Scam Everlasting? After 25 Years, Debunked Faith Healer Still Preaching Debt Relief

Do Not Open This Envelope

On top of the pile, Popoff instructed, I should place a sealed envelope that he’d mailed me. On the back was a picture of Jesus, plus this warning: “IN JESUS’ NAME… DO NOT OPEN THIS ENVELOPE YOU may STOP YOUR BLESSING,” Popoff had written across the back.

Here, dear reader, I experienced a dilemma. On one hand, I wanted to follow Popoff’s instructions exactly, giving his debt cure the best possible chance of success. On the other hand, I felt a responsibility to tell you everything I could about this alleged scam.

In the end, journalistic integrity beat out spiritual rectitude. I opened the envelope. Inside was a white eraser about the length of my thumb, with the image of a $100 bill printed on one side. The good news is that opening the letter does not necessarily eliminate me from God’s debt-cancelling grace, according to Popoff. “If you have opened it…seal it back up and don’t think about what’s inside,” he writes. “Just know God is going to use it to erase your debt, and I’ll answer you with special scriptural instructions to do so.”

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Phew!

With the envelope tightly resealed and placed upon my pile of debts, I went to sleep. In the morning I filled out a “prayer slip” that contained a grid of 10 “troubles” I may have in addition to debt. Popoff promised to pray over these troubles, too. I checked off seven, as instructed, including “I need stronger faith” and “A person causes me trouble.”

Finally, I wrote Popoff a check for $20. This was optional. As Popoff explains in his letter, “Now, listen, if there is no way you can send that amount now … send $12 and let me know you’ll send the rest when God provides.”

I figured now was not the time to cheap out. I stuffed the prayer slip and a check for $20 into an envelope and mailed it all to Peter Popoff Ministries in Upland, California. Popoff promised to place my envelope on his prayer altar. After that, he would mail me another letter with instructions regarding “THE EXACT WORDS TO SAY…TO RELEASE THE ANGELS TO MINISTER FOR YOU TO CANCEL DEBT…”

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I received the second letter about two weeks later. The instructions for supernatural debt cancellation came, strangely, on a yellow paper napkin. Beneath the printed words was a line drawing of Jesus with his hands outstretched.

I did as I was told. I placed my right hand over Jesus’s right hand. And then I recited this awkward prayer:

“Dear Jesus, As I follow these prophetic instructions release your DOUBLE PORTION ANOINTING into the circumstances of my life…I claim a DOUBLE PORTION Transfer of the anointing into my Health, Finance, Spiritual walk in Jesus’ Name!”

I waited a few days to give the prayer time to work. Then I went online and checked my credit card and student loan accounts. Neither had been erased, supernaturally or otherwise. My Visa actually bill was actually a little higher, thanks to a really tasty Vietnamese dinner I’d charged the night before.

The biggest change: Thanks to Peter Popoff, I was $20 poorer.

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Image: Christopher Maag