A reminder that if something looks a little off, it probably is. I received the following email this morning.
I knew it was spam, but it was clever spam, so I decided to do some research. Scroll down to the most recent comments in this post to see references to this exact pitch, which seems to have had many different iterations.
In this case, there is no Shelly K. Fisher, nor is there anything called Virginia Women Leaders. Just FYI.
I actually just received the same email and began doing some research myself. In my case- Shelly Fisher was the Planning Director for Louisiana Women Leaders- which doesn’t exist either.
I just got the same one! Ugh!
Same!
I received the same thing this morning in Honolulu. Shelly was “Honolulu Women Leaders.” Thank you for your posts!
I got the email too (in Charlottesville, VA)!
I received an email, too, from Shelly Fisher, Virginia Women Leadership. She saw my profile on LinkedIn.
I just got one from Shelly K. Fisher of “Richmond Women Leaders.” I googled and found a website that matches the one in the blog post linked here: http://vuor.us/womensleadershiprichmond/questions.html
I received this email in Virginia. I was suspicious because the language is a little off, but thank you for confirming. How does it benefit them, though?
A website doesn’t make it a real organization. What is Vour? Do you know?
That’s what the email says to everyone. Why not contact you via LinkedIn, then?
You’re welcome! Women leaders need to look out for one another!
Really makes you wonder how much they’re collecting in registration fees!
I suspect they are able to collect registration fees for an event that will never happen.
Good to know that we all work in such good company. Regardless of the scam, well done all to be considered a powerful leader in your field.
Happy Holidays to each of you,
Tracy
Yes, I just received the same type of email in Charlottesville, VA. I was curious about the email, because I no longer have a linkedIn account. Is it just a fishing scam for money or is it an attempt to gain access to your computer? I was in a hurry and foolishly responded to the email without thinking. Now regretting that action. I am usually always very cautious. When I did research of Shelly Fisher and the organization I found this website comments. So thankful for everyone’s comments!
I think they’re looking for money from registrations.
There’s definitely something shady and interesting happening here, and Charlottesville is one of many targeted communities. Perhaps, together, we can get to the bottom of it and help save others from being victimized.
I received an email just now here in Chapel Hill, NC. I had a feeling about it & Googled the name. Thanks for the warning.
I received the same for Norfolk, Virginia. I thought it was odd considering I don’t live or work in Norfolk. I too researched, and from what I could find it looks like there is a supposed conference and they want a $200 registration fee. Glad I found these postings!
Boise, Idaho here! Just got it. Thanks for the heads up.
Just got the same email to my my work email, in Charlottesville VA. Says she found me on LinkedIn. Glad I decided to research her first.
I just received the same email from Shelly (New Orleans Women’s Leaders)! My linkedin has my current location as Nashville, so that was red flag one (I lived in NOLA until April 2020). There is also an actual conference with the website that is run by Junior League of NOLA, but I’m so glad I also googled her information to find this website. Her email was also Shelly Fiisher with two i’s, which is what initially raised my suspicions. Thanks for posting this!
Just got the same one in North Carolina, inviting me to join “Triangle Women Leaders,” from Shelly K. Fisher, Organizing Director, Triangle Women Leaders. Glad this website exists so I could sniff them out -thanks everyone!
I just received the same email for Richmond Women’s Leaders from Shelly K. Fisher. The email also references finding me on LinkedIn. My LinkedIn account does not show my location as Richmond, VA. Thank you for the warning.
So glad I googled this first too! Thanks all for saving me a potential headache during the holidays #nicetryshellyfisher
Same here for “Hawaii Women Leaders:. Thanks for posting warning!
got the same email today 🙂
I just got this Virginia Women Leaders email as well, and when I googled, your post was one of the first results. Thank you!
I just got this email to my work address. ‘Why would they be reaching out to an optical tech?’ I thought. Haha, super glad I trusted my gut instinct.
Also glad I found this thread. My email was formatted exactly the same, by the way.
Just got the same email… This time claiming to be from the Triangle women’s leaders (in the Raleigh NC area).
Well it appears old Shelly is making the holiday rounds; several flags went up right away for me. I don’t live anywhere near Richmond, she did not get my email via Linked In and I am not a Board Member for a company she claims to have gotten my info from. I always research these things which is how I found this site; thanks for posting it.
Sorry Shelly, nice try but professional women are a lot smarter than you give them credit for.
Just got the same email but for Harrisonburg (VA) parks and rec.
Same for Triad Women Leaders. Thanks, all!
I also just received an email from her, this time for “Louisiana Women Leaders” with her as the “Organizing Director”. Thank you so much for this post which confirmed my suspicions.
District Attorney’s office here…exact email except of course as louisianawomenleaders.org
Yup, just got one for “Richmond Women Leaders” from our good pal Shelly. Such a weird scam.
Just received the same email for “Charlotte Women Leaders.”
Oh, and I decided to dig in a bit one of the listed speakers on the website for the conference; the person was listed as senior management at the RIchmond Health District. According to her Linked In profile, she works for the San Antonio Health District.
I received the same email for “Mississippi Women Leaders.”
I just got it in Honolulu for the hawaii women leaders. Thanks for this post!
Ditto…beware!
I got it as well. for Norfolk Women Leadership. So I checked LinkedIn and no person by that name, also the address they used wasn’t the one I have on LinkedIn so I thought that was odd. Glad I hit google and found this thread. I am in Charlottesville too.
Got the same email today for Jackson’s Women Leadership Summit in Mississippi. I thought it was a bit fishy that they listed me as my old title and not my title of President as of September, but a little google search led me here. Thanks for reporting!
I just received the same email…
Hi Kelly, I found your Linked In AAPC CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL CODER profile interesting and we would enjoy your participation in the Virginia Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting by web for safety but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Would it be okay to email you the details?
Truly,
Shelly K. Fisher
Planning Committee
Virginia Women Leaders
Same here – weirdly enough, there is a website for a local entity called the “Knoxville Women’s Leadership Summit” and the website lists a “Shelly Fisher” on their staff. I think someone probably found this poor woman’s identity and decided to spoof it nationwide. On the website, her email was different than the e-mail she contacted me through. Pretty sophisticated spam though.
I also received this at my institutional email, however my linkedin account lists my personal email, so it was fishy to start. I didn’t respond but they have a .org website that is advertising some kind of summit, so I suspect that they are trolling for membership fees. I’ll be attempting to report them…
(reported to the ftc)
I received the same email this morning. It was from Shelly Fisher of “Virginia Women Leaders”. I started researching before responding as I felt it was odd the person did not reach me through Linked In where they apparently found my profile. Plus, the email just did not look professional. Thank you for this communication.
Received the same this morning! She found me on Linked In.
Just got one through my work email in Boise, ID. Thank goodness for Google!!
I just received the same email in California. Of course “Shelly” claims to work for the “Stockton Women Leaders Summit series.”
“Shelly” is a very busy girl!! I see from everyone’s posts here that she is in Boise, Honolulu, Stockton, Norfolk, Knoxville and, where I am….New Orleans…..all in a single day!!
Sorry, Shelly! We are on to you!!
Got one today and responded like a dope. Ugh… I usually check but I guess I didn’t have enough coffee today.
Just got second one from Shelly. She sent to my work email last week and my home email this morning. I am in Concord, NC, outside of Charlotte, so she states she is with the “Charlotte Women’s Leadership” and I had looked up last week and saw the “summit”. Today’s email said they are meeting virtually for safety and could she send me the details!
I work for a hospital system and she was using a former name of the system.
Not very clever, but hope no one was duped!
Thanks, just received the exact same email this morning.
Adding to this post so it comes up when others Google it. I got one targeted at the Honolulu area with the same fake name and virtual summit premise. The email even had an address in the footer to look official…. But it’s the address for a steak house in Ala Moana
Just got this email in NC and decided to research it and found this page.
It reached California!!!!!
I received the same email today . I was curious to why, I received an email to work address . I never list work email address on my Link in account And my account is not active . I will be reporting this to our agency IT department.
Just got this email, too, in Charlottesville VA–thank you for posting this!
Got the Charlottesville one, despite leaving LinkedIn 15 years ago. Thank you all for confirming that this is junk.
same email received…..I’m in Honolulu…..quick check yields:
Hawaii Women’s » Leadership Summitwww.hiwomenleaders.org
For safety our planning committee decided it would be best to transform the usual yearly in-person event into a 12-month experience beginning with a big …
Fee: $299 Just $199 (Early-bird rate, everything included for 12 months)
Includes the web kickoff, monthly web meetings, monthly web resources
and next year’s in-person grand finale (except meals for any in-persons you decide to attend at cost).
So there you are, they got smart enough to make a webpage that looks impressive, even has “.org”, and then they’ll make money on your registration fees, just as you expected Marijean and all. How do we report them?
Hi, I did some research for a Richmond teammate who received an email too – my results I sent her:
I would be skeptical for the reasons below –
> The sites for http(s)://richmondwomenleaders.org/ are not functional – although they exist, users cannot connect to them. Strange, especially considering she says “temporarily meeting by web for safety” but they have no active web presence?
> More suspiciously, the exact verbiage in the email sent to you has been used for numerous other city’s “womens’ leaders” organizations in soliciting folks to participate. Shelly F (Fisher, Fitzgerald, etc) was a common denominator for nearly all email senders.
> Lastly is this Event Registration (page at https://secure-summit.com/nextrain/Event.aspx?EventID=1389) – their bad website is listed for the event; setup is incorrect in the Event tool they’re using (error message “Date or City Bad”?); and a $199 fee to attend a 2.5 hr virtual event –
image.png – screenshot of webpage link posted above, that didn’t translate here
I’d say the likelihood of it being legitimate is very small.
I just received one as well & I exposed her to her in a email! Smh at these scammers trying to feed off people that’s already barely making with what they have!
Just received an email from Shelly Fisher, Organizing Director, Richmond Women Leaders. She found me on Linked-in. Must be all over the place. Thanks for explaining.
Just got the same exact message in New Orleans. Clever scam, but not clever enough.
Got a similar email this morning for “New Orleans Women Leaders” and pretty much everything about and in that email screams “scam” but I did some research regardless and am glad I came across this blog post and discussion for confirmation. I guess the entire website http://neworleanswomenleaders.org/ is a fake and they may have included (“hijacked”) profiles of real people who actually have a LinkedIn profile and don’t even know that their names and profiles are being abused. The email came from a “Shelly Fiisher” (note the two “ii”) and the email address was “ShellyF@NewOrleansWomenLeaders.org” as opposed to “Shelly@WomensSummit.org” which is the email address that pops up when hovering over the mail icon next to this person’s profile on that website. Both show up as unconfirmed website results in the Google search.
This can be reported to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
Just got the same email today, Fayetteville, NC, so now she goes from Virginia to North Carolina. I will block her so no email from her again.
I just received an email from Shelly Fisher inviting me to the Hawaii Women’s Leadership Forum. She said she found me on Linked-In. Add me to the list! I do think we should report them.
I have recieved an email as well from Shelly Fischer to participate . I am in CHICAGO.
So glad I found these comments .
Thanks Ladies !!
SO glad that I found this webpage. I was trying to locate the proper person in my company to obtain any needed rights or clearance because I didn’t want to represent it. Then I was actually trying to google the organization itself and landing here was all the information that I needed. Thank you for researching and reporting!
Same email, but targeting Stockton, CA, as Stockton Women’s Leadership. Knew it was bogus.
I’m located in Charlotte NC and received the the same email. Happy New Year’s Everyone
Received the same email just now at my work email. Decided to check, as if looked fake and glad I did.
My information was gotten from Linkedin. I blocked
Sorry Shelly looks like everyones on to you
I received it as well this morning in Lexington, VA. Glad I googled the organization first! Thank you!
I just received the same email from Shelly K Fisher, planning director for “Richmond Women Leaders.”
Found this suspicious website when I did a quick search: http://richmondwomenleaders.org/
You can report it to the FTC (https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/) and BBB (https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker/reportscam).
Same here. What a way to end 2020!
Hi Kwinn, I found your Linked In Songwriter profile interesting and we would enjoy your participation in the Boise Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting by web for safety but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Is it okay to send you the details?
Cordially,
Shelly K Fisher
Planning Director
Boise Women Leaders
I just received the same email, seen above, and while I fully support women in leadership and women getting equal pay etc. I am a man. Glad I checked here before replying. I suspect “Shelly” will send some sort of malicious link if I would reply. Sad.
Same here….received one for Louisiana. A company that I no longer work for was referenced. I really hate that people are scamming overall, but in these times, especially, just makes whoever it is a despicable individual(s).
I received a similar email today. Shelly Fisher found me on LinkedIn also. I’m in Rockingham County, NC and the email states that Shelly is on the organizing committee for NC Women Leaders. Shelly needs to find a new group to spam. Glad I found this post!! It just confirmed my gut instinct.
I fell for it hook, line, and sinker
Yep! Just got the same email. Here in rural Patrick County, VA. It just didn’t “smell” right?! Thank you for this info. Happy 2021 to all of you “real” folks!
Me too, me too! I’m in Idaho and in this case, she is part of “Boise Women Leaders”. I haven’t had a linked in account for a very long time so I was suspicious. Thanks for posting!!
Same here. Not used LinkedIn for years and so when I got this email, I knew something was up. “Hi Meriah, I found your Linked In Retail Professional profile interesting and we would enjoy your participation in the Boise Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting by web for safety but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Would it be okay to send you the details?
Sincerely yours,
Shelly K Fisher
Organizing Director
Boise Women Leaders”
I smelled a rat as soon as I got the e-mail. I am a retired teacher, and my Linked In is far from interesting! I’m in NC, and she was representing the Triangle Women Leaders. What a shame!
I just got it too, in California. It also looked fishy, which is why I Googled it and got to your website. Thank you for posting the warnings!
Shelly Fisher
Planning Director
Stockton Women Leaders
Thank you Marijean for posting about this scam. I got the ‘Richmond Women Leaders’ version and your post saved me a head ache. Thank you also to the ladies who have attached the FTC link so we could also report the perpetrator. Please take the time to make a report.
Sabine Winter said ” This can be reported to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/“
Thanks for posting. I received the “NC Women Leaders” version. Will definitely report to FTC.
Great post, thanks for helping us look out for each other. I received one in Virginia for Norfolk. No such woman could be found, but it led me to this post. Thank you.
Dear All,
Happy new year! I got the same email. I studied in Charlottesville, VA and the details in my supposedly LinkedIn account dated back to my old account. I wonder where the spammers got our information and email.
Just got the same here in Raleigh, NC.
Priya, question about Hillrom.
Shelly Fisher
Hi Priya, I found your Linked In Enterprise Architect|Integration Architect|Public Speaker|Theatre Artist profile interesting and we would enjoy your participation in the Triangle Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting by web for safety but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Is it okay to relay to you the details?
Respectfully,
Shelly Fisher
Organizing Director
Triangle Women Leaders
Good morning,
I had also received the same message from “Shelly” on 12/31 for the Virginia Women Leaders. I checked the address in the confidentiality statement and it’s the law offices of Richard M. Bing of Richmond, VA. I reported to the FTC as well but it’s strange to use a law office address of all things. Hope everyone stays safe and spam free this year 🙂
Thank you for sharing. I received the same email. In researching, I found your post on here.
Received for Charlotte, NC as well. There is a Charlotte Women’s Leaders group, but was very clear that this email was spam.
Yes, I just received one for Charlotte NC too. Thanks to this group for looking out for all legitimate business women!
I received mine on January 1st, Happy New Year to me!! For Norfolk Women Leaders. I’m glad I found this information before responding!!
I received the same email from Shelly in Raleigh, NC. Triangle Women Leaders is the organizational name that she provided. So weird. I wonder what the purpose is? Thanks for posting so that we are able to confirm that this is spam. Shelly really is a busy one- whew!
Happy New Year everyone!
Well, I got this email too. Also, on January 1st. The weirdest part is that she emailed my work email.
Just received one in Boise, Idaho. Looked a little weird…I’m glad I looked it up and found this post! Thank you.
I received this email in Stockton, California on my work email. I immediately began researching it. I found it strange to contact me there instead of on Linkdin. Glad I followed my gut.
I just received the same e-mail regarding Norfolk Women’s leaders. Thanks SO MUCH for the heads up!!!
Happy New Year! Thank you for posting this. I began to feel this may be a scam and was happy to find your post. I received the same for Richmond Women Leaders.
Thank you all for your comments! I received this as well for Boise Women Leaders.
I hope Linked in management has been notified that their name is being used for fishing.
Thank you for posting this! I got the same one this morning in NOLA.
I just got one this morning from ShellyF@NorfolkWomenLeaders.org. So glad I checked here first! It did scream SCAM but looks rather legit. This is Norfolk, VA. Beware!!!!!
I just got this almost exact same email to my work email (which my linkedin is not connected to) so thought it was suspicious. So I immediately googled and this popped up! Thank you for sharing to confirm my suspicion.
Mine was a scam for “Richmond Women’s Leaders”
I just got the email at my work email and I’m in Concord, NC northeast of Charlotte. Same wording as everyone else’s. Thanks for the heads up!
I recieved the same message with the same exact wording as well here in New Orleans!
I received this one on 12/29/20:
Hi Pamela, I found your Linked In […] profile interesting and we would enjoy your participation in the Norfolk Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting by web for safety but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Is it okay to email you the details?
Sincerely,
Shelly K. Fisher
Planning Director
Norfolk Women Leaders
Not even the country is safe from this scam! Ms. Shelly found me down here in Pembroke, NC. Down here, she claims to be the Planning Manager for Triad Women Leaders. Pembroke is nowhere near the Triad area…..
I’ve been getting these for months in Chicago.
Hi Alicia, thank you again for replying back to me favorably below regarding the Chicago Women Leaders. We look forward to your involvement as we get ready for our annual kickoff. Could you take a moment now to register at http://ChicagoWomenLeaders.org so we can get you all set up in our system? Everything is included in your registration for a full year.
btw our schedule follows below (shifted to web til things are safe again). If you can’t make the next meeting because of the short notice we will also be recording it for you (all set).
Sincerely,
Shelly Fisher
Planning Director
Chicago Women Leaders
ShellyF@ChicagoWomenLeaders.org
It must be working because she has been putting this out for a while. I just received in Raleigh today and yes, very thankful to find this thread quickly in my Google search for her.
I also got the email. Thank you so much for the information. I hate nonsense like this clogging my email.
It’s kind of incredible. I just got another follow up email from her.
That’s even more elaborate than the other emails I have seen. Is that because you responded to an earlier email?
Thanks so much for posting this, Marijean! I got the same message from Shelly Fisher plus a follow-up message. Looked suspicious, so I didn’t respond. Appreciate the heads-up! –Kim
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I just got one of those today for Norfolk Women Leaders & it was sent to my state employee email address. I’ve lived & worked in Norfolk but not for several months now. Someone has apparently been trying to pull this scam for quite a while. They’re doing a lot of leg work as well collecting all our names & email addresses. I’m going to notify our IT people at work so they can put out a statewide notice of this scam. We should also contact a news organization.
Received this yesterday in Richmond, VA. The thoroughness of this one is really impressive. A lot of effort has gone into this. Thank you for sharing this so we could all connect and warn others.
Just received in NC and I am not in the triad area.
From: Shelly Fisher
Hi Tanya, I found your Linked In profile interesting and we would enjoy your participation in the Triad Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting by web for safety but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Is it okay to send you the details?
Respectfully,
Shelly Fisher
Organizing Board
Triad Women Leaders
I just got this email in Durham, NC and “Shelly K. Fisher” is listed as the Organizing Board of Triangle Women Leaders. BUT there is actually a website for the Triangle Women Leaders, which makes it very deceptive.
Here’s the website link: http://trianglewomenleaders.org/
Thank you for posting this! I just received the exact same email from Shelly in Winston-Salem, NC.
Glad I listened to my spiddy senses and researched before opening/responding.
Hi ladies, I also received this email back in December and I just got a follow up today saying basically the same thing but just following up. I’m also in Charlottesville VA which is really weird they are targetting this city…
I got this same one claiming Norfolk.
I received the same exact email in Salem VA. Coming from Shelly Fisher “Organizing Director” telling me that she found my Linked in and found it interesting.
Thanks everyone for reporting on this! I received the “Shelly Fisher” email in Dec and a followup email today. It went to my work email and my personal email. I decided it felt phishy the first time I got it so I didn’t respond. This time I marked it as phishing. I hope no one gets hooked into this scam.
Another Richmond one.. It is extra unsettling because the physical address listed on the bottom of the email in actually a property in my husbands office.
I would be interested to know- Does anyone else see a physical address that is linked to them personally?
Just got the same email from the Triad Womens from the same person. If it was official, why doesn’t she provide a phone # to call. Ohhh yeah because it is fishy.
I just received it fro Shelly Fisher from Charlotte Women Leaders. Glad I googled it and saw this forum.
Just received this from Shelly at Triangle Women Leaders. I actually went to register for this and noticed that it asked for card information before it gave you a price. Thats when I knew something was wrong. Thank you everybody for blowing the whistle!
Shelly is very persistent. She emailed me in December and I deleted her, knowing it was a fake organization (Boise Women Leaders). Today she sent me a “follow-up” b/c she hadn’t heard back from me. Delete, delete, delete. The address in her email is 950 W. Bannock, Boise, ID — a large building w/ space for lease and a common virtual address of scam entities.
Marijean, thank you for posting this. I received an email from Shelly Fisher, as well, but it is titled, Richmond Women Leaders. I am outside of Richmond, VA. I thought it was odd because if she truly found me on LinkedIn, she would have sent the message to a different email address. Again, thank you for posting and making people aware of this!!
I have been getting this for a few months through my work account and today it came through on my gmail. Seems like a total front and I’m steering clear. Grateful to have found this site to confirm my suspicions!
Marijean, thank you for posting this to your blog. I just recently received an email from someone named “Shelly Fisher” claiming to be from the Triad Women Leaders. I researched the organization online and could not find anything. However, there was a advertisement for a conference with at least 8 women named as coordinators and the like. It is absolutely unconscionable that women would lend their names or voice to such a scam. Isn’t is difficult enough for marginalized individuals to garner the respect and attention required to move many causes forward within our society. It makes me sick to my stomach. If they are a legitimate organization, then why not publicize it through the appropriate channels instead of lerking like criminals. Shameful to say the least. However, like you mentioned. We must look out for each other and inform each other so that one one falls victim. Thank you again for making people aware of this!!
Just received one here in Charlotte, NC. It struck me as odd, so I started googling it. Thanks for sharing here to confirm my suspicions!
Thank you, Marijean! Received my first email from Fisher at my OAG email address today. As someone else commented, your post was the first that came up on my google search. Saw many familiar names in the comments and feel like maybe we have enough woman power here to create our own “Virginia Women Leaders.” Hope you are well and continuing to lead in your communities.
I just received a second solicitation like this after ignoring the first [over Christmas] and Googled to find out what the deal was. I’m also in Charlottesville, for those who have observed that our community in particular is being targeted. Maybe someone should form a real Virginia Women Leaders from the people on this page 🙂
I just received it in my Duke email account here in NC. The only reason I even hesitated to respond because I’m so close to retirement that I wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to any new professional activities…so I thought I’d explore whether it was worth it or not. THANK YOU for this website. Who knows what I could have exposed myself or Duke to…has anyone heard what’s behind the scam?
I received the same email way out here in California. Thank you for verifying this was a scam! It just seemed a little off…
Received two emails from ShellyF@vawomenleaders.org and decided to investigate and found your post! The nerve!
Thank you for getting the word out!!
-EJ
I just opened the following email:
Hi Brenda, I found your Linked In Culinary Specialist profile interesting and we would enjoy your participation in the Richmond Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting by web for safety but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Is it okay to send you the details?
Truly yours,
Shelly Fisher
Planning Manager
Richmond Women Leaders
It seemed off I googled the name Richmond Women Leaders and ran across this awesome board.
Thanks ladies
Same as everyone else. Except I received my SECOND email from “Shelly Fisher” today. I sent her email to my IT department the first go around after seeing this site and confirming she wasn’t a real source. The second email was good….but not good enough:
Hi Amanda, just following up on my earlier email as we would enjoy your participation in the Baton Rouge Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting monthly by web but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Would it be okay to relay to you the details?
Cordially,
Shelly Fisher
Organizing Manager
Baton Rouge Women Leaders
In looking at the email closely, the Privacy Notice at the bottom of the email had some screwy letters/numbers and the address listed was for a real estate company. Thanks to everyone for their comments here! Stay safe!
Also got one (plus a follow up when I didn’t respond) for Norfolk! What concerns me is how they got my info. At first, I figured it must be from an old resume floating around online somewhere, but when I looked in the “confidential notice” section at the bottom (which…. nice touch to try to make it look legit), there was a phone number for an old general office line – nothing I have ever put on a resume, but was a legit office line for me at one point. So it almost seems like they had linked information from a couple sources? Thankful for this post and the comments section! THIS is women being leaders and taking action. Also – mine was through my gmail account, so I marked it as “phishing” (as opposed to just spam) so hopefully gmail will be able to block this domain if they get enough reports.
Same here!!! This time they used the Charlotte Women Leaders. They are persistence.
Here’s a copy of the email I received.
Hi Glenda, I found your Linked In Law Enforcement at City of Florence , South Carolina profile interesting and we would enjoy your participation in the Charlotte Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting by web for safety but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Is it okay to send you the details?
Sincerely,
Shelly Fisher
Planning Director
Charlotte Women Leaders
I received one in Richmond VA. Ignored the first email I received and was sent another one this morning. About a month later
I too received several of these from “Shelly K Fisher” and all emails were in my spam folder. I live in Idaho and I too checked….it is false! Thank you all for responding and letting us know!
Thanks so much for posting this! I just received the email as well. Is there any entity that investigates this? It’s so frustrating. I’ve half a mind to play along in order to get more info to find responsible parties but I know my internet sleuthing is prob not a good idea.
Received one this morning for Norfolk Women Leaders. No reference to LinkedIn, but the rest of the message is identical to many in the comments.
Thanks for putting this info out here.
I just got this email today, in Raleigh, NC. Glad I googled!
Received same email this morning for Norfolk Women Leaders
Just got the same email in Baton Rouge, LA….so bummed because for a second I thought it was real and felt so honored! Glad I checked!
Also received this email!
“Hi Kellyn, just following up on my earlier email as we would enjoy your participation in the Baton Rouge Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting monthly by web but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Would it be okay to send you the details?”
1) The subject line “Kellyn, follow-up on Modern Day Scribe” made no sense
2) I never received an initial email
3) There’s clearly no Baton Rouge Women Leaders network
Nice try, Shelly!
Got this email today for Norfolk. I don’t see the upside for them except using some of us to “headline” an event that never happens.
I just got the same e-mail for the Charlotte Women Leaders, sent by “Shelly Fisher,” Planning Director, Charlotte Women Leaders. Before I found this page, I looked up the organization and found a page for the Charlotte Womens Leadership Summit. On the Questions page, there is a section called “About the Planning Organization;” Shelly Fisher is there and is listed as “Events Planning Director.” Oddly enough, it says “Shelly Fisher” stepped in when “Shelly FItz-gerald” left…names are very similar. Only an e-mail address is shown for Shelly Fisher. It links to “Shelly@WomensSummit.org.” The other ladies have links to their LinkedIn accounts, but looking a couple, they don’t mention any involvement with this organization. I’m wondering if the entire organization is a fake.
Hi All – I received this today for the Charlotte NC group (a reminder, even though I don’t think I received anything from them previously). I checked several different iterations (Triangle, Cleveland) and they each have different dates and different speakers listed. My initial though was scam but they have so much detailed info on each page, including video of past event, that it’s either (a) legit with some organizational issues that make it seem scammy or (b) a scam.
I reached out to one of the speakers listed for the Triangle group to see if it’s legit…I’ll let you know what I find out.
I did find one of the speakers listed for the Cleveland event, and she does show a slide deck that she must have presented at a 2020 event…it has the logo, color scheme, etc. as the “Women Leadership Summit” website.
I got an email from her today. I thought it was peculiar since she said she tried reaching out to me before but I had never seen anything. I am so glad I googled it and saw this.
I received the same note. Thank you so much for the time and effort spent on the post.
We should convene a summit for those listed on this blog thread.
the “Brought together by deception, too intelligent to fall for it” Summit.
If anyone on this blog ever needs a sounding board for something similar down the road, we should bring it here?
What do you think Marijean?
Take care all!
Thanks so much for posting this. I also received a similar email from a Shelly Fisher and replied when I found a website for Organization of Women Leaders (owlhawaii.org), which *is* legitimate. What was slick was that Shelly Fisher replied and pointed me to the site http://hiwomenleaders.org; I found a parallel site at volc.us which seemed fishy. Scrolling the site, I realized this was clearly not a local organization and then googled “Shelly Fisher Hawaii” and found this thread. Wow. Thanks so so much.
I just received one as well for NC from the same Shelly Fisher. Went to do research as it sounded potentially fishy. Thank you everyone for the warning.
I have received an email from “Shelly Fisher” as well. Thank you all for your comments. I came across this website while trying to learn more about the group.
On Jan 13, 2021, at 6:49 AM, Shelly Fisher wrote:
Hi Pamela, just following up on my earlier email as we would enjoy your participation in the Triad Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting monthly by web but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Is it okay to relay to you the details?
Sincerely yours,
Shelly Fisher
Planning Committee
Triad Women Leaders
Hi Wendi, just following up on my earlier email as we would enjoy your participation in the Richmond Women Leaders. We are temporarily meeting monthly by web but hopefully back to in-person once safe. Would it be okay to email you the details?
Yours Truly,
Shelly Fisher
Planning Director
Richmond Women Leaders
_____
PRIVACY INFO. The information with in this e-mail (including any attachments) is intended only for the personal and confidential and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. If you are not an intended recipient of this email, please notify the sender by replying to this message and then delete the message and any copies from your system. Any usage of this message by unintended recipients, is not authorized and may be against the law. If any reply is needed I should send the info to… This was sent by The Richmond Women Leaders, 7400 Beaufont Springs Dr Suite 300, Richmond, VA 23225. Reply with the subject line Re move if wanted thanks Wendi.
Yep! I received that same email. Thanks for posting.
I am in Richmond. Got the same email from Shelly on 1/13 claiming she’s with Richmond Women Leaders.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you found this post. It really does seem like a pretty sophisticated phishing operation.
Sheena, I love it! It is interesting how many people who found this post seem interested, at least mildly, in a leadership conference. Clearly the people running this scam are aware of the potential.
I believe it is a fake organization. There is simply no reason for a legitimate organization to not have more transparent content and contact information.
They, in the worst cases, are collecting registration fees, it seems. Otherwise, when people respond to the initial inquiry, it’s a phishing scam. Here’s a post that describes what phishing is and how it works. https://www.phishing.org/what-is-phishing