The letters posted here illustrate  attempts at ADVANCE FEE FRAUD. The sender claims to be a bureaucrat, banker or royal toadies, who wants to cut you, and only you, in on the financial deal of a lifetime.

In plain English, the writer claims to be in a position to skim public accounts or in other ways move vast amounts of cash into your hands. Hint: There is no money to be moved except yours. Palms must be greased, with your money. A few K here, a few K there eventually you get wise, and retire to lick your wounds.

Other versions of the scam play on your sense of charity, your loneliness, or your naivete  . Orphan, cancer patient, dead bank customer, phony job offer, overpayment with a cashier’s check, different names or countries… same scam. You may be shown pictures of “money”. Same scam.

Setting aside the scammers’ willingness to take your last penny, the letters are funny. Read them out loud at parties and see. The 125 letters below introduce the literary genre of the Lads from Lagos.

Why “Lagos” ? Most such e-mails come from West Africa, chiefly Nigeria, or Nigerian expatriates  There are of course scam artists elsewhere. But these guys are special. Some people write them back just to waste their time. This is the art of scam baiting. Welcome to the Scamology. Most readers say “what an obvious scam!”. Some say “I was almost fooled till I saw this site.”A handful say “couldn’t mine be ‘real’?”