Tsunami scam letter: SAVING THE LIVES OF AFRICAN CHILDREN(S.L.A.C.) FOUNDATION

Where did this letter come from? This letter came from Italy, not from Africa. I researched all the quotes in the letter and could not verify any of them. For the Machiavelli quote [misspelled 'Makavelli' in the letter] I searched through many sites dedicated to this philosopher and political strategist. Nothing. I was unable to find anything on the Internet about SLAC. I have written for donation instructions. See their reply below. Tsunami references are highlighted in yellow.

SAVING THE LIVES OF AFRICAN CHILDREN(S.L.A.C.) FOUNDATION Dear sir/madam, On behalf of myself and the entire foundation, i am happy to inform you about the recent development on the things this foundation has been doing.Just like our motto, “ Reaching out to the needy”, we help children who are in need especially with the assistance from those outside the African Continent. This Foundation started in the year 2002 in Zambia, and Malawi and it is also well known around the African Continent. Our main objectives as a foundation are as follows; 1. Going around Countries visiting Children that are abandoned in hospitals due to different ailments and diseases, abandoned by roadsides due to lack of money to pay their bills. 2. Taking care of Children that are left behind by parents or guardians either as a result of death or lack of money to take care of them. These same children without parents are as well entitled to educational rights (paying of their school fees as well as feeding). 3. Taking care of children from war torn zones,from disaster stricken areas and making sure that these children are taken away from their immediate environments to environments that are more conducive for healthy mental,cognitive and affective growth. Meanwhile, over the past years, we have been able to record good results while in Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe due to help rendered to us by Corporate Bodies, government parastatals and individuals, we were able to raise and disburse over $1,000,000 to Children of African Countries. it is baffling to note that after the devastating tsunami had swept through Asia and east Africa,all attention was and is still been focused on the Asia continent alone leaving those in east africa to fend for themselves.it is quite sad to note that even african countries donated huge sums of money towards the reconstruction of asia countries while abandoning their sister countries.this is the main reason why we are calling on people,corporate organisations,associations, non-governmental bodies and governments to help us achieve our goal of helping these people,thus our sending you this mail to help these people especially the children. Please, if you are willing to help these people (Children), don’t let it be a burden to you because you are been used as an instrument of God to touch the lives of people who really need your help.your help must not neccesarily be cash;it can be in the form of used clothings and and food items.This foundation will acknowledge the fact that you donated something towards the pursuance of its cause. The Fund raising ceremonies are slated for February 19th, 24th and 28th in Liberia, egypt and south africa. respectively.Due to the destruction that was caused by the tsunami to the eastern part of Africa,we really had no other choice but to help those people affected because as at the time we got there there was only the local red cross society present and they were ill-equipped to handle the situation.Quick funds were needed are still needed to help these people as soon as possible. Please, also kindly help in reaching others with this piece of information especially to those whom you feel are willing to save lives. “where the work is good, the willingness becomes great, the difficulties cannot be great"... Makavelli. “Every noble work is at first impossible”... Joe D. Baker Jr and finally, “the reward for a work well done is usually more work”...Max L. Foreman. Transparency is our watchword. Put a smile on the face of an African Child today. We would appreciate anything you can send to the Children. It would make a lot of difference no matter how small. Thanking you for anticipated help. NB:ALL CORRESPONDENCES SHOULD BE SENT TO helpdonors@excite.com,CC:slac2save@excite.com. HEADS OF COMMITTEE Rev. Bernard Paul Co-ordinator, Director (SLAC Foundation). Pastor Precious O. Osazuwa, Executive Director (SLAC Foundation). Deaconess Mary Okuonghe Secretary (SLAC Foundation). Mr.R.E.Nagudia Accountant(SLAC Foundation).

Where did this letter come from? This reply letter came from who knows where. The Internet was accessed using Gilat Satcom, a satellite phone service out of Israel that is popular with Nigerian scammers. The letter was made to appear as having originated in London, but didn't. See the Time Zone stamp on the Date line below? That's -0800, which is 8 hours West of London, in the Pacific Time Zone.

Please note that this so-called charitable organization wants me to send funds through Western Union. No legitimate charity or non-profit organization operates that way. It is a clear sign of fraud.

Also, this letter was not sent out by the same person who wrote the first letter from Italy (above). He (or she) apologizes for being late in replying; however, the reply was almost immediate. My letter went out at Sun, 20 Feb 2005 21:56:29 -0800 (PST).

dear mrs xxxxxxxxxxx,
i thank you for having replied to the appeal we sent out to people.i am sorry for having not replied earlier it was due to the fact that i was tired due to the exertion resulting from the fundraising that was held in liberia two days ago.yes the SLAC foundation do assist handicapped children which includes the blind.in fact,most of these children are abandoned because of their handicapped nature.we are in the process of building a school for the blind close to our orphanage home in nigeria.We are in the school for the blind project with another foundation(THE SIR DAVID OSUNDE FOUNDATION) in benin city.we will be happy if you can send your funds directly through western union money transfer or money gram to me because i am in charge of the accounts for this combined school for the blind project;
REVEREND BERNARD PAUL,
BENIN CITY,
NIGERIA..
NB:donations more than two thousand dollars($2,000) CANNOT be received by an individual in nigeria because it is illegal due to the laws in place in the country pertaining to transfer of funds.so if the funds are greater than $2,000,you can easily break it up into bits of $2,000 each and send them to me.we would be very grateful if you can do something for this project.the payment slip relating to the tranfer(s) made should please be scanned and sent as attachments to helpprojectblind@excite.com for easy receipt of the funds.hoping to hear from you soonest.
remain blessed,
rev.bernard paul.