Urgent: Speakers, Beware the Middlesex University Scam
Early this month, I got an e-mail from a Professor Robert Brain, inviting me to speak at my full fee plus expenses for a rapidly upcoming conference in England. The topic he proposed was a bit off my usual topic, but one that I could handle.
Follow-up mails from a Professor Woodman Walker included a letter of agreement to sign and requested more information from me. I wanted to find out more about the parameters of the speech, so I asked for some phone time. Our interview was scheduled for 8 a.m. my time this morning.
In the meantime, I had asked my good friend Google to tell me what it new about these two “gentlemen.”
The results were not encouraging:
One of the links on that page led me to a full account of how the scam works. I also checked the Middlesex University staff directory. Oddly enough, the phrase “Robert Brain” brought back a listing of the staff directory, as you can see in the screen shot–but when I clicked through the directory itself, neither Robert Brain nor Woodman Walker showed up.
Now, I’ve had a few speaking requests that seemed pretty flaky at first, and turned out to be real. So I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Here’s an approximation of how the conversation went:
Me: “Good morning, this is Shel. How may I make your day special?”
Him: “This is professor Woodman Walker of Middlesex University, UK.”
Me (big, hearty): “Good morning, Professor. The first thing I need from you is the names, off the top of your head and you can give me contact information later, of three people who’ve spoken for you in the last year. There are some rumors about you on Google.”
Him: hangs up.
Speakers—be suspicious of any e-mail that asks for banking information in order to get a work permit (I didn’t get that far with him)—and don’t be surprised if a similar scheme shows up allegedly from a different school and different professors.
You’ve been warned!
Thanks for the heads up, Your post confirmed my suspicions. Your effort to share is greatly appreciated.
You’re welcome.
Thank you for posting this, I was just scammed yesterday and it took me until today to find this information online. The name he was using for this one was: Dr. Philip Walker and he friend at the British Embassy was Dr. Scott Lewis. The e-mail addresses made me suspicious: middlesexuniversityconference@gmail.com and dr.lewis.gv.emb@london.com.
He wanted 950 Pounds to process my UK work permit. Oh, and the money had to wired to his name not a UK government office. I hope this helps someone else.
I certainly hope you didn’t send him any money!
I got the same exact email from the same guy!!!!!!! Thanks so much for posting this!
Rico Connor
Thanks for sharing – I just got a request for a speaking engagemennt from this Dr. Woodman Walker – except he is not listed in the staff directory, nor is the conference he wants me to speak at on their list of coming events. I suspected it was a scam because the language used in the email is not representative of someone with a PhD… spelling and grammar errors etc.
Yeah, there were red flags all over the place–but the offer is so seductive, it’s easy to get caught up. I’m so glad I went to Google before I wasted more time with him. Not that I’d have sent him my bank account info anyway, as I’ve never heard of any legitimate need for that to get a work permit.
Oh, and I also notified four membership orgs for speakers and asked them to warn their members.