'...Proves the old adage, "A fool and his money are soon parted."
I'm sure no one here would stoop so low as to con someone outright. (Selling an eBook for $97 that is worth $10 is not a scam, it's just good marketing).
Ruining people's lives like this is certainly despicable, but I do have a secret admiration for Grifters who know how to pull off the long con. Their sales technique has to be the best in the world and when in direct contact with the mark, rather than by Internet and emails, they must have cajones of steel. The British TV series 'Hustle' and 'The Real Hustle' spring to mind.
I also imagine it must be a tremendous buzz scamming some low-life businessman who got his Billions from ruining other peoples lives, although this is not the case with the Nigerian scam, as they just send out millions of emails until somone bites.
The sad thing is, the people most likely to get caught in the scam are the people unfamiliar with the Internet, like the elderly or inexperienced.
...And of course, the very best scam in the world, apart from Government, is the one that scams millions of people out of just enough money so it isn't worth trying to get it back. The mark loses a couple of hundred dollars, is too embarrassed at their own stupidity to tell anyone or report it to law enforcement and so keeps quiet. Multiply that by several thousand people and now you have the perfect scam.
I think I have an idea...lol!
themagician