I have read that these Internet scams are a major source of income in the country. Lots of greedy Americans fall for this stuff.

I heard a thing on the local news at noon one day, and the "victims" stood there in front of the camera and said they thought they were smart enough to avoid Nigerian scams, but this is what they fell for:

They had a collectible car for sale in a local Dallas want ad, but because ads are online now, someone in Nigeria saw it and responded. They said (in effect) "We want to buy your car, but have a bank cashier's check that is much larger than the amount you are asking for. If I send you this check for $15,000 to cover your $8,000 car, will you send me a check for the $7,000 difference and my agent will come pick up the car in a few days?"

The fools fell for it. Banks must accept these things and initially credit the account, but once the bogus check fails to clear, they remove the credit from your account. And your cashier's check for $7000 that was perfectly good is long since cashed.

SRS