The Nigerian Scam

The Nigerian scam consists of a bogus appeal by email to you out of the blue by some African guy needing your help to free millions of bucks trapped by some quirk of local politics. You'll need to pony up a few grand to get a slice of those millions. And pony up. And pony up until you either catch on or have given up all your assets to the Nigerians.

Here is a pretty good case study of the Nigerian Scam taken all the way to the end: John W. Worley was wooed, screwed, and tattooed. Even at the end, when he's left holding the bag, he's begging for more. It's the latest answer to the age-old question, "How stupid can you get?"

Brad Christensen of Quatloos, on the other hand, demonstrates the proper way to handle Nigerian scammers.