Fake seminars are an unusual way of scamming money from people, but this one appears to be such a pitch.
Using the domains napppa.org, napppaweb.com, napppanetwork.com, napppanetwork.org and napppa.com the "North American Program Planning and Policy Academy (NAPPPA)" claims to have been around for 50 years, but it only seems to have gotten around to registering its domains in the past two months with anonymous registrations. A Google search comes up with nothing but these recently registered websites and some spam, so it certainly appears that this is a wholly bogus outfit.
In this case the email is routed via 96.43.142.170 in the US, which also hosts napppanetwork.com.
Update: these emails appear to be originating from 173.55.115.38, a Verizon customer in Hacienda Heights, California (near Los Angeles).
From: NAPPPA Announcements <announcements@napppanetwork.com>
Date: 15 February 2011 14:40
Subject: Strategy Session: Academic Research Funding (April 25-26, 2011: Seattle University, Seattle, WA)
Signed by: napppanetwork.com
The North American Program Planning and Policy Academy (NAPPPA) will be sponsoring an Academic Research Funding Strategy Session at Seattle University in Seattle, WA on April 25-26, 2011. Interested science, technology, and medical professionals, researchers, faculty, and graduate students should register as soon as possible, as demand means that seats will fill up quickly. Please forward, post, and distribute this e-mail to your colleagues and listservs.
For more information call (800) 649-6522 or visit The NAPPPA website at http://www.napppaweb.com.
Please find the program description below:
As a response to increased demand and competition for academic research funding support and training, as well as the high cost of many programs, we offer this two day strategy session through the proposal writing and development process. This strategy features two modules: 1) Practicum I: Focusing on the format and structure of the successful research funding proposal, this module provides attendees with an overview of each part of the research funding proposal, avenues for researching available grant programs, and concludes with fundamental proposal writing techniques. 2) Practicum II: Drawing from practical exercises and techniques developed in Practicum I and the Pre-Session coursework, participants are guided through the completion of a Research Funding Dossier, which acts as the culminating work product of the session.
This session is ideal for the researcher with a targeted program, but is equally effective for those who can identify their research interests. Completion of the Pre-Session Interview and Assignments is essential to program success and value.
Academic Research Funding Strategy Session will cover the following topics:
* Fundamentals of the Research Funding Proposal Process
* Basic Elements of the Standard Research Proposal
* Essentials of Researching Funding Opportunities
* Types of Research Funding Opportunities
* Online Tools and Traditional Publications for Research
* Successful Proposal Writing Techniques
* The Do's and Don'ts of Proposal Writing
* The Strategic Grant Acquisition Effort
Tuition for this two day strategy session is $398.00.
Strategy Session Registration
1. Participants tentatively reserve a seat online at www.napppaweb.com, by calling the Program Office toll-free at (800) 649-6522, or by sending their name and contact information via email to registrar@napppaweb.com.
2. A confirmation email is sent to registrants that includes session site information, travel information, program description, and details on how to confirm attendance and make payment arrangements. An invoice and agency W9 is also included.
3. Upon attendance confirmation, registrants will receive (usually via email) a Pre-Session packet that will include 1) a Pre-Session Interview, 2) A Pre-Session Reading Packet, 3) Three exercises to be completed, 4) a Session Agenda and Schedule, and 5) a receipt.
You have received this invitation due to specific educational affiliation. We respect your privacy and want to ensure that interested parties are made aware of NAPPPA strategy sessions and schedules. This is intended to be a one-time announcement. In any event, you should not receive any more announcements unless there is a program next year in your area. To be unlisted from next year's announcement, send an email to remove@napppaweb.com and write "Unlist" in the subject line.
The (800) 649-6522 number comes up on Google quite often, and should probably serve as a warning if you ever see it in an email. Avoid.
Update 17/5/11: there's been a lot of interest in this "Academy", so here are some more details
The napppa.org domain is registered to a presumably rented box at "Mailboxes & More" in Los Angeles.
Registrant Name:Program Director Registrant Organization:NAPPPA Registrant Street1:655 S Flower Street Registrant Street2: Registrant Street3: Registrant City:Los Angeles Registrant State/Province:CA Registrant Postal Code:90017 Registrant Country:US Registrant Phone:+1.7602023597 Registrant Phone Ext.: Registrant FAX: Registrant FAX Ext.: Registrant Email:cadiyadvisor@gmail.com
You can see the store here (note the "655" number on the left door)
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Most of the other domains are anonymised, apart from napppa.com which is also registered to what appears to be a box in at Wilshire Mailbox in LA.
Programs, NPPPA cadiyadvisor@gmail.com
5042 Wilshire Boulevard Ste 15699
Los Angeles, CA 90017
US
+1.7602023597There is also a new anonymised domain called napppaprograms.org that is in use.
Update: two new anonymous domains have emerged, napppanet1.org (212.38.176.159) and napppanet2.org (69.57.166.88). These appear to be used for sending spam mail.
Update: as of August 2011, these spam emails are still continuing:
From: NAPPPA Announcements idaho@napppanet1.org
Date: 7 August 2011 22:15
Subject: Strategy Session: Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals (August 18 - 19, 2011: University of Idaho - Boise)
The North American Program Planning and Policy Academy will be conducting the Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals Strategy Session at University of Idaho - Boise in Boise, Idaho on August 18 - 19, 2011. Interested development professionals, researchers, faculty, and graduate students should register as soon as possible, as demand means that seats will fill up quickly. Please forward, post, and distribute this e-mail to your colleagues and listservs.
For more information call (800) 649-6522 or visit The NAPPPA website at http://napppaPROGRAMS.org. Please find the program description below:
The Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals Strategy Session is a hands-on, intensive session that leads participants through the entire grant proposal and funding research processes. Through an intense two day practicum, participants will receive an overview of program planning concepts along with advanced writing techniques to develop successful proposals. This results-based session combines individual exercises with group collaboration to allow each participant to leave the session with a Program Planning and Funding Dossier. Exercises leading up to the dossier and organization narrative include a thorough proposal outline, completed worksheets necessary for proposal submissions, and a starting collection of publications and resources to build a development library. Strategy Sessions is designed to provide your organization with the competitive advantage necessary in our modern grants award environment.
This session is ideal for those with a targeted program, but is equally effective for those who can identify their program and funding interests. Completion of the Pre-Session Interview and Assignments is essential to program success and value. Each participant will receive a selection of funding programs tailored to their program and/or areas of interest. Participants without a program will be provided a working example during Pre-Session.
The Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals Strategy Session will cover the following during the two day session:
(1) Fundamentals of Program Planning
This session will teach professional program development essentials and program evaluation. While most grantsmanship "workshops" treat program development and evaluation as separate from the writing of a proposal, this will teach students the relationship between overall program planning and proposal writing.
(2) Strategic Funding Research
At its foundation, this session will address the basics of foundation, corporation, and government grant research. However, this course will emphasize a strategic funding research approach that encourages writers to see research not as something they do before they write a proposal, but as an integrated part of the grant seeking process. Students will be exposed to online database research tools, as well as publications and directories that contain information about foundation, corporation, and government grant opportunities. Focusing on funding sources and basic social science research, this course teaches students how to use research as part of a strategic grant acquisition effort.
(3) Professional Proposal Writing
Designed to obtain tangible results, this session will make each student an overall proposal writing specialist. In addition to teaching the basic components of a grant proposal, successful approaches, and the do's and don'ts of grant writing, this session is infused with expert principles that will lead to a mastery of the process. Strategy resides at the forefront of this session's intent to illustrate grant writing as an integrated, multidimensional, and dynamic endeavor. Each student will learn to stop writing the grant and to start writing the story. Ultimately, this session will conclude with a completed proposal outline.
Tuition for this two day strategy session is $398.00.
Strategy Session Registration
1. Participants tentatively reserve a seat online at http://napppaPROGRAMS.org, by calling the Program Office toll-free at (800) 649-6522, or by sending their name and contact information via email to registrar@napppaprograms.org.
2. A confirmation email is sent to registrants that includes session site information, travel information, program description, and details on how to confirm attendance and make payment arrangements. An invoice and agency W9 is also included.
3.Upon attendance confirmation, registrants will receive (usually via email) a Pre-Session packet that will include 1) a Pre-Session Interview, 2) A Pre- Session Reading Packet, 3) Three exercises to be completed, 4) a Session Agenda and Schedule, and 5) a receipt.
You have received this invitation due to specific educational affiliation. We respect your privacy and want to ensure that interested parties are made aware of NAPPPA strategy sessions and schedules. This is intended to be a one-time announcement. In any event, you should not receive any more announcements unless there is a program next year in your area. To be unlisted from next year's announcement, send an email to remove@napppaprograms.org and write "Unlist" in the subject line.
Mail routed via 173.254.208.137, but appears to originate from 173.55.115.38 in Hacienda_Heights, California. This is consistent with the first email
Update: 26th September 2011
ABC15 in Arizona have picked up the story. Text transcript is here, or you can see the video below.
Update: 6th October 2011:
NAPPPA has now renamed itself as NA3PA but is still pumping out the same spam.
Please share your experiences by clicking the "comments" link near the bottom of the post.
NOTE: You can find out who was operating NAPPPA here
