A common question: how do these Lads pick their targets? All sorts of ways, including, we think, trolling USENET, printed directories, and electronic bulletin boards of all kinds. The Kindly Contributor of this letter posted on a personals bulletin board. Yikes!
note: there's some embedded HTML in this Lads letter; I just replaced the carets with parens out of laziness, and to leave the crowded flavor of it. Typos and weird spacings were there already.

From: sanni ahmed [ahsanni@yahoo.com]
  Subject: A new life

Sweet heart,
My name is Sanni Ahmed, I am the brother of the LateGeneral Sani Abacha, the former Military president of Nigeria, I am 50years old, Still very strong and very active. While my brother was headof state, I participated actively in the running of my country, through which I made a lot of money for myself. Unfortunately my brother died suddenly onthe Eight of June 1998, and because he was not liked at all by mypeople, everyone includ ing the present democratic government has made lifeunbearable for all the members of my late brother's immediate family andmyself. All our properties were seized and our accounts frozen both in Nigeriaand abroad, making life very uncomfortable for us, to the extent that myonce loving wife left me, now I am so lonely. I am contacting you to see if you will be interestedin starting a new life with me, preferably in the U.S or any otherpeaceful and quite country of your choice, we will buy a home, invest in goodbusinesses and settle there. I do not intend to come back here, as I do not have anything here to come back to. You might be wondering how we wouldstart our new life without money, well the good news is that I have some moneywith a security company, This money was made while assisting mylate brother to launder money to foreign banks through this security company. When hedied suddenly, we still had $38.5 million United states dollars with thesecurity company awaiting to be sent abroad. But this was not to be due tothe hostile attiitude towards us at the time. The money has since beenwith the security company. Following my present situation, and the urgent need toget out of this country, I contacted the security company and theytold me that they have devised a way of sending the money out, butinsisted that, since my activities are monitored, it will be advisable and safe to get a foreign company or individual to receive this money on mybehalf through a foreign bank. I have been thinking seriously about how to geta foreign company, when I saw that you are seeking a male companion, Ithought it will be very nice if we can work this out together, with youhelping me in securing the money, after which I will come and meet you.

Please consider my offer, and if you find itacceptable please contact me immediately ( through my email address (a HREF="http://us.f98.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=ahsanni@yahoo.com&YY=73365&order=down&sort=date&pos=1")(ahsanni@yahoo.com(/a) and my telephpne number is 234 1 7743414, you can also send me a faxon my efax number 253 663 5935. However if you find my offer unacceptableplease disregard everyhthing and keep absolutely confiden- tial. Sincere regards, Sanni Ahmed ((a HREF="http://us.f98.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=ahsanni@yahoo.com&YY=73365&order=down&sort=date&pos=1")(ahsanni@yahoo.com(/a) 234 1 7743414 efax 253 663 5935

My momma told me, you better shop around: