Good grammar is important, whether you’re pitching a story to a journalist or a scam to a dupe.
Here are two examples: how not to and how to. First off, a PR pitch that endangers its credibility with an error in the subject line:
And now, here’s an example of getting it right: A scam that not only illustrates good grammar (right down to the correct use of the singular verb with “couple”) but also how callous scammers are getting:
<…>
The Foundation is non-profit and Our Mission is to facilitate inspiring, meaningful outdoor experiences for youth who suffer life-challenging medical conditions as a result of HIV/AIDS.
We offer new hope and life skills for adjudicated youth, at-risk youth and those with disabilities and dependencies.These adventure programs build esteem, confidence, and character values that help build the foundation for a family and career.
<…>
We have a couple of Donors in CANADA and USA who has pledged but and we need a Payment/Liaison Agent urgently who will among other functions accept funds on our behalf and we will offer 10% of whatever we get in return.
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The scam, by the way, is probably seeking a phisher’s mule: Someone who will allow their bank account to be used for laundering funds obtained from phishing expeditions. But it may also involve attempting to fleece the individual in time-honored 419er tradition.
I’m not suggesting, by the way, that the text is original. It’s lifted from several sources, however, indicating a degree of sophistication on the part of the scammer. Some is from the Tony Semple Foundation for Hope, some from the Wilderness Outdoor Leadership Foundation. (This explains the apparent non-sequitur from the first paragraph to the second.) The scam has used different names for its foundation, each a variation on the organizations whose words it has stolen: for example, the Foundation of Hope and the OutdoorFun Foundation UK. It seems to have been running about a month.