Shawn Bolz and false prophets: 4 ways data harvesting has been used (part 1)
3. Robert Tilton
In 1991, ABC's "Primetime Live" broadcast an exposé of pastors Robert Tilton, W. V. Grant and Larry Lea. The investigative report featured a secretly recorded meeting with Jim Moore, head of Response Media, which mailed out Tilton's Word of Faith financial solicitations, and Trinity Foundation founder Ole Anthony.
In that meeting, Moore told Anthony that they used market research to maximize contributions, noting that when people receive a small trinket in the mail, they feel a greater sense of obligation to send a financial donation in return, even if it's only $5.
Moore also said they analyzed which illnesses would generate the most money from people desperately seeking healing, as well as the financial status of Tilton's mail subscribers.
Donors seeking healing would often send in prayer request cards to Tilton's ministry. Many of those prayer cards were found in a dumpster in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
After the allegations of fraud aired on ABC, Tilton continued his grift.
In March 1992, Tilton sent a fraudulent letter to Mary Harrison, who had previously contacted the ministry because she had cancer.
Dear Mary:
God really touched my heart and told me to send you a message of hope and faith for the miracle touch that you need today. And he told me to touch your needs . . . personally . . . and to ask God with you through the prayer of agreement for his miracle touch. And on Thursday, April 9th . . . I am going to do exactly that for you!!!
. . . I know when God speaks to me. I am saying this to simply tell you that God spoke to me and told me to send this letter to you.
Mary died the previous year from cancer. Mary’s husband sued Tilton after receiving the letter. The case was settled out-of-court for an undisclosed amount.
During another civil case, Tilton’s attorney J.C. Joyce told the court, “The right to believe what we choose to believe is absolute. We even have the right to defraud people with that belief.”
