As more US businesspeople look at selling their souls to the Devil in exchange for promotions – the number has gone up by 43,000 percent in the past ten years – criminal types have begun taking advantage of the situation.
In 2019, authorities estimate, there were over 175,000 instances where con artists, grifters, and others posing as the Devil persuaded would-be soul sellers to fork over cash, gift cards, even baked goods.
“I put out some feelers and was approached by a guy who seemed like the real deal,” says Glenda Higginson, a Wilmington, Delaware bank middle manager who was trying to get promoted to an open vice president position. “He had the red suit, the horns, the pitchfork, the complete package.”
But in addition to her soul, she says, the man also demanded $240 in drug store gift cards – which she readily provided and now regrets.
“A year later I’m out the $240, I still have my soul, and a guy named Pierson got the VP job,” she says.
“People desperate to get ahead can be very gullible people,” says Steven Rimson of the Proctor Institute, which has documented corporate soul selling since the 1980s. “Someone says he’s the Devil and guarantees the job, people want to believe it can happen, even when he asks them to pay for an oil change and lube job.
Rimson says that people transacting with someone claiming to be the Devil should always ask for identification – and also keep in mind that the actual Devil is only interested in souls.
“The Devil maintains a large number of offshore bank accounts,” he says. “He really doesn’t need any airline miles or chocolate cakes.”
