A Scam to End All Spam

Ever get a desperate e-mail from some African dude asking for help in moving millions of American dollars out of his country? Suckers have made the Nigerian Letter scam, aslo called the 4-1-9 scam (after section 4-1-9 of the Nigerian Penal Code) into Nigeria's largest criminal enterprise. But one prankster turned the tables on a con who claimed to be Timothy Sese-Seko, son of Zaire's former president, Mobutu Sese-Seko.

Posing as "Wendy Willcox", part owner of Swollennutz Development Corp., the joker agreed to help Tim move $144 million. Over more than 75 e-mails, "she" cajoled her way into meeting Tim's partners in Amsterdam, promising $15,000. She even e-mailed Tim her butt-ugly photo, which the schemer wrote was "beautiful". [See letters and picture of Wendy and the perpetrators below.]

The scammers of course, had no idea that "Wendy's" proposed meeting spot fell in the full view of a web cam. At home "Wendy" watched two confused cons looking for her, then later posted screen grabs on her Web site (willcoxinfo.bravepages.com/bankwire.htm). She e-mailed the address to Tim, along with a farewell message: Kiss my ass."

http://www.geocities.com/wendy_willcox/

http://www.geocities.com/scamjokepage/