According to the e-mail, the 64-year-old Wilson, whose late husband left her a fortune, was diagnosed with cancer 7 years ago.

“I have been touched by God to donate from what i have inherited from my late husband for the good work of God, rather than allow my relatives to use my husband hard earned funds ungodly,” the e-mail plea read (grammar errors uncorrected). “Please pray that the good Lord forgive me my sins. I have asked God to forgive me and i believe he has because He is a merciful God.”

Wilson went on to say that she had decided to will us her fortune for the good work of the Lord, despite her family’s objections. All we had to do was contact her lawyer in the Netherlands by e-mail and we’d have all the money we ever needed to “extend the good work to others” and “do a specific good work.”

In addition to all that Christian-y language, the e-mail even quoted the admonition in James 1:27 that Christians should look after children and widows in their distress.

Unfortunately for Jennifer Wilson, I read the rest of that passage in James that says Christians are to “keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” And as godly as some of the language in her e-mail sounded, this “Jennifer Wilson” is clearly engaged in the rapidly-expanding worldly practice of e-mail fraud.

Dating back to the early 1990s in e-mail form, this type of confidence scam is now commonly referred to as the 419 Scam or Nigerian Letter Fraud. During that time, the oil-based economy of Nigeria started going downhill and the scams started popping up.

According the Wikipedia, the schemers originally contacted heads of companies and church officials by fax or mail. The use of e-mail spam developed later and has allowed spammers to reach more private citizens.

A typical letter claims to come from a person needing to transfer large sums of money out of the country. As the Nigerian letter has become well known to potential targets, the gangs operating the scams have developed other variations.

The targets are often told that they are the beneficiaries of an inheritance or are invited to impersonate the beneficiary of an unclaimed estate. Sounds a lot like the letter we got.

Once the “mark” responds to the e-mail, he/she might be encouraged to transfer large sums of money to the sender as a loan or provide bank account information. Often official looking documents are even provided to support the claims. Once the “mark” is hooked, “problems” keep arising and more and more money is requested.

The results are never positive but the fraud continues because people are falling for it. Ultrascan Advanced Global Investigations, a Netherlands-based company that tracks fraud, estimates that over $28 billion has been lost to these scams since their origination. The company also reported an estimated loss of $3.8 billion in 2006, with a 3 percent growth in perpetrators in the same year.

What is especially malicious about the religious-toned e-mail fraud is that it attempts to manipulate the heartstrings of compassionate, caring, honest Christian recipients by tempting greed. By using Christian language and quoting Bible verses, the scammers are hoping to build trust with anyone who might respond.

As with all other worldly temptations, the Scriptures and common sense both have something to say about protection from fraud and greed.

Common sense says, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Fortunately, the Internet has proven to be a powerful tool to research these kinds of e-mail requests. 

The most common practical advice against e-mail fraud manipulation includes: keeping your e-mail information as private as possible, deleting all unsolicited e-mail, and reporting any cases of fraud to government agencies (forward messages to spam@uce.gov).

Luke 12:15 says, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Con artists playing on the good intentions of Christian people are nothing new. But e-mail and the Internet often give them a direct window into homes and businesses across the nation. Exercise discernment, wisdom and good stewardship if you too hear from Jennifer Wilson.