ABIDJAN: Conversation With a Scammer

IF I GO BACK THROUGH MY INBOX, I most certainly have hundreds of e-mails solicitations from West Africans claiming they have some dead relative who has millions of dollars in some bank account that only I can help them retrieve. Sometimes, the e-mails say that one of my long-lost relatives died in a rollover accident an an expressway outside Lagos. I never respond to them because I know that they're trying to get my personal information or have me send an ungodly amount of money to them so I can get the millions I'm entitled to. (Why anyone falls for these scams, I don't know, but there are countless Americans who do every year, so the e-mails keep coming and clog our inboxes.)

But The Washington Canard takes it one step further. Not only did WWB go ahead and e-mail the scammer back, he found a new friend in the process.

Here we have the complete correspondence to date between myself and one alleged "Allan Chungu." As you will shortly see, I wasn't trying to lure this guy (or Madame Philomenia Chungu, whichever) into a pointless pen pal relationship, but that is what transpired.

Good stuff.
>> "Great Scams of the Internet" [The Washington Canard]