Man knowingly sent $500 to an African 'scammer' — ends up liberating a village

The internet has been a cesspool of scammers, and people around the globe have been subjected to many online scams, which makes us more aware before falling prey to online phishing. In this context, would you believe a story of a probable scammer who turned out to be a man with nothing but good intentions? Well, when 33-year-old YouTuber Ben Taylor received a similar email from Joel from Liberia, whom he assumed was a regular scammer in 2017, he did not anticipate that his one action could impact an entire community. Taylor Ben, who runs a YouTube channel Pleasant Green, was checking his emails when he came across a message from a man named Joel Willie from Liberia, West Africa, in the summer of 2017 via Facebook. In the message, Joel introduced himself and asked for assistance from Ben to 'empower' him through business or financial assistance.

Ben, who first assumed it to be a regular scam message, was about to ignore Joel's text when something stopped him from doing so. Ben decided to look into the intent behind Joel's message and wanted to strike up a conversation to know more before writing it off as a scam. Ben responded to Joel's text and asked him more about what he was passionate about, to which Joel said that he was interested in journalism. Ben then asked him if he was down to become a photojournalist and asked him to click a photo of a Liberian sunset and sent it to him. Joel, who was ready to take up the task, was skeptical about clicking a photo with his existing phone, and so went ahead to ask Ben to send $30 to borrow a camera from a studio nearby. His message read, "Well, it can only be done with an advanced phone and a good digital camera, which I don’t have, but it costs about $30 at the studio." Ben explained to Joel that to be a good photographer, one doesn't need fancy equipment, but a creative mind instead. He made a deal with Joel that if he sent the picture, Ben would send him the $30 as promised. Joel came back with the said photo, which unfortunately turned out to be blurry and overexposed. Nonetheless, Ben was impressed with Joel's efforts, which gave him the money, urging him to take better pictures of his village, teaching him different ways to click better photographs.

As time went by, the photos he sent became clearer and better, with Joel eventually sharing the poignant life in West Africa through his photographs. Taylor, who compiled Joel's photographs and created a photo book, named it 'By D Grace of God', after a line from one of Joel's messages to Ben. He then made an Indiegogo page asking for people to help Joel's family by buying a copy of the photo book. Surprisingly, the photo went on to sell over 1000 copies across 40 countries. Joel had promised earlier that the profits earned from his photo book would be split equally, and he stayed true to his word. However, Taylor wanted to donate his shares to the charity, so he asked the West African photographer whether there were any charities he could send the money to. Joel informed him that the local children from is village had not been able to afford school supplies due to poverty and that money could be used to buy notebooks and other stationary materials for the kids. Ben who was intially skeptical about sending $500 to Joel, decided to bet on his money and to his surprise, Joel filled a taxi with newly purchased school supplies and distrubted them to the local schools, while capturing the joyous moments on his camera.

Joel then created a website 'By D Grace of God' for allowing people to support Joel and his family by purchasing his photo book. In a study authored by Jonathan Kasler in 2023, it was explored that internal motivation and prosocial values can correlate with misconduct. The study found that strong prosocial values reduce the likelihood of cheating, while changing dishonest behavior to fostering empathy. Joel, who was guided by Ben in finding his passion, turned his life around by not following the path of a potential scammer.

The story shared by Ben on his YouTube channel received huge appreciation across people online, with one user named @wendymaree commenting, "PG, this story is incredible. I've watched countless scam vids, and the attitude is always 'The scam never stops'. I think you're both incredible, by the grace of God."

 @randomuser2386 wrote, "Please don’t end it here, please continue to make this a main series on your channel!!" Eight years after the event, the wholesome story continues to inspire millions across the globe. 

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