From Ken Martin of the American Philatelic Society:

“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.”

From: Pierre Champion <champpierre76@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2023 12:01 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Membership application

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
20C Boulevard André SIEGFRIED
76130 MONT-SAINT-AIGNAN
FRANCE

“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 were 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.”