The Fear of God

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Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 12:08 pm

Baiters note. I just finished a semester at school when I received this scam letter and figured I would have some fun with him. But then I figured, as fun as this is, it is a distraction from other things I would rather do and so I ended it early. I wanted to do some good though so I left him with a mesage from God, that I pray God will bring to his mind often as he tries to scam people. Ultimately I pray he really gets converted one day. This is my first time responding to a scammer.

I realize probably most on this site are not Christian, so this could be offensive to you in some way too. So be warned. It is the truth as I understand it from the bible though.

November 15th 2006

FROM BEN BUTEH
ben buteh <[email protected]>
In Cote D'Ivoire

Dear,

I am writting you this letter with due respect and heart full of tears I
need your help, I got your name and contact from a trust-worthy person who
assured me of your integrity and that you will help me to transfer this
money,
I am the only Son of late Mr and Mrs Buteh. My father was a very Rich and
wealthy Gold Trader in Monrovia the Capital of republic of Liberia in West
Africa ,I want to let you know that my father was poisoned by his business
associates while my mother died when i am little and my father took me so
special because I am his only son. before the death of my father on 10th May
2006 in a hospital here in cote d'ivoire, he told me that has the sum of
(Five Million u.s dollars ) which he deposited in a bank here in Cote
D'ivoire. he made this money from the sales of Gold, He also told me that it
was because of this money he was poisoned by his business patners while on a
business trip with them and he instructed me to look for a foreign partner
who will help me transfer this money out of republic of Cote Divoire and
invest it for me, my purpose of contacting you is for you to help transfer
this money to your country before this people who kill my father will kill
me , this people who kill my father are after my life and they want to kill
me and

collect the this money from me , that is why I'm now hiding my self herein
republic of Cote Divoire so that they will not see me, please ineed
yoururgent help, Tell me how much percentage you will take in the total
money of the $five, Million Dolars to help me in transfering this money to
your bank but you have to assure me that you will help me fully to transfer
the money to your account , l hope you will not betray the trust i have on
you because this money is my only hope in this life ,and moreover you will
also help me to come over to your country were i will settel down for my
life and invest this money for me. i can assure you there is No regrate in
helping me, this money is an inheritance from my late father,

I Await your reply,
Greetings to you and your Family

Ben Buteh

---

November 15th 2006

Hi Mr. Ben Buteh,

I am very sorry to hear about your father. No amount of money can compare to your loss.

I realize the situation you are in must be very difficult. I can't even imagine. I think I can help you, but I don't want to take advantage of your situation. I'm not sure what a fair percentage would be to ask. Did you have a number in mind?

How soon would you be looking to come to the United States? Are the men after you connected to the government there at all? Would you be able to apply for a visa to come here?

Talk to you soon.

Your friend,
Carson

Oh, P.S. Who was the friend who passed my name on to you? I know a few people in Liberia.

---

Mr Carson,

thanks for your reply and your concern about me
everything i told you is real and legal,there is no problem in helping ,
the money is my inheritance from my late father.
please promise me you are not going to change your mind when bank
transfer this money to your bank,

about the percentage, i did not have any number in mind but i think it will
not be a problem between you and me, you can tell me how much
you want to take but to make sure that the money is safely tranfer to your
bank.
i want to come to United States as soon as this money is transfer
to your bank,the men who are looking after me are not connected to the
government,
there are my late fathers relatives, they want to make sure that i die
so that they can take this money, already they have taken some of my late
fathers
belongings and they want to take this money from me and kill me so that
there will not be anybody
living in my fathers house., that is why i am hiding here in cote divoire.
so i am not in liberia now,
presently i am in cote divoire where my father deposited this money in the
bank.

about how i get visa, i do not know how to get it but i have my
international passport
concerning the person who gave me your contact, he told me that you can be
trusted ,
he said that you are a GOD fearing man,i hope you are like what ther person
told me you are?
i will tell you the peson when i come
to the states because the person is my only security for now, if anything
happen to my
money i will hold him responsible.

i want you to do the folling thing for me,
1 i want you to look for a good business where you will put this money
2 i want you to look for a good school where i will continue my study
3 send me your direct telephone number and your address so i can go to the
bank
and tell them to contact you.
i await your reply
Ben Buteh

---

November 17, 2006 7:02 PM

Mr Carson,

i replied your mail but why you do not mail me back? i beleive you can
help me in this situation

i await your reply
Ben Buteh

---

November 17th

Hi Mr. Buteh,

Sorry for not getting back to you till now. I was away on another business matter. Hopefully if all works out well between you and I, we will be doing business together soon and I can quit my job.

Because you seem quite keen and ready to do business, I almost quit today, but I wanted to check with you one final time before I do that. Please be honest with me about your intention because the future livelihood of my family depends on it. If you want to go ahead with this I will quit tomorrow because otherwise I don't think I will have the time to help you adequately. My work keeps me too busy.

Hope to hear back from you soon.

Sincerely,
Carson

---

November 18th 2006

Carson,

i received your mail and i hea what you said, and i do not come to hurt you
or to put you and your family in troble
everything am telling you is real and legal. i have sufered a lot since the
death of my father and my later fathers ungodly relatives want to kill me to
have this
money to enrich themselves that is why i dont want to live here again or to
invest the money here in africa. so when bank transfer the money to
your bank i want you to look a good business where you will invest the money
because i dont know
anthing about invetment as i am 19 years of age now.

please if you know the kind help which you can render to your family
extend to me, i will not disapoint you , i will not put you in troble,
i will be hoest and faithful to you as my parents.

i want you to send me your direct telephone number and your address so i can
go to bank and submit it and explain you in the bank and
i will tell the bank to contact you.
please promise me that you are not going to change your mind when bank
transfer this money to your bank

i await your reply
Ben

---

November 19th 2006

Mr. Ben Buteh (or whatever your name is).

I was not sure how I should write this but I feel God has directed me.

You made a fool of me today. I went to quit my job and my boss laughed at me and said I was such a sucker for falling for your Nigerian scam.

After doing some searching on the internet, I realized he was right. Your story is like a thousand others. So the following is what I felt God would have me say to you. I will quote scripture so you know it's not just coming from me. Do yourself a favor and read the whole message.

Don't be fooled. The first thing you should know is God hates you.

Psalms 5:5-6
5. The boastful shall not stand before Thine eyes;
Thou dost hate all who do iniquity.
6. Thou dost destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

You have greatly sinned against God, breaking the following commandments for starters:

9th commandment = Exodus 20:16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor".
This means you shall not lie.
Revelation 21:8 says "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

8th commandment = Exodus 20:15 "You shall not steal."
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10. nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

5th commandment = Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder".
Maybe your saying to yourself now, "Hey I haven't murdered anyone". But hear the words of Jesus ""You have heard that it was said to those of old, `You shall not murder,' and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. 22. "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, `Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, `You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. (Matthew 5:21-22).
1 John 3:15 says "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him".
You have certainly hated me. You would have me quit my job, endangering the welfare of my family, and then plan to rip me off. If that's not total self-centeredness and hatred, I don't know what is.
Again Revelation 21:8 states "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

10th commandment = Exodus 20:17 says "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's".
Psalm 10:3 says "For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth". (KJV)
Romans 1:28-32 says "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29. being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30. backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31. undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32. who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

3rd commandment = Exodus 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain".
Every time you mentioned God to me in your letter, just so I would think you were a true Christian and thus trust you so you could rob my money, You used God's name in vain and He will not hold you guiltless.

1st commandment = Exodus 20:3 says "You shall have no other gods before Me".
This means you shall put God first in your affections. This means that you live for and serve Him above all else, including money and power and whatever else you are after.
Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money)".

The Greatest commandment = Matthew 22:37-38 "And He said to him, "`You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and foremost commandment".

The second greatest commandment = Matthew 22:39 "The second is like it, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself".

And you have no doubt broken all the other commandments in one way or another too, but no matter. You have broken plenty to earn to an extra hot place in Hell.

Consider the following scriptures:

Matthew 10:28 "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell".

Matthew 25:41-46 "41. "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, `Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42. `for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43. `I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' 44. "Then they also will answer Him, saying, `Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' 45. "Then He will answer them, saying, `Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46. "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.''

Romans 2:4-9 "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5. But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6. who "will render to each one according to his deeds'': 7. eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8. but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath, 9. tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;

So why did I take all the time to look these passages up and write them down for you?
It's because Jesus has told me "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45. "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust". (Matthew 5:44-45)

So while you would have me quit my job, making me and my family suffer, then plan to rip me off, it is out of love and concern for your soul that I have taken the time to write all this.

I don't want to be like Jonah who fled from pronouncing judgment on Nineveh, because he was afraid they might see the real danger they were in, and repent to have God's wrath averted. God got him there anyway, he preached, the people repented and God had compassion on them.

Your only hope to avoid God's just wrath upon you is to repent of your scamming self-centered ways, turning to God, begging His mercy and forgiveness and then endeavoring to trust and follow Christ the rest of you life.

Matthew 16:21-27 "From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!'' 23. But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.''
24. Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25. "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26. "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27. "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

You are going to be in a world of hurt my friend. You are living for money (at the expense of others) for this fleeting temporary life only, but you are so stupid. You are going to pay for it in the next life which will last for all eternity. You think this is a joke. Just wait and see.

Your enemy who loves you,
Carson

---

November 21, 2006

carson
what do you mean by scam?
explain to me
ben

---

Ben,

Did you read my entire previous message?

---

Carson
i read your mail and i understand your mail because it is advice you are giving to me as my father, i was brought up in christian family , and the bible told me in ecclesiastic 9 vs10 that the fear of the lord is the begging of wisdom. so all you told me is an advise which a father can give his child.
but i dont understand what you mean by scam, that is why i ask you to explain to me, i hope the scam you are talking about will not disturb my money whne bak transfer it to your bank.
i awit your reply
ben

---

November 22nd 2006

Ben,

I am saddened by your reply. I now know all about your 419, advance fee fraud scam. I will not be your "mugu". I had prayed that maybe my strong response to you before might jar you to your senses, but seeing that you deny any scam, you have obviously not repented. Of course you still can repent, but with the rejection of such a strong message (really from God), you have only seared your conscience that much more. You have only treasured up that much more wrath for yourself for the "Day of Wrath" (Romans 2:5). Maybe your thinking, I can always repent later and Jesus will forgive me, and technically your might be right (if you don't die sooner than you expect). Pragmatically you are most likely wrong though, because your heart is deceived into taking this matter lightly, it is not likely to change. Rather through your rejection to repent now you are reinforcing your own deception.

So I give you another chance right now to consider the path of you eternal soul.

2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19. that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. 21. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 6:1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2. For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.'' Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Hebrews 10:28-31 Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30. For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.'' And again, "The Lord will judge His people.'' 31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

I hope to hear good news from you Ben. I am willing to help you through counseling via e-mail if you would like. But don't waist your time or mine trying to continue with any kind of scam, because I will never send you 1 cent.

Gods grace to you,
Carson

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:35 pm

Presbeuo.

I must start out by saying that I am agnostic, however I do not deny anyone the right to their own faith, my mother is a commited christian. That being said, it is not necessary to hold to a faith, to have an ethical/moral sense.

Outside of this forum I am a member of St. John Ambulance in the UK, our joint mottos are "Pro Fide", Pro Utilitate Hominum". Whilst I am not "For The Faith" I believe wholeheartedly in trying to act "For the benefit of Mankind".

I congratulate you on your patience & forebearance with this lad & I hope that he takes your comments to heart. He most assuredly has NOT been acting for the benefit of mankind, but in his own selfish interest & I am sure that there are others on this forum who will show him the error of his ways if he persists in his present course of action (I may well have a crack at him myself).

My opening statement notwithstanding, I have always taken two aphorisms from the Judeo/Christian religions, Love thy neighbour as thyself & As ye sow, so shall ye reap. This lad has sown the wind, now he shall reap the whirlwind!

All the very best in your studies.

Chin chin

Gussie

PS. for more information about St. John Ambulance, see here:-

http://www.sja.org.uk/

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 6:23 pm

Good job.... most of these lads are HARDCORE christians at home and this is one of the few ways you can actually get to them.... though it probably won't make him stop I guarantee he felt a twinge of guilt when he read it... much more effective then threatening them.

Good show!

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 2:05 am

Hi there Gussie and General,

Thank you both for your responses.

Gussie, please let me know how it goes if you take Ben up. I was hoping someone would.

That's great that you work with St. John Ambulance. I checked out the site and it looks like a great way to serve our fellow man.

In the Christian / Agnostic department, my Father is also an agnostic and often displays more ethics in certian area's than many Christian's I know. From my perspective though we all fall short of what we were created to be and what we are called to be. At the same time we all have many good aspects that are commendable as well.

Take care and please do let me know how it goes with Ben if you follow up with Him.

Regards,
Presbeuo

P.S. What does "Chin chin" mean?

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 9:08 am

Presbeuo.

My alias for this site is a character from P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves & Wooster books, set in the 1920's/30's. My character is a friend of Bertie Wooster (the main character), with an unusual fascination for Newts. Chin chin was a contempory variation on "Cheers", (also Pip pip etc).

Cheers

Gussie