Fan Scam

So I got this strange letter from my website contact form the other day:

Dear Marianne :I just love your beautiful way with words and would be so honored to receive a signed photo of you to cherish. I am deeply touched by your lovely prose. Your gifts of heart and soul have given me, your grateful reader, great joy and happiness.Yours,Rebbie

At first I was confused. One, my book hasn't even come out yet, so how the heck could she have read it? Second, I'm a snarky chick lit writer, so I wouldn't exactly refer to my prose as "lovely" or "beautiful." And third, why would anyone want a signed photo of me??

Well, turns out I'm not the only one to receive this. Several other Dorchester authors have said they've gotten the same exact letter. Word for word. One got it twice for her different pen names. So there's got to be some kind of scam going on here. But what? To what purpose would this person in upstate NY (there was an address included) want all of our signed photos? The only thing I can think of is that by sending it, you open up a correspondence with this person and eventually they ask you for money. (Under the mistaken belief that writers have some!!) Other than that, I have no clue!

If anyone knows the "Real Deal" behind this letter, please let me know. The former investigative producer in me is insanely curious to learn the scam.

Marianne