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It may be the worst time in history to be a Nigerian in need. Especially if you’re a former prince.

Scam emails with promises of easy riches have become so psychically entangled with the West African republic, it’s a wonder swindlers haven’t adapted their yarns to claim a different origin. At this point, only a fool would see Nigeria in a message and not immediately hit delete.

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But Microsoft Research says that’s exactly the point.[np-related]

In a new white paper, it’s proposed that the transparent nature of nefarious emails is a way of eliminating false positives, helping ensure that only the intended targets — extremely naive people willing to give money to a stranger — will respond. Nigerian “royalty,” after all, have no time to waste on dead ends.

“Since gullibility is unobservable, the best strategy is to get those who possess this quality to self-identify. An email with tales of fabulous amounts of money and West African corruption will strike all but the most gullible as bizarre,” says Cormac Herley, principal researcher with Microsoft Research.