One day, you receive a surprising e-mail from an unknown person in distress: she inherited a fortune but she can't have access to it because the money somewhat needs to be collected in Europe/US and claimed by a stranger because she needs anonymity. Therefore she needs you to become the legal owner of the fund, fetch the money, and give her back. Of course as a trustful business partner you'll be rewarded with a good percentage of the sum, which amounts to several tens of millions of dollars.

Infamous so-called 419 scams are an electrical revival of the old Spanish prisoner confidence trick[1] and typically start along these lines. Once a certain level of communication and trust has been established after a few e-mail exchanges, you learn a small detail about this 100% legal and 100% risk-free process: it is required that you first pay a symbolic sum, a couple thousands dollars, to be legally able to "complete this transaction" and collect the money. The reasons can be multiple: barrister fees, administrative taxes, document certification fees, financial services, demurrage charges, freight costs... But it is really nothing compared to the millions you're gonna get pretty soon once this small "modality" has been fulfilled. So you send the money, wait for the grail, and nothing happens. You have been robbed.

When these kinds of scams become part of the internet culture and when some people pretend falling for the bait while they just want to mock the embezzlers, you get scamorama, storytelling, and schadenfreude.

Selected stories:

Notes

[1] The Spanish prisoner trick is illustrated in the eponym movie.