Authorities in several countries have cracked down on Nigerian e-mail scammers, resulting in the seizure of over $2.1 billion in fraudulent checks. The National Consumers League, in conjunction with the US Postal Inspection Service, announced yesterday that 77 arrests have been made in connection with the scams. Those arrested were from Nigeria, the Netherlands, and Canada, although the organizations are careful to note that swindlers could come from anywhere.

For those who have been living under a rock (or just have amazingly great spam filtering on their e-mail), the typical "Nigerian scam" starts with an unsolicited e-mail—or snail mail, back in the caveman days—containing some sort of monetary proposal. This could come in the form of an invoice, a plea for help, an offer to pay for goods or services, or any number of other variations. 419ers busted, $2.1 billion in fraudulent checks snatched

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