From a practical standpoint, what can be done about the Gazillion NIGERIAN SCAM ARTISTS all over the internet?

Question

I know there are scam artists from all over the world, but the Nigerians seem to be the most common and the most active. I researched this and discovered that approximately 2/3rds of their economy comes from scamming, if that tells you anything about this country. Every day, my email inbox is filled with emails telling me how much I have won in some lottery somewhere if I would only supply all my identifying information (a phishing scam). Or some Prince or Princess has died and there is an inheritance that needs to be protected if I would agree to help with transfers to my own bank account for which I would receive a large commission. Some other funds flow scam or laundering scam to processes stolen credit card purchases. And then of course when I'm on Instant Messenger, the Nigerians come after me pretending to be some sweet young thing looking for love, typically claiming to be from the U.K., and some even posting boggus pictures of models as themselves.

(cont.)

Answer 1

Respond to their email "f*** y**!".  This is spam, but they have not spoofed an e-mail address. If everybody responded with an obscenity, their mailbox will be overwhelmed and they couldn't function as well.

Answer 2

What needs to be done, beyond people getting a tiny little nugget of common sense in their brains?  I have no sympathy for anyone who falls for those scams, especially after all these years of being warned away from them.

Answer 3

Two choices:  Report or ignore them.  Also, they ARE NOT all Nigerians.  I've been getting them daily (about 15 per day) from all around the globe.   Scam artist rear their ugly heads in multiples every time the economy is on the slide.   That's a fact.

Note:  Do you think the sub prime mortgage fiasco was not a scam?  It was a scam all dressed up in designer clothes and advertized to all that everyone as an unfailing  investment stategy and inflation hedge...and thounsand of educated people  bought that package deal.

Answer 4

Delete their email without reading it. They are easy to spot...they all start out like this:

My name is moobo joombo and I am the (son, dau, etc) of the late King Jumbo......

Answer 5

they are working on shutting them down but more and more appear all the time, a long time battle for sure

Answer 6

Huh....scam artists?  Do you mean I am not rich?   Geez that email looked so official !!!

<Grin>

Answer 7

Maybe one question to ask would be why we don't have as many of these scammers in the US and other countries, and what systems are in place to discourage them and hold them accountable for their frauds.