Before e-mail spam started to arrive in torrents, it used to be fun to read some of the messages. Now, most of my spam is screened by my ISP and autoscreened in Mailwasher, and I clean up the rest when I see an obviously suspicious return address or subject line. One in a while I still read one for fun.
The Nigerian Bank scam (also see this link or the RCMP web warning) is so well-known that it ought to obvious, and the pitch is stale. Sometimes the con artist ads a nice touch.
This one starts:
I am MRS. MARIAM ABACHA, the widow of the late GEN. SANI ABACHA former Nigerian military Head of state who died mysteriously as a result of Cardiac Arrest. Since after the death of my husband;my family has been under restriction of movement and that not withstanding,we are being molested,policed and our Bank Account both here and abroad are being frozen by the Nigerian Civilian Government.
Military dictator's widow sends an email asking unknown foreigner for help to get her husband's loot away from civilian government? Even the offshore stuff in Switzerland, Lichenstein, the Bahamas, the Emirates? What kind of idiot would listen to this? What kind of person would want to get involved in this kind of intrigue? Call for the Scarlet Pimpernel!
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