I always listen to “This American Life” at work on Mondays. Because work on Mondays tends to be a little insane, the “TAL” podcast always lasts way longer than it should – I digest it slowly, in five-minute chunks.
Anyway, today, I was removing some scam ads from the site while listening to this week’s episode, which opens with a story on vigilante scam ad police. These guys start emailing back the people who send the Nigerian scam emails (the ones that suggest that if you send a small down payment, there’s a ton of cash waiting in Nigeria for you). They send them on crazy wild goose chases in order to keep them from sending spam emails to more people.
In a way, I admire their dedication. I’m also surprised that the scammers fall for the same scam that they’re perpetrating. However, I’m not sure I’m cool with them telling a scammer that his mother has (fictitiously) died after they’ve already sent him on a ridiculous money chase that’s landed him on the border of Darfur.
Did they go too far? Did they not go far enough? Did the African scammer totally have it coming? Would you have done the same thing? I’m interested to know what you think, because I’m still not quite sure what to make of it.
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