BALTIMORE — If you’ve received an invitation to join a secret society, you’re not alone. The author says it’s a personal letter just to you, not a mass mailing, but WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii has heard from dozens of people who were sent the same letter.
She reported on these mysterious mailings a few years ago.
These letters state members who join will experience great wealth, love, even psychic abilities. However, the key to unlock these riches and powers isn’t free. There’s a cost to obtain their book of secrets.
Sofastaii spoke with two people who paid for them.
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**If you’d like to share your experience with “The Society,” email Mallory at Mallory@wmar.com**
Jolinda White and Harold Romero were intrigued by the letters promising to deliver what everyone wants.
“Happiness is something that really sells,” said Romero.
Plus, access to information that could put “$100,000 cash” in your pocket in just a few weeks, according to the letter.
“I thought it was stupid but then I thought, ‘What the heck.’ I had a credit card, so I bought it,” said White.
How it works
First, prospective members are mailed an invitation with an offer to receive a 55-page packet containing the “greatest secrets” free of charge. These are stories supposedly from members who went from broke to rich.
But then you’re told the packet is in code. You’ll need the 1200-page manuscript to decipher the secrets.
While the letter states it’s free, there’s an order form included requesting payment of $140, a $100 discount off the original price.
White and Romero paid it.
Then another letter comes stating the book you bought is once again in code. The second manuscript fully reveals the ancient powers of history’s richest people, and it costs $99.50.
But White received an additional letter informing her that the second manuscript is also in code. And the third final Mark Hamilton Neothink Manuscript with 2,800 pages decodes every manuscript for $250, half off the original price of $500.
“This isn’t in code!” exclaimed White. “You're just saying the same crap over and over. And then before I can even get through the book, I got the letter about well, now you need something to decode it with. I just nearly died. You've got to be kidding me.”
White added that the book is based on the laws of attraction and using positive thinking to create positive experiences. These are beliefs Romero shares with the writer.
“I didn't see any changes. Like, I know it's not going to happen overnight, but the principle I think is valid,” said Romero.
He feels he got what he paid for.
“As much as I have read, there is coherence, there is logic,” added Romero.
He said he’s keeping an open mind and paid $99.50 for the next installment.
“So at this point, you do believe there is a society?” Sofastaii asked Romero.
“There is nothing to tell me that there is not,” Romero replied.
Who's behind these letters?
The real secret seems to be around the business that sends these mailings. How large is this operation? And who’s in charge?
Sofastaii started with Mark Hamilton, the author listed on the manuscripts.
She emailed him several times but never received a response and phone numbers tied to him through public records are no longer in service.
The phone number on the order form connects to a payment processor, who claims to be a separate company from “The Society.”
The mailing addresses are all to P.O.. boxes. In Utah, Ohio, and Texas.
Hamilton is tied to addresses in Henderson, Nevada, and that’s the listed location on bank statements for payments to “The Society.” There’s also a phone number on bank statements, but it doesn’t work.
“It’s not even the money that bothers me. It's the time, the time you know that I spent,” said White. “But I was vulnerable, hadn’t been feeling good for a long time, and so it's like, maybe this is my answer, you know, for good health and all that good stuff. And, no. No, it wasn't.”
If you bought all of Hamilton's books the total comes to $500.
WMAR-2 News hasn’t been able to verify claims that members became millionaires after buying these manuscripts.
