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Recently I made the mistake of leaving my email address at a website, not realizing that they do not filter email addresses out so the public doesn't see it. There it was, in bold letters no less. I was happy to have found the site, a page dedicated to one of my favorite personalities.

Then came the spammers. Like vultures on dead carcasses, flies on crap, stink on a skunk. The so-called 'Nigerian Scam Artists', who don't necessarily have to be Nigerian but with names like Mogombo, and Obai. What followed was a deluge of mail proclaiming that I had won some types of lotteries, collectively adding up to some billions of dollars, if one was to take this sort of thing seriously. There was also email from people who wanted to 'cut me in on deal', regarding some 'forgotten loot' or deceased individual's unclaimed funds. How totally ridiculous.

This scam is not new, and no doubt you may have run across this sort of email yourself. What irks me is that these fools continue to send them out to you even when you never respond, and they tend to wind up in your inbox despite your 'spam filter'. My email provider started pushing their paid email services more aggressively lately, perhaps because they know what's up and see an opportunity there.

What of the scammers? Part of an international group of people who have successfully bilked thousands of victims out of their hard earned cash, feeding on their greed and ignorance. They also acquire very personal information which can lead to identity theft. They are criminals because they don't know how to, or don't want to do anything else. Why should they, if someone is stupid enough to fall for their schemes?

Thank goodness for the fact that I have several email addresses, where I can switch between them for being my 'main email address', the one where I get important messages. While the latest tainted one was my favorite, I won't be 'upgrading' to a paid account. I already have a paid email account, one which the scammers haven't discovered yet. Meanwhile, they'll keep sending those stupid emails ( I guess they think that one day I'll suddenly decide to fall for one of their hair-brained schemes ). Maybe I should send out email to them, telling them that they won the Illinois Lottery.

God, I miss the good old days of the internet.

Learn more about this author, Kenneth Myers.
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