Hi! I'm from [insert name of African nation] and have a buttload full of money! But I need someone to launder it for me, so if you send me your bank account information, I'll cut you in for a hefty percentage!


The first time I received one of these letters was in, oh, probably '97. Back in The Old Days, the letters were sent via regular mail or fax. Now, if you're like me, your email is probably spammed with them on a regular basis.

They're called Nigerian 419 letters, after the statute in the country where they started that made this sort of solicitation illegal.

Here's the peeve: it's not so much the spammage or the implied insult to my intelligence suggesting that I'd send a stranger all my bank account info. It's the fact that they are openly asking for help in doing something both illegal and immoral. The majority of African nations are far from economically stable, and trying to illicitly smuggle currency out of the country is a terrible thing to do! I actually responded to someone who claimed to be from South Africa saying that he should be ashamed of himself for stealing from people who so desperately need jobs and that he should instead invest in the development of businesses and charitable organizations at home. Yeah, I know -- whoever sent the letter probably doesn't give a tinker's damn about such things, but it made me feel better.

*sigh*