419

by Marcus L. Rowland

<forgottenfutures@ntlworld.com>

Rated: G

Submitted February 2009

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All characters belong to their creators / soulless media corporations / etc. Spelling and grammatical mistakes are deliberate.

[Archive EIC Note: Please note that the errors and typos in the Nigerian email portion of this story are deliberate. They reflect the errors commonly seen in such emails. So no need to email us to report that the GE on this one was sleeping on the job. <g> ]

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"Dear Mrs Lane,

I was a business partner of the late departed Lex Luthor and handles his many and varied interests in Nigeria. With his death the sum of US$18,570,000 is left in my hands.

Since you were his fiancee, all other heirs being wanted criminals, you are entitled to receive these funds, subject to handling fees of 2.5%. However, there is much corruption in the Nigerian government, and it will be difficult to arrange this transaction without immediate confiscation of your inheritance. Fortunately I have a cousin embloyed by the National Bank, and it maybe possible to arrange a directly bank-to-bank money transfer if we act quickly.

It is urgent that you contact me immediately and in strictest confidence with details of your bank account..."

Lois Lane looked up from her computer and said, "I make that eighty-seven business partners Lex had in Nigeria."

"Any of them real?" asked Clark.

"Fat chance," said Lois, deleting the email.

* * * * *

"This Lane woman," said the CEO of Lexcorp Nigeria. "What is wrong with her? We send her email after email; she does not even do us the courtesy of responding. And it would be so much to her advantage."

"Maybe there is another option," said the company secretary. "If she does not want the money, perhaps we could use it to benefit the city Mister Luthor loved. We could give it to the Superman Foundation."

"Perfect! I will send an email to Superman at once, requesting his bank details..."

End.

Note: Section 419 of the Nigerian penal code covers the type of scam typically associated with this sort of message.

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419