A begging letter is a letter to a rich person or organisation, usually written by a poor person, or a person claiming to be poor, begging for money or help. Examples of begging letters include a variant of the

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

419 scam An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is one of the most common types of confidence tricks. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the frauds ...

, where a letter is sent to a wealthy individual asking for financial assistance for orphaned children, emergency surgery, etc.Pleas For Charitable Donations and Begging Letters From Nigerian 419 Fraud Scammers on the ''Crimes of Persuasion'' website
/ref>

Works about begging letters

The May 1850 edition of ''

Household Words ''Household Words'' was an English weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens in the 1850s. It took its name from the line in Shakespeare's ''Henry V'': "Familiar in his mouth as household words." History During the planning stages, titles origi ...

'' contained an article entitled ''The Begging-Letter Writer'' written by the novelist Charles Dickens. In the article Dickens describes examples of the many begging letters he had received over the years, and the ruses employed by their writers to gain funds from the recipients. '' Silly BeggarThe World's Stupidest Begging Letters'' is a 2009 book by Scottish author James Spence. It is a collection of comedy letters sent to companies, together with the replies and images of items the sender received. Letters included in the book were sent to such companies as Shell, Hovis, Boots and

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

References

External links

''The Begging-Letter Writer''
by Charles Dickens
Definition at The Free Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Begging letter Writing Letters (message) Paper products Letters