Scamming the scammers

Amazingly, or perhaps not, the 419 scam, which started in 1989, is still going strong, and people are still falling for it at the rate of around twenty a week, bringing in around $1.5 billion a year for the estimated 250,000 scammers.

Happily, scambaiting also flourishes, in no small measure due to the splendid work of an Englishman whose website will tell you all about this salutary sport, with reports of successful scambaits providing hours of happy reading.

In recent months I haven’t had many invitations to accept 40% of millions, but one sent to me the other day caught my fancy:
Attention Dear,
It is my pleasure to write you after much consideration since I can not be able to see you face to face, at first.
I am Mr Kone Kommoh and my Father was A limited liability cocoa and Gold merchant in South-Africa . Before his death after his business trip to Abidjan-Cote d'ivoire to negotiate on a cocoa business on 6th of February 2003 a week after he came back from Abidjan, he was assassinated with my Mother by unknown assassins which my Mother died instantly but my Father dead two week after in the hospital, on that faithful afternoon I didn't know that my Father is going to leave me after I lost my jovial and intelligent Mother.
But before he gave up the ghost it was as if he knew he was going to die He, my Father (may his soul rest in perfect peace) he disclosed to me that he deposited the sum of 10,000,000.00 eur..…..
…and then on with the usual stuff about sending him my bank details. I suppose this version would strike a chord with anyone who also had a jovial and intelligent mother.]