinced now to just throw them away.
Sad.
Thank you, Anonymous Director, for including your story here. That's a new one for sure. Stranger still that they weren't emailed to you!
I have authored a couple of craft books. I received a rather odd autograph request today from Latvia. I also sensed maybe a scam.
I wonder if they actually want the envelope - if it has a postmark from our country, a return address maybe? I guess it could be used to "legitimise" any document they would care to claim arrived in it?
That was the only thing that sprung to mind.
E Ralph
E Ralph - I never thought about the envelope being desirable! You make a very good point. Glad you did a search before you sent. Thanks for coming by~
OK, Thanks for the warning guys! Got the same email. And my "fake" alarm went off.
Another one here from Google. One of your commenters mentions a Joe Hammell. My (understandably rather confused) agent called yesterday to say I'd received some sort of fan letter from this person c/o their office (the address is listed on my website). I've actually received an autograph request from him once before, when I had a publicly available email, and figured out at the time that it must be for collecting and/or reselling purposes.
Like other commenters, I'm terribly confused as to why anyone would bother with me -- they're certainly not going to make any money off it! It's sort of weirdly comforting to not be alone...
Hi Valerie -it's odd that your letter came via snail mail! One of the reasons I think these other autograph seekers contact so many people is that they can email them for no $...cheers and glad you googled first!
They're still at it. Got this same e-mail today.
Bill - probably because it worked pretty well the first time around!
This thread is the top Google hit for ‘signature request scam’ … well done! I’m a writer, and have gotten an ongoing flow of these generic ‘fan’ requests that started last evening. Might as well add the names to the roster:
Kimberley Schop – Netherlands
Mykhaylo – Ukraine
Sergey Kuzmichev – Russia
Pete Eichbaum – USA
Terca/Tereza Simkova – Czech Republic
Sylvia Müller – Germany
Bruno Van Hemelrijck – Belgium
The fact that the requests have all come in in less than 18 hours would suggest that these people are tapping a root source, some newsletter or web site … although like everyone else here, I can’t figure out why it’s worth their bother. In the 2+ year lifespan of this thread, nobody seems to have reported any bad repercussions from having complied.
Thanks, Brian Hodge, for adding the new names. You're right - no one has mentioned a negative, other than the fact that none of these people are actual fans of the people they're requesting material from. I felt a little dumb (and duped) when I realized these were not my fans but as far as I know, none of them has tried to steal my identity. Altho they did put my cards on eBay so I guess they didn't like me *that* much! LOL!
Dumb and duped…? Oh, let yourself off the hook. This is nothing. Try tying up reprint rights with a contract whose duration you live to regret. Or optioning a novel to a psycho would-be producer who, with Fatal Attraction levels of mania, starts to think she has more claim to your book than you do. Now that’s dumb and duped!
A couple more names for the list, the second of which dates back to the beginning of this:
Martin Sneberk – Czech Republic
Monika Förster – Germany
Thank you for this blog and all of the comments so far.
I received an email from
Marie Matejkova
Czech Republic
Marie Matejkova
Drazov 48
Cestice
38719
and unknowingly sent an autographed photo to her but then received an email from Mykhaylo Mykhaylo from Ukraine and did a google search and found this blog and sent him a threatening reply. Please keep us updated about these scams as I'm wondering if they can commit any identity theft with my picture and signature.
Great, annie b. I'm glad you found this first before you spent too much $ and time on sending something out. Hopefully there isn't a way to steal your identity with that information but it's never bad to be cautious. Thanks~
Hi,
I have found a little more information than what you all seemed to have traced. I started receiving the same requests for a little over a month now. So far I've responded to the first person who requested a signed photo and he turned out to be the owner of the website: http://www.celebrityautographs.nl/
My signed photo appears on this with information about when he requested it and when he received it, aswell as a link to my website. This has triggered all the other requests. So far, they appear to me to be collectors.
Fascinating, Nora! Thanks for sharing that link. Seems to be an exhaustive list of people in various professions. The autographs don't seem to be for sale, tho, which is very interesting. Could this guy simply be collecting and cataloging on his blog for himself?
Fascinating ... I have received my first request for autograph today, as many others I got suspicious and googled it just to find your blog.
In my case, the request was from the well-known Andrzej Migdalek
They seem to be diversifying as I am not a writer or artist of any sort.
Did you ever made the "fan club"?
Hi Pedro! What do you do that got you attention from the autograph crew? It is fascinating who they target - the why is the missing puzzle piece. Thanks for writing~
I just received an autograph request from Andrzej Migdalek and googled on his name to see if it is a scam. In my email he says he collects autographs and has autographs from more than 8,000 people. Why he is branching out into autographs from academics is not clear -- and there is still the worry that this is some kind of scam!
Thanks for stopping by here, Dwight. 8000 is a lot of autographs but what could they possibly be worth? If you do get any more info, please come back and share it.
Graydon Wall
21 Hatherton Gardens Wolverhampton West Midlands WV10 8DT Englan, UK
is still 'wishing you every happiness' in exchange for an autograph.
I don't think i will be going to any effort to comply with this shady request. Thanks for the blog
Hi, My name is Lee Bartlett and I ended up on your page after googling a name (Marie Matejkova) who sent me a random email asking for a signed pic of me. I'm an ex-pro surfer in the UK and found it strange that someone from the Czech republic would be a big fan?! I almost sent a reply as I was stoked to have at least 1 fan lol. Thanks for the info and for the chance to spread the word. cheers. Lee
Glad this post helped you, Lee!
Hi,
I'm an Australian model and have received a similar request although from a different person.
Marko Ebert
Loederburger Str. 17
D-39418 Stassfurt
Germany
I was glad I found your blog when searching autograph scams. I wonder how many people they have gotten and also as someone mentioned if it actually is a 'harmful' scam or just some weird new phase?
xxx
Thanks so much for adding the new name to the list. Good to know! Glad this post helped you!
Hi all, stumbled across this site as well when a dozen or so generic sounding autograph requests popped up in my inbox over the last week, exclusively from Ukraine and Russia. I'm a quite well-known musician in the genre that I specialize in, but am not well-known outside of that niche at all. I do get legit requests maybe once a month, but when I sent this last one out, the requests just keep pouring in, so this last guy must have posted on some forum or the like that I give out autographs.
My thoughts are that this is not a scam, but that some of these people truly are just autograph collectors and collect from anyone and everyone they can (without necessarily knowing who they are), in the hopes that one day someone will make it really big and the autograph is worth a lot more money. I think it's more of an investment than anything else. I highly doubt it's some kind of ID theft, especially since I've googled some of these names, and they pop up requesting old stamps, souvenirs, etc--anything that could have future potential value.
George, I agree with you, especially after hearing from so many people in your situation and mine. These people probably are hoping we will become famous and our autographs will be valuable! Cheers and thanks for stopping by!
Hello,
Today I just got a mail like this:
Dear Miss Sharon,
I'm a great fan of you. Therefore I would be happy if you could send me two autographs of you.
Many thanks in advance and all the best for you.
Sincerly
Marko Ebert
Loederburger Str. 17
D-39418 Stassfurt
Germany
I was first very excited, because I'm doing modelling and I have a fanpage and stuff. But then I went searching his name and automaticly I saw the adress too. So I came out on forum on VampireFreaks where a girl got the same mail, and then also here.
I don't know what the intention is of this, with sending an artist autograph they can't do much with it.
Thanks for posting your letter here, Sharon B. I feel like we're forming an elite club here! LOL..for better or worse! Cheers~
~Leigh
Update: In case this was to be real, I did not want to ignore true fans, so what my PR manager and I came up with was to e-mail the requesters asking which particular work they liked best and who (in the case of a no name request) they were asking autographs for. We figured if this was not a hoax, they would write back. To our surprise, about half so far have responded, very specifically at that. We are making customized CDs with the songs they liked best and autographing them. Point is, as hard as it may be for us to understand, perhaps in Eastern Europe autographs mean a lot to people, and at least in half the cases, these requests appear to be legitimate.
George, your fans will certainly appreciate that you and your publicist went the extra mile to make sure the requests were legit! Thanks for the update!
I too received an email requesting an autographed photo; this one came from Staten Island, NY. I'm an aspiring actress with very few credits, so it was very strange to get this. I'm sure he got my email address from my acting website. This is the email I received:
>
I truly think you are a very talented and charming actress...you have a wonderful look! I wish you much future success and I hope you will please be so kind and send me your autographed photo.
Thank you very much,
Lenny DiSalvio
>
I also did a Google search of "Lenny Disalvio" and the actual body of the email and found models that had received the same email about 2 years ago: http://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thread_id=632135
http://jenfriday.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html
Hi Shay! Staten Island, NY, huh? Well, that's a new one, for sure. Thanks for adding it to the list. Maybe some American collectors have gotten wise to the tactics the Europeans are using! Glad you did the search first before sending it off to him.
Cheers and good luck~
Oh, so lovely to see all my old friends names here, you know, Piotr, Martin Sneberk, Marie Matejkova, etc etc.
I'm an author whose travel memoir, Queen of the Road, has been published in Germany, so it didn't seem so far fetched that some one in the Czech Republic would want a signed bookplate (I offer them on my website). But Ukraine? Yep, all the emails are exactly as posted by you and other commenters.
I really don't mind if they're just collectors, or even if they're selling them on ebay (although I won't be sending any more out). I was mainly worried it was some identity scam, so thanks so much for the reassurance!
Hello, Queen of the Road! Thanks for stopping by. I too thought I had a connection to Germany (I was born there and most bios of me mention that) so it made some sense to me that Germans would contact me. Glad this helped you! Cheers~
Dear all,
She (mrs.Marie Matejkova) ask our company for samples free of charge, in deed she colect autographs, and free samples:).
We found her web:http://marievil-webka.blog.cz/rubrika/autori-knih
Regards
That Anonymous post looks sort of like spam but when I did a page translation of the site in Google, it was indeed that of an autograph collector. She seems earnest about documenting the letters she sends to different people, cataloging them according to their profession. She also has followers who wish her luck in getting positive responses. The translation wasn't perfect, tho, so I can't tell if she auctions them off or gives them away or merely collects for herself.
Hi Marce -
That does seem a little scarier than the others. I wonder if the "broken English" of the European autograph seekers somehow makes them sound less threatening. Glad you reported it on FB!
~leigh
Has anyone considered the possibility that this is some strange behavior by an individual (or perhaps a small group of individuals) with a very odd hobby, maybe something like train spotting in England?..... I mean the huge hullabo created in blogs like this might be rather entertaining reading to the individual author of these scams. I think of a an arsonist who gets a thrill watching the response to a fire he/she started.
Then again, This whole endeavor might also generate just enough income to be worthwhile! No individual "under the radar" author/artist/blogger is going to yield much...but I wonder what the birds eye view of this whole thing is? Maybe this is some mad economics experiment! Perhaps each one of you who receives these queries for photos and autographs is considered a bit like a speculative commodity. Each of you potential autographers is worth a fraction of a penny on the dollar.....but generate enough activity world wide....who knows? Who among you might be the next J.K. Rawlings? How many tons of mined ore does it take to yield an opal or a diamond? Interesting to think about!
Jeff
Hi Jeff - great points! Maybe one of us is the Next Big Thing and these autograph seekers are simply hedging their bets. :) And certainly, if they google themselves, they'll find us talking about them - no such thing as bad publicity, eh?
Cheers and thanks for your input~
Leigh
I just found your site I got a email today from a joe hammell very freaky he stalked out my imdb page very strange! I've replied to see if I get another one but no way would I ever send out signed pics! Very odd and quite scary
Thanks, Anonymous, for your input and the name of Joe Hammell to have confirmed on this list! Glad you did a search and found this before you sent out your signature and photos.
Cheers~
Leigh
Hi Leigh & Marce! I received the same email from Lenny Disalvio Staten Island. Thanks for letting me know that this is a scam. We should so something about that to stop this.
Glad you found this before you did anything, Elizabeth! It's definitely an on-going problem.
Cheers~
Leigh
I'm an actress in NYC with few credits and received 7 requests within 24 hours for autographed pictures (via a submission form from my website). Two were from outside the USA and the rest were from various states. The first one is from "Chris", no last name, with address:
657 Curtis ST.
Lincoln, AR. 72744
Second one is from jon decamp
1512 15th ave menominee mi 49858
Is there a website that is listing "celebrity" names and contact info? My real name is different from my stage name so I'm not worried about identity theft from stealing my signature, but what is going on?
Hi Kelsey!
Thanks for adding those names to the list. So far most of the requests I know of have come from overseas - which makes me think the people aren't familiar with the status of certain "celebrities." But more seem to be coming from the US. I did find my autographed cards on eBay Germany so someone was trying to capitalize on them!
~Leigh
And it continues... I am a chemist and while I have authored a number of books I am receiving the request from Andrzej Migdalek because I am a member of IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) Andrzej says. Quite flattering (I guess) but I am unlikely to be famous per se. I won't be sending an autograph and this is the most I will give him...recognition on your blog. I am sure he is aware that "famous" people are talking about him here...
A chemist, Antony, wow that certainly is a new one. But who knows what you'll be famous for someday? At least I'm sure that's what your autograph seeker was thinking. Thanks for commenting and glad you found this first.
Cheers~
Leigh
Hi - I came across this site searching for letters from Lenny (which I see a few people have received). I posted a blog about it because it felt like a potential scam after I researched that the text of his original letter to me was the same that everyone else had gotten, just switch out the name and title of job. He actually sent me an email back asking me to pull my post. Did anyone else get a follow up from him like this?
Susan, wow, no, I haven't had anyone ask me to pull anything from my blog. If anyone else has, I'd be interested in hearing about it!
Cheers and thanks for weighing in~
Leigh
To all commenters...Lenny DiSalvio contacted me and asked that I remove his home address from this blog. I apologize to the writer who mentioned his address because I had to remove the whole comment in order to delete it. So far, he has been the only person to contact me! lol...
Anyway, he sent me the correspondence he had with one person whose autograph he was seeking so I knew it was him.
Hi everyone, I work for the Ecuadorian Congress (Asamblea Nacional) and my boss is a Congressmen. He received a email from the "famous" Andrezj Migdalek, since the text was a "google translator" letter (came in a terrible spanish) and came from POLAND, I thought it was very strange... Found this blogg and the text is exactly the same this guy has been using for more than 2 years..Amazing....
Thanks a lot
2 years with the same text! I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it!
Thanks for letting us know and good luck to you~
Leigh
Thanks for stopping by, Molly B. Mr. DiSalvio contacted me to ask that his address be removed. I can't do that without removing the post entirely so in the future, if people posting could simply put his name and town/state, that would be better. Thanks.
Hey all,
I´m an aspiring actress and I too have recieved an email from Mr. disalvio only he now calls himself Kenny. the email was exactly the same as the one above in this tread - I found this blog searching for info because I thought it a little strange that he should know me.
But if he actually contacted you about removing his name and adress, did he say anything about why he has been sending the same email to people?
Thanks for adding your thoughts, Julie! Mr. Disalvio never asked my opinion but certainly it would be the same as yours: "Vary your text and personalize your letters or else risk being accused of spam." Perhaps he will weigh in with the reason he did what he did (and continues evidently). In fact, no one ever named here has ever come by to explain their actions. Hmmm...wonder why not? ;)
Cheers~
Hello,
I've just had an autograph request from Andrzej Migdalek, Googled the name and found this blog entry. After reading this and Arnold Zwicky's article at http://arnoldzwicky.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/autograph-spam/ I don't think I'll be paying for a stamp.
Having said that, I don't have a problem in principle with people collecting autographs. There are worse collecting obsessions: http://metro.co.uk/2010/10/25/graham-barker-reveals-record-breaking-belly-button-fluff-collection-562334/
Ha! Thanks, Stephen, very funny (and weird!). You're so right - collecting autographs of the (not-so) famous isn't bad at all.
Cheers~
Leigh
If people really want an autograph, they can jolly well send a card in a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Sending an email involves almost no cost and could probably be done with a bot.
Good point, Antony! That would certainly make me more likely to send one. Then I'd know they were serious.
Thanks~
Leigh
I work for an actor who was prime in the 80's and 90's and every name mentioned above has hit my request folder for autographs. They're legit, they're coming from different autograph collector sites according to my site-counter. My question is why are they asking for 2, 3 or even 4 signed pictures? Isn't one enough?
And they do come in waves. Once it's posted they have success, more request.
Right, Anonymous~ Why so many? If you want one for yourself, okay, but my guess is people are selling them or holding onto them in case the people become famous.
Thanks for coming by!
I have had a huge uptick in the past 4 months, and found your site in a google search. Only one of the names above has landed in my in-box, and I've gotten a few nice responses, so maybe it's all just collectors.
A request came this week from this place, though, which I think is taking an autograph obsession a little far.
http://www dot hungarianhmsamuseum dot hu/home
@JamesFinnGarner -
Whoa that site is crazy! A museum for autographs. All they require is that the document be original.
Thanks for sharing~
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