Who is Anthony De Croud?
Anthony De Croud is a phenomenon. He’s the “missionary” who purportedly originated the chain-email that I wrote about in my recent posting Incredible Luck Guaranteed To Millions For Almost No Effort!
But is he real?
He’s certainly a popular guy. Google “anthony de croud” and Google will tell you there’s 20,600 pages out there that mention him. From the ones I read, it’s clear that virtually all the pages refer to the chain letters that have been circulating the world for years. Anthony (and the chain letter that bears his name) are clearly global, and thousands of the postings are in other languages.
Here are some examples:
In German: Wer ist überhaupt ‘Anthony de Croud’? Ein Holländer, ein Engländer, ein Franzose oder gar ein Chinese?
In Italian: La fortuna viene dal Venezuela ed è stata scritta da Anthony de Croud,missionario dell’Africa del Sud.
In Portuguese/English (a mixture of the two): Not fim diz that to letter foi commanded by Anthony De Croud, um missionário gives to Africa do Sul. Agora missionários you andam to ameaçar ace pessoas? Máfia Style? “Offer ace letters senão perdes or emprego and to tua family sofre”.
In Solvenian: TO POŠTO JE PRVI? POSLAL ANTHONY DE CROUD, MISIONAR IZ JUŽNE AFRIKE. PRED IZTEKOM 96 UR MORAŠ TO POŠTO POSLATI DALJE. TVOJA SRE?A BO PRIŠLA ?EZ 4 DNI,
and In Albanian (I kid you not): Fati do te preke per 4 dite qe nga marrja e kesaj letre. Fati vjen nga Venezuela dhe kjo leter eshte shkruar nga Anthony De Croud , misionar ne Afriken e Jugut. Tani eshte rradha jote qe ta ritransmetosh .
Mos dergo para , por vetem kopje te kesaj letre , te gjithe atyre qe kane nevoje per fat.
My impression is that the vast majority of mentions are Chinese (or Korean of Japanese), but I have no doubt I could find references in Russian, Arabic, Hebrew and Urdu if I kept on surfing through the Google pages. Anthony gets around. I even (accidentally) stumbled into references to him on a self-publishing web site that was awash with conspiracy theory content.
Back in Time
Traveling back in time I found references to the Anthony De Croud chain letter as early as year 2000 on (I think) an Italian web site where the chain letter hadn’t yet acquired its “Chinese proverb”. Apart from the stories in the current letter, it also had some other “good luck” stories, including:
- An RAF officer received $470. (Mild good luck)
- Joe Elliot received 4 thousand dollars and he lost it because he broke the chain (a cautionary tale).
- In the Philippines Dinners Wollaha lost his wife 51 days after receipt of the letter. He had circulated the letter and before death he received 7 thousand dollars. (I’m really confused by this one – was he lucky or not or did he break even??).
- Don Peulchile received the letter and threw it away and in nine days he was dead (if he’d kept it he’d have become immortal).
And as for Anthony De Croud, this early version precedes him. It “comes from Venezuela and was written by St. Antonio De Group, un missionario del Sud Africa”. There is also a version authored by Barman de Croud (a missionary of Bergamo Alta). It is possible that Anthony De Croud’s name evolved from one of these two. (Note he is not related at all to Don Vanuchi, who inhabits a 419 scam rather than a chain letter. They went to different schools together.)
By the way, if you want the url AnthonyDeCroud.com, it’s currently available. I checked, but I didn’t buy it.
Also note: Anthony De Croud is closely related to Pearlas Sandborn.
And: Chinese Chain Letter, Anthony De Croud and Pearlas Sandborn, a comment on the popularity of these postings.
Searching a Anthony de group chain letter I came on this message. The Corelation ???? who knows.
Good Fortune is not by chance, but can be found and received.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And all these things will be added unto you.
Replies to Malbarmu@xtra.co.nz
Thanks for your research.
i just read one.. it was sent as a msg from my one of my friends in QQ.. its Chinese
I just received one of these emails. I’ve decided not to forward it to anyone.
If I die as a result of this inaction, remember me as the one who broke the chain.
I may have deprived millions good luck, but I’ve also saved terabytes of data on countless servers
We all admire your courage. Should some terrible accident befall you, we will mourn for you.
Imagine an email sent in 1953, 1960 and other years predating the internet…
We all admire your courage
@Jesper
LOL it was forwarded around the world in bottles via seas and oceans!
Ahh youth, ones who forget that we used to write and send chain letters out before emails.
What a load of rubbish – you think that in all the time this tripe has been circulating you can only find 4 examples of a result? Come on. Surely if it was
real there would be thousands of messages everywhere exclaiming good fortune.
If you really think this is in any way legitimate you are a bonafide idiot.
In 1953 there no country’s lottery was worth $99million – wake up.
I just got this letter. The only one who can give us what we need,if it is good for us,is God the Almighty. He has promised us ( God cant lie!)everything through his son Jesus Christ,life, health, wisdom and even eternal life!You just have to say YES to Jesus and invite him into your heart. He is knocking at your door. open it and He will come in and really change your life! This I can guaranty you!!God loves you soooo much!!! Norway
Neat! A Chinese Proverb that originated in the Netherlands; who knew!!!
I can not believe that these e-mails still keep going from one address to the other.
besides this Antony claims that in the proverb you should not ask for money because it doues not bring this and that, and at the end he says “send this to 20 peoples and you will be rich.” this makes no sense. Money doesn’t make you happy but if u send this you will be rich????????
this proverb does not match with the scope of Anthony, to make himself popular. and i suppose there is no luck in it.
Hi I recieved one of these letters today. I have to object to the last cautionary slides in this mail where if the letter isnt forwarded to 20 people, calamity will ensue. I really object to the scare tacticts and the idea that I would send that to someone I considered to be a friend is unlikey. I have no problem sending luck to a friend but in view of the pending doom they would experience if they did not comply and send the letter on to another erm victim! I’ll take my chances anyday with luck. I have no intentions in sending what could only be described as an intimidating,perniciously devised, antichristian work of evil. Luck? what is a christian missionary talkin about luck? thought they were beyond luck and money and hedonism. How about Fatih Hope and love? It is clear that those people who have indeed sent this chain mail to a friend have succummed to the fear of the final slides. I will pray for you and the sadly misguided Anthony De Croud.
So…it’s February…how are you now? Any diseases or other misfortune? Or false alarm?
Thought I see what a real Chinese oracle says and asked the I Ching, “Should anyone email the Chinese proverb chain message?”
I got Hexagram 35 (no lines): Progress.
The Ching understood the question: the hexagram is about “rapid, easy progress.” What could be easier than forwarding an email?
But the answer, to me, is inscrutable.
Here are links to two interpretations:
http://www.psychic-revelation.com/reference/i_l/i_ching/hexagram35.html
deoxy.org/iching/35
Comments?
I’m no I CHing expert, but I rmember being told that the advice for the Superior Man is what’s crucial. I personally suspect that forwarding a superstitious and self-contradictory chain email doesn’t brighten anyone’s bright virtue.
It’s all true. Don’t mock. I received it two months ago and ignored it.
I am now dead.
cine esty? sau esti enigma masina de codat germana? eu sunt bobilica alexandru ,nascut in bolentin de vale, pe 18-08-1979,acum stau in jud.suceava, comuna pojorata.romania