Pun Salad

One of the students at the University Near Here got her Gmail account compromised, and the bad guys sent this out under her name (emphasis added):

How are you doing today? I know this might be a surprise to you but am sorry I didn't inform you about my travel for a Seminar in Scotland.

… and it goes on to hit up the recipients for "1500 British pounds" because she's lost her wallet, credit cards, etc. (Very common by the way.)

But that "surprise" thing… what's up with that? Here's a sample from the last few weeks of my incoming spam (emphasis still added):

"Good day, I know that this email will come to you as a surprise because you don,t know me and i don,t know you too.…"

"Do not be surprised by this offers as it sound very surprising because I undertake this action so that the Lord God Almighty will forgive me…"

"I know that this mail will come to you as a surprise as we never met before.…"

"It will be a surprise for you to receive this mail, welcome this letter.…"

"This mail might come to you as a surprise and the temptation to ignore it as unserious could come into your mind but please consider it a divine…"

"This message might meet you in (utmost surprise),however,it's just my urgent need for foreign partner that made me to contact you for this transaction.…"

"I know that this letter may be a very big surprise to you, I came across your profile from my personal search and I instructed the doctor here in this hospital to help me write you and I believe that you will be honest to fulfill my final wish before I will die.…"

"It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your success in the following official publication of results of the E-mail electronic online Sweepstakes organized by Microsoft…"

"I am quite aware that my message will come to you as a surprise because it is indeed very strange for some one you have not met before to contact you in this regard.…"

"I know this will come as a surprise to you but i want to assure you with honest to god almighty that my email comes with good intentions,…"

"I crave your indulgence as I contact you in such a surprising manner and I want you to bear in mind that this is not a hoax but I respectfully insist you read this mail carefully as I am optimistic it will open door for unimaginable financial reward for both of us and believe that you will not let me down and we will work together to develop trust and confidence in this business.…"

A little Googling shows that this surprising behavior been going on for awhile. Here are examples from 2007, 2006, and 2005. And here's one from 1988. ("I knew that this letter may be a very big surprise to you, I came across your email contact from my personal search…" Yes, exactly the same as the one I got on July 14. Wow.)

The phraseology is well enough known to be in parodies (from 2003):

DEAR SIR / MADAM,

I AM GEORGE WALKER BUSH, SON OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, AND CURRENTLY SERVING AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS LETTER MIGHT SURPRISE YOU BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT MET NEITHER IN PERSON NOR BY CORRESPONDENCE. I CAME TO KNOW OF YOU IN MY SEARCH FOR A RELIABLE AND REPUTABLE PERSON TO HANDLE A VERY CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS TRANSACTION, WHICH INVOLVES THE TRANSFER OF A HUGE SUM OF MONEY TO AN ACCOUNT REQUIRING MAXIMUM CONFIDENCE. …

No big deal, but does anyone know why this "surprising" language is so prevalent and consistent in the fraudulent spam game? Examples abound, obviously, but I've been unable to track down an explanation. Does it spring from some feature of Nigerian custom or culture?