It sure sounded good. I’m talking about the inheritance letter I received from a lawyer (Peter Greenwood from Eastcote, London, England), which began, “I am the legal representative to the late J. Jenkins, an American national who herein shall be referred to as my late client.”
Now let’s see, my father was J. Jenkins and before him was my grandfather who was J. Jenkins. (In fact, I just counted and I immediately came up with seven J. Jenkins related to me). I was somewhat disillusioned when I learned of the death of J. Jenkins in March 2006—I hadn’t heard about it, but who keeps up with all their relatives!
The letter told me that the “late J. Jenkins” had left an estate of $7,500,000 and Mr. Greenwood wanted to help me get the money. What a great guy! I’m not sure how he decided that he should contact me, seeing that there are 236,264 other Jenkinses in the U.S. and 52,608 in Great Britain, but this certainly seemed to be my lucky day. Mr. Greenwood then wrote, “I want you to consider this proposal. If you grant your consent that I present you to the bank as the next-of-kin and beneficiary of my deceased client since you share the same surname as my late client . . .” What a gracious lawyer. He certainly seems to so interested in helping me. The rest of the sentence added, “then we can share the entire proceeds on a mutually agreed-upon percentage.” I just can’t imagine why lawyers have such a bad reputation!
What followed was the most amazing part of the letter, “All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us to see this transaction through.” Honest cooperation!!! The letter reeks of a scam and he wants me to be honest! What a commentary on all that is in this world!
So many Bible verses come to mind. “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. . . . Provide things honest in the sight of all men . . . Therefore, putting away lying. Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor . . . For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil . . .” (Luke 12:15; Rom. 12:17; Eph. 4:25; 1 Tim. 6:1). The verse which seems to be most fitting is Rev. 21:8, “. . . all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Truly, there is no honor among thieves!