I once got an email from an old friend.... a childhood friend with whom I kept in touch with. The email said he had been in England and was held up at gunpoint and robbed of all his money and passport and documents. He asked if I could wire him some money. I KNEW it was fake.... this friend of mine was the toughest kid I ever knew.... he went on to become a detective sergeant in the City's toughest precinct and he was much decorated while in the Marines before he became a cop. Besides... a gun isn't used that much in British crimes, is it?

Anyway, I emailed him back asking something that only the two of us would know.... he returned the email a few days later after he found that his account had been hacked and was traced to Nigeria.

Turns out this is another kind of scam that is popular in Nigeria.