Has anyone else received a random "penpal" letter ?
 

I received a (random ?) letter from someone named "Joey" stating that it was a "pen pal" experiment to see if he would get any responses from residents of The Villages. He said he simply chose random addresses from a google map of The Villages since he had been here many times to visit his grandparents who live off Rain Lily Loop, and said he knows seniors often enjoy getting letters. Also stated he recently graduated from Kennesaw State U. in Ele. Ed. and has been teaching 4th grade in an Atlanta suburb (didn't say which one). He did give his address as 918 Highbury Lane, Marietta GA. Said he enjoys getting mail and dialogue with others, states he is not by any means a scammer and is not asking for money or anything like that, just purely a pen pal experiment.

First time I have ever received anything like this, wondered if anyone else got a letter like this, or has ever gotten anything like this ? Strange part was, all this information but no last name.... I would have thought if actually a teacher and knew The Villages due to having grandparents here, he would have made it a point to put last name ??? What you any of you make of this ? Any one out there live on Rain Lily Loop and have a neighbor who has a grandson who just graduated from Kennesaw State ( I am familiar with that university) and teaches 4th grade ? ?

Quite frankly, sounds like the beginning of a scam to me. This person could have just as easily picked out an address in Marietta from Google, saying he was from there. And who doesn’t include their last name?

It could be totally innocuous, but you’re going to have to protect yourself and quit with your detective efforts.
Are you lonely? Do you want to take the chance of providing personal information to a potential scammer?

If it were me, I’d let him “experiment” on someone else.

Send $1000 cash and see how it goes. Good Luck.

No. I haven't.

If I were you I would not respond in any way.

Sounds like a scam. If he really wanted to interact with the elderly, he could volunteer at or visit a retirement home in Atlanta.

With so many scams out there I would not get involved. Teasing a bit but my delete button seems to be wearing out.

You can if you wish research what that address is complete with pictures. Google, realtor.com, Zillow. You can easily get a phone number on line telephone directory.
Who or what it is? Perhaps, some kid doing a term paper wondering percentage that will reply by age group.

My view, I would be lost without my computer however part of the price of having a computer, a cell phone is a loss of privacy.

That residence is owned and homesteaded by Michael V & Maria E Lewis.

I made a new pen pal from Nigeria a while back. He says he's the King's only son, but he can't fool me, as I think he has a couple of brothers. I went ahead and sent him $10,000 and he will be soon be shipping me 10 bars of gold in exchange. I keep checking my porch, but for some reason it still hasn't shown up - for the last 6 months. I still have confidence it's coming though.

Yes, I got one. I deposited it in the trash can next to the post office .

That is interesting. I and most assumed it was an e-mail. A mailed letter, someone paid the postage.

Everyone loves a good mystery.

Mail fraud is a serious crime. Most would drop it. I expect I would however, sending the letter to our police. Marietta police, might be a better idea-or not.

on your mail page, click on either "Block" or "Mark as Phishing".

OP said it was a letter. I took that to mean an actual paper letter sent via USPS.

My feelings exactly. Retired university professor and we're definitely not lonely (though perhaps "Joey" could be ? But hard to believe that, new grad, just got first teaching position ?). Would never reply with so many "red flags"like that.... mentioning of "this is not a scam or asking for anything..." A teacher would most certainly mention the "intent" behind the experiment, and certainly give last name. A google of the address "Joey" did reveal, showed a VERY upscale home in the Marietta area ! That was also interesting.

LOL! Yes, we did the same thing, looked it up ! :icon_wink::icon_wink: