NIGERIA CRACKS DOWN ON E-MAIL SCAMS

In the heart of sub-Saharan Africa's most-crowded metropolis, in a dimly lit Internet caf� thumping with Nigerian music, clusters of two and three teenage boys hover around aging computer screens. They use their Nike T-shirts and baggy jeans to wipe sweat off their brows and palms as they intently craft deceptive e-mails and scour the Web for foreign e-mail addresses.

These are Nigeria's "yahoo-yahoo boys" - purveyors of their country's most infamous export: scam e-mails sent en masse daily to in-boxes around the world. They represent the lowest rung of powerful, politically connected gangs that aim to swindle gullible, greedy foreigners - especially Americans - out of millions of dollars.

Nigeria's government is now cracking down harder on e-mail fraud, in part to repair damage the scams have done to the country's global reputation. But the boys and their bosses may be difficult to stop. Many are motivated not just by greed, but a desire to leave their country - or retaliate against Westerners for perceived injustices.

PT Barnum said "There's a sucker born every minute." (That's the way I heard it anyway.)

But, if true, how often is a scammer born? And with today's technology the time period is probably measured in nanoseconds. (I looked that up in my cajun dictionary, that's faster than a shot at and missed blue wing teal.)

For the real story on who said, "There's a sucker born every minute," go to this link. An interesting story.

And poor David Hannum was committed to the dustbin of history!

Wonder if he came back as an appellate lawyer whose briefs are now available on westlaw?

Hey wait a minute, I was an appellate attorney!

[This message was edited by Gordon LeMaire on 12-17-05 at .]