When I was a kid I loved to write.  I wrote a lot of poetry and fostered dreams of becoming a published poet and writer, so you can imagine how I jumped at the chance for publication when I found an ad for a poetry contest in the newspaper.  I composed a poem and whisked it off to them.  I soon received a flattering letter about how good my poetry was and how they wanted to publish it in their anthology.  They sent me an offer to buy the book in advance at a discount, but I decided instead to wait until it was published before I bought it.   From time to time I would visit their website to check on the status of my poems.  Yes…I sent them even more poems for future anthologies.  I was waiting to be published in the book, at least one book, before I ordered a copy.  But the publication dates kept getting pushed back and the names of the anthologies I was to be published in kept changing.  My work has been posted at their site for six years and I’m still waiting to see my work published in one of the Poetry.com anthologies.

A few years after I submitted my poetry I learned of the scam when I came across an online article that informed me that Poetry.com is a fraud publishing organization.   It accepts 100% of applicants as 'Semi-finalists' in their 'international poetry competition' and sends a letter to the poor victims. The letter is full of flattery saying that you are a wonderful poet and the 'sectional committee' or 'panel of judges' has decided your poetry is good enough to be published. They ask a 'modest' payment of $50 plus extra if you want a copy of the book with your poem. They publish only those who pay, and six thousand poems per book at $50-$75 a poem with 60 books published a year is a lot of money.

Flattered writers are quick to pay money and order the book they were featured in. After a time another message comes saying their poetry was good enough to be read on a CD and asks them to go to an expensive winning writers’ convention. It's all to leach more money from those that haven't discovered they've been scammed. They have been scamming people since 1996 and continue to do so!  The truth is that Poetry.com does NOT publish your work if you do not pay for the book, and they publish 50+ books a year and do NOT sell them anywhere other than to the victims of their scam.  Check out  http://www.eliteskills.com/writing_scams/poetry.com.scam.php.

I have friends and acquaintances who like me have almost fallen victim to the scam, but they didn’t have the money to dish out.  I know of talented young people who are promising young poets that unknowingly send their work to Poetry.com with dreams of publication dancing in their eyes.  What kind of people would be cruel enough to crush their dreams and pull the carpet right out from underneath their dancing feet?  Such people prey on the dreams of young people like wolves in sheep’s clothing.

I have a friend who is a Private Investigator by trade.  He has accumulated documents and letters from Nigerian scams.  They are letters coming from overseas, many from the African nation of Nigeria but some come from China or Great Britain concerning a wealthy foreigner who needs help moving millions of dollars from his homeland and promises a hefty percentage of this fortune as a reward for assisting him.  These letters go something like:

REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP

FIRST, I MUST SOLICIT YOUR STRICTEST CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION. THIS IS BY VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL AND 'TOP SECRET'. I AM SURE AND HAVE CONFIDENCE OF YOUR ABILITY AND RELIABILITY TO PROSECUTE A TRANSACTION OF THIS GREAT MAGNITUDE INVOLVING A PENDING TRANSACTION REQUIRING MAXIIMUM CONFIDENCE.

WE ARE TOP OFFICIAL OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACT REVIEW PANEL WHO ARE INTERESTED IN IMPORATION OF GOODS INTO OUR COUNTRY WITH FUNDS WHICH ARE PRESENTLY TRAPPED IN <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />NIGERIA. IN ORDER TO COMMENCE THIS BUSINESS WE SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE TO ENABLE US TRANSFER INTO YOUR ACCOUNT THE SAID TRAPPED FUNDS.

THE SOURCE OF THIS FUND IS AS FOLLOWS; DURING THE LAST MILITARY REGIME HERE IN NIGERIA, THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SET UP COMPANIES AND AWARDED THEMSELVES CONTRACTS WHICH WERE GROSSLY OVER-INVOICED IN VARIOUS MINISTRIES. THE PRESENT CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT SET UP A CONTRACT REVIEW PANEL AND WE HAVE IDENTIFIED A LOT OF INFLATED CONTRACT FUNDS WHICH ARE PRESENTLY FLOATING IN THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA READY FOR PAYMENT.

HOWEVER, BY VIRTUE OF OUR POSITION AS CIVIL SERVANTS AND MEMBERS OF THIS PANEL, WE CANNOT ACQUIRE THIS MONEY IN OUR NAMES. I HAVE THEREFORE, BEEN DELEGATED AS A MATTER OF TRUST BY MY COLLEAGUES OF THE PANEL TO LOOK FOR AN OVERSEAS PARTNER INTO WHOSE ACCOUNT WE WOULD TRANSFER THE SUM OF US$21,320,000.00(TWENTY ONE MILLION, THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND U.S DOLLARS). HENCE WE ARE WRITING YOU THIS LETTER. WE HAVE AGREED TO SHARE THE MONEY THUS; 1. 20% FOR THE ACCOUNT OWNER 2. 70% FOR US (THE OFFICIALS) 3. 10% TO BE USED IN SETTLING TAXATION AND ALL LOCAL AND FOREIGN EXPENSES. IT IS FROM THE 70% THAT WE WISH TO COMMENCE THE IMPORTATION BUSINESS.

PLEASE,NOTE THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS 100% SAFE AND WE HOPE TO COMMENCE THE TRANSFER LATEST SEVEN (7) BANKING DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THE RECEIPT OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATIOM BY TEL/FAX; 234-1-7740449, YOUR COMPANY'S SIGNED, AND STAMPED LETTERHEAD PAPER THE ABOVE INFORMATION WILL ENABLE US WRITE LETTERS OF CLAIM AND JOB DESCRIPTION RESPECTIVELY. THIS WAY WE WILL USE YOUR COMPANY'S NAME TO APPLY FOR PAYMENT AND RE-AWARD THE CONTRACT IN YOUR COMPANY'S NAME.

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING THIS BUSINESS WITH YOU AND SOLICIT YOUR CONFIDENTIALITY IN THIS TRANSATION. PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE THE RECEIPT OF THIS LETTER USING THE ABOVE TEL/FAX NUMBERS. I WILL SEND YOU DETAILED INFORMATION OF THIS PENDING PROJECT WHEN I HAVE HEARD FROM YOU.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

DR CLEMENT OKON

NOTE; PLEASE QUOTE THIS REFERENCE NUMBER (VE/S/09/99) IN ALL YOUR RESPONSES. 

More on the email schemes and schemers can be found at www.potifos.com/fraud/.  The worst part about this type of fraud is that they prey on the elderly.  Sixty percent of fraud victims are seniors and many of them die within eighteen months of being victimized.  I know the type of people looking to land a golden egg in their golden years and have had to steer them away from becoming victims to the sinister machinations of con men who walk about like wolves in sheep’s clothing.