Just out of interest, in reply to the OP (this one anyway(
Its called email harvesting.

Please please dont ever forward these things on. No matter how sweet and sincere they seem, the end game is to harvest thousands, if not millions of valid email addresses to add you to mailing lists for internet drugs, shall we say body enhancement and all sorts of other junk that clutters up your inbox.

Thats what the "If you are the 400th person to sign please send a copy to fsaviolo@openlink.com.br" is all about.

They get one need little email that their software will lift all the email addresses from, and add you to the lists, that half the time the sell on.

There is no "poor fsaviolo" at the end of this email. Just money and junk mail.

So PLEASE.... when you get these sweet little ditties, "smile", sob stories and other such things asking you to forward them on, do your friends a favour and DONT!