Most importantly, I did respond to Frank Adege. Even though he talks like a Christian, believe me he is not. Beware of wolves in sheeps clothing! Here is how his scam works. After several emails back and forth where he pretends to want to make a donation of $2.5M to your favoritie Christian charity he writes you an email stating that certain fees have to be paid to “effect the transfer.” Of course, that is where one expects the scam. But, instead he states that the Lord has worked it out and that a wealthy Christian businessman by the name of Peter Beimo will pay the fees. After receiving such an email I actually received a check from Peter Beimo in the amount of $120,670 along with a letter saying that I had to call a certain telephone number to confirm receipt of the check. Still, that wasn’t the scam. No one answered the telephone at first, but shortly after I received an email from Frank saying to go ahead and deposit the check. Once the check cleared I was supposed to wire out the fees so the donation could be made. The letter also mentioned that the check was written off the account of one of his vendors, in this case, Norman Supply Co of Oklahoma. Instead of depositing the check I called the the bank listed on the check who, in turn, called Norman Supply. It turned out that the check was a perfect forgery. If I had deposited that check into my account it would have cleared. And, after I had wired out the same amount to where Frank Adege would tell me it needed to go, only weeks later would the check be proven to be a forgery. My guess is that I would then have been liable for the money and Frank and his cohorts would have gotten away scott free. I called the FBI, but in a nut shell they told me that the email address in Nigeria, as well as all the phone numbers given are virtually untraceable. So the moral of the story: The old adage, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is” is proven once again. And, just because someone talks of repentance does not mean it truly has occurred. Of course, that is not for us to judge, but again, we must be wise as serpents and harmless as doves!

On a somewhat related note, Nigeria is apparently cracking down on spam: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/10/19/nigeria.crime.reut/index.html

Now if only Hong Kong, India, um, God, etc. would do the same!

Um, no. Benny Hinn and his ilk are charlatans who prey upon the faith of the sick and desperate. Not only is that not worthy of our appreciation and respect, it deserves our condemnation.