Who says that creative writing skills are dead? Somewhere, in an internet cafe in Lagos, a man (probably) is putting himself inside the mind of a godly woman dying of breast cancer, a woman eager to give all of her assets away to me, a stranger. He has conjured up a story full of drama and greed: breast cancer! Greedy relatives! This is a masterpiece of the 419 form. I have to admire the chutzpah, if not the desire for larceny.
Yes, the letter is full of grammatical errors, a red flag. This morning I realized that that many of the people who would take this letter seriously won't notice, because their grammar is equally bad.
Ah, well. I'm easily amused.
***
Greetings from ***,
My name is ***, a dying woman who has decided to donate what I have for the good work of charity. I was diagnose for breast cancer for about 2 years now and I have been touched by God to donate from what I have inherited from my late husband to you for the good work of God, rather than allow my late husband evil family members to use our hard earned funds ungodly. They don't care about mankind, all they care is how to rob my money and lavish it ill-mannered. Since they become aware of my sickness they threatened my life, forcing me to move most of my assets to them.
I have asked God to forgive me and I believe he has because he is a merciful God. I will be admitted soon for a surgery and I want to make this donation before undergoing my surgery. I have determined to donate my fund to you for charitable trust towards the good work of the lord, and also to help the motherless, less privilege, widows including unfortunate mothers. At this moment I don't always attend to telephone calls due to the fact that my husband's relatives are always around me and trying to see if they can overhear my conversations and my health status as well. We can only speak on phone with a fixed time.
I wish you all the best and may the good Lord bless you abundantly. Please use the funds well and always extend the good work to others. It is true that we don’t know each other, but I have been directed by God to contact you for this grace. I will appreciate your maximum confidentiality in this matter until the task is accomplished. I will inform you on more details once I have received your reply. Write to me through this my email ******.
Best Regards,
***
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3 comments:
Well, there's an interesting variation on the "my father was an african prince and I need your help to get his funds out of the country" scam
I like it when the letters start out "Dear Beloved" - I feel so cared about.
Jazz - It's amazing how often the example you cite has probably worked. As my husband likes to say, "Greed makes people stupid."
SAW - 8>) They do care about you, intensely. At least, that part of you which resides in a wallet.
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