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COIN CLUB PHISHING SCAM WARNINGDavid Menchell and Mary Lannin passed along this warning about how coin and stamp organizations are being approached by a fake prospective member seeking to gain information that could later be used by hackers. Here's a summary from the American Philatelic Society. -Editor 
The American Philatelic Society has received reports of an email-based info-gathering scam targeting stamp clubs and other philatelic societies. In the emails, an individual going by the name Pierre Champion claims that he was referred to the society by the APS because he is relocating to the United States from France. He requests that an application and an introduction to the club via the mail, and shares anecdotes about his collection and history with philately. Below is an example that was sent to us.
From: Pierre Champion Dear Sir/Madam, I was referred to your philatelic society by the American Philatelic Society. I am writing to introduce myself as I will be relocating to the USA, in your State, near your philatelic club in March 2024 due to a work transfer. I have been a passionate collector of American philately for many years, especially as my grandmother was born in Vermont, which has reinforced my love for your country since childhood. I collect stamps, varieties, nice cancellations, and First Day Covers in beautiful albums. I have also started teaching my two children about the passion of philately and would be delighted for them to meet other enthusiasts as well. It would be an honor to join your philatelic society. I would greatly appreciate receiving a paper membership application and a brief introduction to your association by postal mail. I will promptly return the completed application form to you by post with the required membership fee. By joining prior to my arrival, I feel it will allow me to better familiarize myself with the local culture and feel fully engaged within the society. In addition to American philately, I also collect stamps from France and Europe (around 25/30 albums with 64 pages each!) My albums contain many duplicates that I would be delighted to share with members. I look forward to improving my knowledge of American philately thanks to you, the society members. I look forward to hearing from you. Many thanks in advance,
Mr. Pierre CHAMPION
The emails seem genuine because the address is real, the scammer references the APS, and message is well-written and full of emotional anecdotes that appeal to philatelists, but this is a calculated strategy to increase the chance of receiving a response. The purpose of the info-gathering scam is to get access to materials and information like the letterhead of your club, the signatures of club leaders, and potentially even bank account numbers. This is the reason that the scammer requests the information by mail. Note also that the email's To: field reads "undisclosed-recipients:" which shows the email was sent to a hidden distribution list — this means that the scammer is sending their email to multiple clubs at once, which would not make sense if the request was genuine. Another giveaway is that the email is not specific to the club or society that receives it. Phrases like "I will be relocating to the USA, in your State, near your philatelic club" seem relatively normal at first glance, especially if the reader assumes English is not the sender's first language. However, the phrase is a smokescreen that allows the scammer to send the email to many targets at once without having to change the text of the message. If you receive an email from this individual or an email that follows this same template, we encourage you to delete it immediately without responding. The individual has also perpetrated the same scam in Europe using the name Pierre Bernard and the same mailing address. David Menchell writes: "I just wanted to let the other New York area clubs know of a scam email that was received by the Flushing Coin Club. It has also been sent in modified form to philatelic clubs as well. Here is the letter that they received and a discussion about it. We received a letter from a "Pierre Bernard" with changes appropriate for a numismatic club, but the same format. If you receive such a letter, I would forward it as a phishing email to your browser and delete it." Mary adds: "I've sent this to the Chicago club, San Francisco, Len Augsburger and other members of the NYNC board." NBS President Len Augsburger writes: "Thank you. Yes, this definitely should be publicized. I could have easily interpreted this email as legitimate." Mary adds: "And we are conditioned to welcome new members into clubs against declining enrollment, so...." These types of approaches will only grow and get better in the age of AI, so pass the word to your clubs and keep your spidey senses up. -Editor
phishing: the practice of tricking Internet users (as through the use of deceptive email messages or websites) into revealing personal or confidential information which can then be used illicitly
For more information, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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