Recap: In previous correspondence (see e-mails 1-8, here, 9-11, here, 12-21, here, 22-30, here, 31-36, here and 37-54, here), a Nigerian con artist — motivated by my promise of a $275,000 payday — has responded to an extraordinary number of perverted theological inquiries posed to him by people he believes to the officers and directors of a multi-million dollar Christian publishing house, Raving Industries. Thinking he’s about to receive the money, he agrees to become the company’s permanent “Spiritual Advisor” and answer up to five religious questions a day. At the last minute he’s crushed by the revelation that his new employer has naively send his money to a different e-mail scammer — a Mr. “Christopher Besteden” — who claims to be Ntha’s partner. Dr. Ntha becomes hysterical and sends a series of intemperate e-mails condemning Besteden as a “fraudster” and imploring Raving Industries not to deal with him. The company, however, assures Ntha that they know he is merely denying his relationship with Besteden as part of “security” measure intended to protect the parties in the case of an investigation by governmental authorities.

Last week, I tempted the Doctor with another $1.3 million — on condition that he 1) send an e-mail confirming that he actually knows Besteden, and 2) write three poems about Jesus. He refuses, apparently afraid that the other scammer is just attempting to humiliate him further, and the transfer is postponed. This week I give Dr. Ntha another chance at riches and he responds with a little clumsy reverse psychology.

Part 55: Holier Than Thou

Although he was told that nobody would be around at Raving Industries for five days, Dr. Ntha and his partner jump the gun with a couple more desperate e-mails. They refuse to acknowlege a relationship with Mr. Besteden, even though I’ve made it clear that their “partner” is no longer in a position to divert their share of the loot. Instead, they bury me with scripture in an attempt to convince me that Besteden is an impersonator, and that they’re so pious that they wouldn’t lie even for a million dollars. This, of course, is a lie, a lie calculated to convince me to send them a million dollars.

Subj: Read the Price of falsehood in Revelation chapter 21 verses 8.
Date: 5/21/2003 4:53:32 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: akpuntha@xyz.com
To: DennisonLeigh@aol.com
CC: GreerJared@aol.com, [John Doe], RavingAtheist@aol.com, RavingIndustries@aol.com

Greeting to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear Sister Eva, Mrs. Anne Dennison-Leigh, Ravinga,

I received your mail with the contents well noted and understand for which my thanks. Am just coming back from mid week service and it happens that the topic of the service is exactly what is happening in this transaction, the study case is that of Esau and Jacob Genesis chapter 27 verse 1-46,Hebrew chapter 12 verse 16 and 17,so impersonation is old as the world, you can imagine where a brother impersonate his own brother to receive his blessing from their father without their father knowing that he is blessing the wrong person.

However, you see I cherish this transaction so much but the price of falsehood is terrible which everybody that is aware of it will try as hard as possible to avoid, read the following portions of the bible for the price of unfaithfullness/falshood;2 kings chapter 5 verse 1-27,Joshua chapter 7 verse 1-26;8 chapter 8 verse 1-29 in this quotations you will understand the full implications of lies.

Finally, if the Almighty God can deliver Daniel from the lion’s den for being faithfully (Daniel Chapter 1-28) also Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nogo from the lake of fire (Daniel chapter 3 verse 1-30) He can as well deliver me as he is impartial God. I have tried all I can to prove to you that all am saying is nothing but the truth but if you think otherwise, well its left for you, I told you that the money you wanted to transfer US$1,375,000 will be enough for the expenses to transfer the money US$38.6M into your nominated account

Read the price of falsehood in Revelation chapter 21 verses 8.

I will be waiting for your response.

Yours in Christ,
Brother Ntha

Subj: Re: Wire Transfer Report
Date: 5/22/2003 5:37:12 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: [John Doe]
To: DennisonLeigh@aol.com
CC: GreerJared@aol.com, RavingAtheist@aol.com, RavingIndustries@aol.com

Dear Sister Eva, Mr. Ravinga, Mrs.Anne Dennison-Leigh,

After going through your various mails and the mails my friend Dr. Akpu copied me I began to wonder why you are still insisting that he Dr.Akpu knows this Besteden and as a civil servant how Besteden will have foreign account as the Lloyd has him as the beneficiary, also you are asking me to send you confirmation letter as a partner to Dr Akpu and colleague while am just assisting them receive the money for expenses and not a partner as you may think.

Am stressing all this because my friend is much disturbed if not I should not have to reply your various mail, at least I know a lot of people will compromise their faith by telling you that they know him just to satisfy you as you just need to confirm there will be no more dispute if you transfer the money. But Dr.Akpu keeps to his faith as a reputable Christian.

I will advise you to look into the matter carefully and make you are not making any mistake and if you are no more interested in assisting them receive the money you let them know but if you are still interested you should forward the money for expense as he said that the money you want to transfer will take care of the expense till you receive the money in your nominated account.

Thanks,

Mr. [John Doe]

CEO, [BBB Limited]

Part 56: Renegotiation

I pretend that Mr. Besteden has renegotiated Raving Industries’ share to help resolve a partnership dispute. Again, Dr. Ntha is promised $1.3 million if he’ll only write a few Jesus poems — and is told that the deal’s off if he fails to comply.

He’s also been told that for some obscure “tax” reason, Raving Industries doesn’t care if Mr. Besteden keeps the $282,350 he’s already received. In addition to tormenting Dr. Ntha with the idea that Besteden has gotten away with financial murder at his expense, I wanted Ntha to feel emboldened to rip off Raving Industries in a similar manner without worrying that the company would later be trying to track down the funds.

Finally, after teasing Ntha with the disclosure that Besteden’s going to be feeding at the trough as Raving Industries financial advisor even if the deal is called off, I take advantage of his position as our unpaid Spiritual Advisor to grill him about the “problem of evil.”

Subj: Dispute Resolution
Date: 5/26/2003 10:15:52 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: GreerJared
To: akpuntha@xyz.com, [John Doe] drakpuntha@xyz.com
CC: DennisonLeigh, Raving Atheist, RavingIndustries

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To: Dr. Akpuntha Ntha
Mr. Vincent Obiazor

cc: Christopher Blessed

Gentlemen,

Upon my return from the monastery I was distressed to learn that various partnership disputes among you have delayed the progress of this venture. Mr. Besteden advises me that the primary dispute involves approximately 0.75% of the ultimate commission. To resolve this question matter Raving Industries is willing to reduce its 35% share to 34.25%. I understand that whatever remaining issues you may have are relatively minor and should be settled once the financial question is resolved.

As we have discussed, to expedite this matter we shall deposit the first installment of $1,375,000 into Lloyds TSB Bank, Special Account [Type 4], (Beneficiary: C. S. Besteden) on Thursday, May 29, 2003. However, the funds will be deposited for accounting purposes only and will be frozen until receipt of the confirmation letter and poetry. If the requested information is received on or before Wednesday, May 28, 2003, we will transfer the second installment of $1,375,000 to HSBC Guernsey, London, Account No. 011-505-278-360, Sort Code 40-32-28 (Beneficiary: Aviex Limited) on Thursday as well and all funds will be immediately available for withdrawal.

We will consider our agreement with you terminated if the information is not timely provided as set forth above. Raving Industries’ fiscal year closes on June 30, 2003 and any tax benefits of the transfer will be lost if it is not completed by that date. As we have discussed, you will not be required to refund the $282,250 insofar as we can fully recover the expense as a charitable tax deduction, without incurring the additional transaction costs associated with a return of the funds. Additionally, Mr. Besteden has agreed to continue as our Nigerian political advisor for a stipend of $6,500 per month.

Dr. Ntha, to you as our Spiritual Advisor Director Ravinga poses the following questions:

1) Why does God permit suffering in the world?
2) Why does God permit innocent children to die?
3) Why does God not punish wrongdoers on earth?
4) What function do diseases serve in God’s plan?
5) Do evil people ever go to Heaven?

Yours in Christ,

Eva Greer-Jared

Part 57: A True Christian

Who knows? Maybe Dr. Ntha is a true Christian. And he’s hearing voices. But he’s still trying to rip me off for over a million dollars.

I don’t know why Ntha is suddenly concerned about Reverend Swill. When I originally annointed Ntha as Spiritual Advisor, I told him that Swill, an ordained minister, would be asking all the religious questions and that all of Ntha’s future correspondence should be forwarded to him. However, Ntha failed to do this so I ultimately deleted Swill’s AOL screen name. I guess he began to copy him on the correspondence and found that his e-mails were being returned as undeliverable.

Subj: PLEASE GIVE THE PHONE NUMBER OF BESTEDEN.
Date: 5/26/2003 6:51:07 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: akpuntha@xyz.com
To: GreerJared@aol.com
CC: DennisonLeigh@aol.com, RavingAtheist@aol.com, RavingIndustries@aol.com, [John Doe]

Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear Sister Eva, Ravinga, Mrs. Anne Dennison-Leigh.
I welcome you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and praying that God will grant you more zeal to work in his vineyard.

Firstly, Raving Industries percentage remains unchangeable 35%,that is our initial agreement and our word is our bound. and Please for Christ sake give me the phone number of this Besteden as I know he may not call me but this my direct phone number 234-1-8047731, secondly my worries is over since you can deduct the money you mistakenly transferred into a Lloyd account as charitable tax, It is a good news to heart because I was finding it very difficult to initiate you in a transaction you have lost your hard earned money as I know that I cannot lie, see what happens to Gehazi in 2 kings chapter 5 verse1-27 because he lied, if I know these Besteden I could have told you but whereas I don’t know him I cannot compromise my faith because of anything. the only way to solve this problem is for you to give their phone number as I have provided mine but I know that he will not call me as he maybe afraid for impersonating somebody as it is a criminal offence here in Nigeria.

However, my dear brothers/sisters in Christ it will a shameful thing to our Lord for me to compromise my faith because of material thing, I have prayed many times because of this transaction but whenever am praying I will be hearing a voice singing this particular track from Don Meon album for me GOD WILL MAKE A WAY WHEN IT SEEMS TO BE NO WAY. You know that the questions I asked you about my official car to ask Besteden last time you have not given me any response about that, this could have be a better solution for to understand that what am telling you since last week Thursday is nothing but the truth. I DON’T KNOW THIS MAN, but if you can give me his number we will fix a meeting and know each other..

Director Ravinga, regards to your questions
(1)God permit sufferings in the world because of disobedient to his words, suffering is old as the world read the following portions of the bible for more details; Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 1-3,Genesis chapter 5 verse 29,Genesis chapter 3 verse 17-19,Eccleslastes chapter 8 verse 11.

(2)Bible made us to understand that death is transformation and it is debt that everybody has to pay read the following portions of the bible for more explanation, Aisia chapter 35 verses 10,Revelation chapter 17 verse 17,1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 52.

(3) Before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, God punishes the wrongdoers on earth but after our Lord came and died for our sins God prepares a hell fire for the wrongdoers.

(4) Diseases do not serve any function in Gods plan.

(5) Heaven is prepared for the righteous, so evil people will not enter into it rather they evil people have their portions in lake of fire. Read Revelation chapter 21 verse 4.

Please for Christ sake give me the phone number of Besteden so that we can resolve all this dispute as you resolve dispute only with the person you know or you can go ahead and send the money US$1,375000.00 to the HSBC account and we will proceed as we initial planed.

How about Rev. Swil?

I await your very urgent response,

Yours in Christ,
Brother Ntha

Part 58: Party’s Over?

I give Dr. Ntha the kiss-off. I tell him he’s lost everything and his worst enemy will continue on our payroll. Will he continue to answer my questions?

Subj: Termination of Agreement
Date: 5/28/2003 4:03:47 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: GreerJared
To: akpuntha@xyz.com, drakpuntha@xyz.com, [John Doe’
CC: Raving Atheist, RavingIndustries, RevSwill, DennisonLeigh

To: Dr. Akpuntha Ntha
Mr. Vincent Obiazor

cc: Mr. Christopher Besteden

Gentlemen,

Pursuant to my e-mail of 26 May 2003, the NEPA transaction is hereby terminated for your failure to comply with the conditions precedent. As agreed, please destroy all documents relating to our negotiations.

Mr. Besteden, this confirms that your account for the purposes of your monthly stipend has been changed to into Lloyds TSB Bank, Checking Preferred Type 1 (Beneficiary: C. S. Besteden).

Dr. Ntha, insofar as you have continued to direct your correspondence to me I have been forwarding the theological questions of all members of the Directorate to you. Since we have now concluded the business part of our relationships you may henceforth send your answers directly to him. He has asked me, however, to forward the following questions to you (please respond to RevSwill@aol.com):

1) Do Jesus, Mary and God always know what each other is thinking?
2) Do Jesus, Mary and God talk to each other, or communicate with thought waves?
3) Are Jesus, Mary and God together at all times?
4) If not, do they set up special meetings to discuss important matters?
5) Where do Jesus, Mary and God meet to discuss things, if they do hold meetings?

Yours in Christ,

Eva Greer-Jared

UPDATE (6/5/03): The saga continues here.

10 Responses to “The Nigerian Scam Meets the Raving Atheist (Part VII)”

1. carsten thadden
   May 29th, 2003 @ 2:24 am

   Yawn. Not again! Who has the time to read this fluff? Too long. This endless and mind-numbing correspondence with the Nigerian crook feels like the atheist version of purgatory.

2. Kafkaesqu
   May 29th, 2003 @ 1:13 pm

   What, did the back button on your browser vanish when the page here loaded, CT? Or is it just one of those Thursdays?

3. Kafkaesqu
   May 29th, 2003 @ 1:13 pm

   What, did the back button on your browser vanish when the page here loaded, CT? Or is it just one of those Thursdays?

4. Kafkaesqu
   May 29th, 2003 @ 1:13 pm

   What, did the back button on your browser vanish when the page here loaded, CT? Or is it just one of those Thursdays?

5. Kafkaesqu
   May 29th, 2003 @ 1:13 pm

   What, did the back button on your browser vanish when the page here loaded, CT? Or is it just one of those Thursdays?

6. Kafkaesqu
   May 29th, 2003 @ 1:13 pm

   What, did the back button on your browser vanish when the page here loaded, CT? Or is it just one of those Thursdays?

7. Kafkaesqu
   May 29th, 2003 @ 1:13 pm

   What, did the back button on your browser vanish when the page here loaded, CT? Or is it just one of those Thursdays?

8. The Raving Atheist
   May 29th, 2003 @ 3:14 pm

   KAFKA: You don’t understand. In this mechanistic atheistic universe, CT has no free choice. And even if he did, as an atheist I would intolerantly compel him to think what I think by forcing him to read what I write.

9. carsten thadden
   May 29th, 2003 @ 6:43 pm

   Alright, but what I want is the ruthless, merciless savaging of the three monotheistic religions (especfially Christianity, for which my hatred is boundless). I WANT BLOOD!

10. carsten thadden
    May 29th, 2003 @ 10:34 pm

    1) Do Jesus, Mary and God always know what each other is thinking?
    2) Do Jesus, Mary and God talk to each other, or communicate with thought waves?
    3) Are Jesus, Mary and God together at all times?
    4) If not, do they set up special meetings to discuss important matters?
    5) Where do Jesus, Mary and God meet to discuss things, if they do hold meetings?

    I have often mused about those very issues myself; alas, the answer to those questions cannot be found in the Bible (gulp!), as I