the lowest of the low, for the day

This morning, my mother received a piece of spam which, IMO, is about as low as anybody could possibly go in trying to rip somebody off. Whoever sent this letter is asking for (you know what's coming) help in "redistributing" some funds.

The sender claims to be an American soldier in Iraq, who has been

"SHOT, WOUNDED AND SURVIVED TWO SUICIDE BOMB ATTACKS BY THE SPECIAL GRACE OF GOD, THIS AND OTHER REASONS I WILL MENTION LATER HAS PROMPTED ME TO REACH OUT FOR HELP,"

and has included a "private e-mail address which is my only way of communication."

the background comes complete with :

SOME MONEY IN VARIOUS CURRENCIES WERE DISCOVERED IN BARRELS AT A FARMHOUSE NEAR ONE OF SADDAM‚S OLD PALACES IN TIKRIT-IRAQ DURING A RESCUE OPERATION, AND IT WAS AGREED BY STAFF SGT KENNETH BUFF AND I THAT SOME PART OF THIS MONEY BE SHARED AMONG BOTH OF US BEFORE INFORMING ANYBODY ABOUT IT SINCE BOTH OF US SAW THE MONEY FIRST. THIS WAS QUITE AN ILLEGAL THING TO DO, BUT I TELL YOU WHAT? NO COMPENSATION CAN MAKE UP FOR THE RISK WE HAVE TAKEN WITH OUR LIVES IN THIS HELL HOLE. OF WHICH MY BROTHER IN-LAW WAS KILLED BY A ROAD SIDE BOMB LAST TIME.

For starters, if this were actually written by one of our own, I'd hope somebody kicked the young expletive deleted in the side of the head (whichever one is more effective) and told him to grow up and take responsibility for his own actions. If you are going to steal, don't try to tell me it's because you hate the war. You're going to steal because you're a thief. Square and simple.

But, in reality, it's written probably by some anal aperture in an African country well-known for separating well-meaning middle-class and low-income Americans from their cash. And this time, they're sullying the good name of our soldiers. The sort of person who lies to make our troops look bad is not even worth spitting upon (coughcoughDurbincoughMurthacoughKerrycoughcough).

I've already contacted the feds. And hotmail, the agency which provides e-mail for this character, needs to look into this fraud. I hope these creeps get caught, and somebody rips them a new one... or two...