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 o ...

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 frau ...

, 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
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Works about begging letters

The May 1850 edition of '' Household Words'' contained an article entitled ''The Begging-Letter Writer'' written by the

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

. 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 Beggar ''Silly BeggarThe World's Stupidest Begging Letters'' is a book by Scottish author James Spence. The book was published on 14 May 2009 by Aurora Metro, and is a collection of comedy begging letters sent to companies, together with the replie ...

The 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 Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

Hovis Hovis Ltd is a British company that produces flour and bread. The brand originated in Stoke-on-Trent and was first mass-produced in Macclesfield, Cheshire, in 1886. It became part of Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM) in 1962 after a succession of merge ...

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer St ...

and Starbucks.

References

External links

''The Begging-Letter Writer''
by

Definition at The Free Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Begging letter Writing Letters (message) Paper products

Letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...