Every day I get luckier and luckier. Of course I play the lottery and occasionally have a modest winning ticket. Those winners usually amount to either two-dollars or a free ticket. Not necessarily the stuff dreams are made of. None the less, I endure.
When playing lottery games one must be aware of the ‘odds’ associated therewith. The odds are estimates as to how many tries it should take to win the jackpot in that particular game. The more numbers required to correctly select in order to win, the higher the odds.
One multi-state lottery game requires a player to select five numbers from a choice of 59, plus an extra ball from a choice of 39. The odds of picking all those numbers correctly aren’t as astronomical as one would surmise. Odds are only 1 in 195,249,054. That’s pretty much akin to expecting a visit from Gordon Ramsey, wearing a toga and riding an ostrich, on Thanksgiving.
Unfortunately, those free ticket and two-dollar coups are not making me rich. But, today is my lucky day and I feel compelled to share it with you.
I received an e-mail that promises to change my life. It was from Kwame Ungutari, Minister of Finance in the Republic of Togo.
It seems that Mr. Ungutari got my name and e-mail information from a secret source and feels as though I am trustworthy enough to get involved with a Republic of Togo financial matter.
Mr. Ungutari said that there is $65,000,000 USD in an undisclosed bank account and he needs me to only give him access to my bank account, along with my Social Security Number. He assures me this is on the up-and-up and the money will be transferred to my account, soon. What could possibly go wrong?
Some sort of unforeseen snag occurred, though. Mr. Ungutari needs me to send him a small check for $40,000 for processing and to prove my bank account is, indeed, mine. That seems like a pittance compared to the real money I’ll get from him, for simply giving him a bit of information, “soon.”
Yes, my ship has come in but, don’t think I’m dumb enough to put all my proverbial eggs in one basket. No, I am pleased to announce that I was blessed enough to actually receive another, similar letter from a Mr. Moganda Montonunu, who lives in Zimbabwe. He is the sole heir to an uncle who recently died and left him with $92,540,031 USD that he promised to share if he, too, could use my bank account.
I feel so blessed that Mr. Montonunu also feels I can be trusted with all that money, even without ever meeting me. It's clear there's an overabundance of unclaimed cash on the African continent.
Here’s my public plea: I would like everyone to stop sending me all this money as my bank is pretty small and I’m sure that kind of cash wouldn’t fit inside. Please give your money to other people. Thanks.
