They have got to be the most annoying junk mail that the Beetle receives….ever! You must have received one at least: you know, it's a long e-mail bemoaning the death of a supposed husband, father, uncle etc. who has millions of $ trapped in a bank account. In exchange for a small investment – and you have been chosen for this very exciting opportunity (not!) to receive a commission for helping to release these funds by transferring a few thousand dollars of your own to a named bank account and in return, you receive 30%, or some variation on the theme. But have you ever wondered who these people are, that send out these blatant scams? And why? And do people really respond?

Frank from the US sent the Beetle a piece called The Nigerian Nightmare – Who's sending you all those scam e-mails by BrendanI.Koerner.lnk. In this, the author explains that the e-mailers behind these e-mails are almost always Lagos-based con artists looking for people greedy enough and stupid enough to spend thousands in pursuit of nonexistent fortunes. “They aim to lure you to Nigeria or to a nearby nation where you'll be cajoled into ponying up endless fees to secure the “riches”-$30,000 for a “chemical solvent” to disguise the money or $50,000 for “customs duties”. When you eventually wise up, faux police barge into your hotel and demand massive bribes in exchange for your freedom. Tapped out? Expect to be held for ransom or murdered”.

This is a scam known as a 419, named after the penal code making it illegal. According to the anti-spam software vendor Brightmail, 419 scams are the Web's second-most common form of junk mail, (ranking behind only those “herbal Viagra” ads). Believe it or not, an estimated 1 percent of recipients actually respond. Of that number, enough people fork over enough cash to sustain an industry that ranks in Nigeria's top five, right up there with palm oil and tin. The U.S. Secret Service has estimated-conservatively, by its own admission-that the scammers net $100 million per year.

So, just don't……..