I noticed some talk about emails from Nigeria about offers to transfer large sums of money into people's bank accounts; those are part of what is known as Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud. The United States State Department has written a very amusing and informative guide to all this:
http://www.state.gov/www/regions/africa/naffpub.pdf This 33-page guide includes a reprint from a full-page ad put in the Washington Post by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1995, as well as many sample letters sent by fraudsters through snail-mail to people and their employers. An interesting section detailing the violence associated with the fraud in recent years: "Over the past 3 years, 15 foreign businessmen (one American) have been murdered in Nigeria in AFF scams. "Since September 1995, at least eight Americans have been held against their will by these criminals in Lagos that have come to the attention of the U.S. Embassy. In 1996 the U.S. Embassy helped repatriate ten Americans who came to Lagos looking for their 'pot of gold.' "More recently, on July 2, 1996, a Swedish businessman was kidnaped from his hotel in Lome, Togo. Kidnapers, reportedly Nigerian criminals, demanded $500,000 ransom. It is believed that the businessman was a victim of an AFF scam that deteriorated into a kidnaping. After lengthy negotiations between the kidnapers and Swedish police, the victim was released unharmed on July 12, 1996." Please remember, everyone - stupidity is dangerous. Numair [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.