We’ve all gotten those e-mails from Nigeria. Now, here comes one from a Catholic deacon. (No, it’s not me…)

Read on:

Each message was the same. A deacon of the church was stranded in England without his wallet or money, so he needed about $1,200 or more to get home. There was just one problem — the deacon was at home in Buckhannon, W.Va. and having a morning cup of coffee.

The message was another new e-mail scam.

Members of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bluefield and other churches in the state received e-mails from a person impersonating a deacon. In each case, the “deacon” claimed to be stranded and in need of money.

“It was two days ago,” said Bryan Minor, executive director of communications and development for the Diocese Wheeling-Charleston. “I had an e-mail that hit my mobile phone and many other people in the diocese that one of our deacons in Buckhannon was stranded in England and needed approximately $1,300 to get home. In the message it said, ‘Many of you may not know that I went to England for a seminar, and while there I lost my wallet.’”

This plea for assistance, the third of its type diocese members had received, was better than the two previous and very similar attempts, Minor said.

“The message was clearly written, and this was the third message of this type we’ve received in the last year,” he said. “ One was a priest of the diocese and one was a high school principal of the diocese, and in those two messages were obvious spelling mistakes and awkward grammar. These folks we know had received a high degree of education, and you wouldn’t expect them to send such a sloppy message.”

The new message had well-constructed sentences, Minor said. “One thing I did notice was that there were two or three commas in the subject line.”

There’s more at the link.