MIRACLE PENNIES (United States, 2006)

In 2006 California’s evangelical ‘prophet’ Peter Popoff sent out a letter to everyone on his mailing list. In it he promised that the addressee’s money worries would be solved and he or she would receive God’s secret blessing. The only thing that they had to do was to follow the instructions in the letter: put the five pennies that came in the letter under their pillow, drench them in water mixed with oil, hide them in a secret place, and put them in a Bible. After that they were to bathe their foot with water from the bottle that also came with the letter, draw the outline of their foot on a piece of paper, and send it back along with one of the pennies – and a $20 note. Nate Larson decided to follow the instructions precisely.