Forensic linguistics is the field of applied linguistics which looks at the relationship between language and crime (among other things). People have a particular style of speaking and writing and forensic linguists can often say that an accused person probably did or did not write a particular note or text (I blogged on forensic linguistics and text messages here).
The Justice Secretary Jack Straw has been targeted by fraudsters, who hacked into his constituency email account and sent messages to all the contacts in his inbox saying Mr Straw had lost his wallet in Lagos, Nigeria and needed $3000 to be able to return home (story here). Apparently not a single person donated money to help the minister, and only one constituent replied at all. Wags in the press are making jokes about what that says about Jack Straw, but, in fact, by looking at the rather quaint language of the email it is obvious that it is not Jack Straw's style (or that of any native British English speaker):
"I would like you to assist me with a soft loan urgently to settle my hotel bills and get myself back home".
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