If you have used e-mail for more than 10 seconds you are aware of 419 scams. Someone from Nigeria, or some other African nation, writes to you in utter secrecy and ALL CAPS requesting that you aid them in retrieving money that was lost, inherited or from over-invoiced contracts that is being held by mean and nefarious bankers or a corrupt government.
It’s a scam. I don’t know why I feel compelled to tell anyone that they will not get millions of dollars for doing nothing, but the fact is that common sense is outweighed by avarice these days.
The good news is that this axiom cuts both ways. It turns out that avarice can blind the scammers as much as it can the scammed. A wily American, having received a 419 spam/scam, outwitted the scammers and conned them out of three dollars. A long read, but well worth it. Hilarious.
Score one for the good guys.
Thanks to ond for the heads-up.