How stupid do you have to be?

Everybody hates junk mail. That everybody hates the electronic equivalent, I don't doubt. Often as I check my personal email I laugh at the number of ridiculous spammails I have and I wonder how people can possibly think any of us so stupid as to reply.

I've thought it often but have refrained from writing anything--serious or not--about it until now. The phenomenon occurs frequently, at least with me, and makes me wonder if the author must think I'm the stupidest person alive.

Take for instance, this. A variation on the "I need your account numbers to transfer significant amounts of foreign currency into the US on behalf of my dead associate/grandmother/client and will pay you a handsome fee for your trouble," scam, this one arrived in my inbox on Friday:

My Good Friend,

I am so very sorry if I pried into your privacy but due to your honesty,I am convinced that you would be capable to provide me with a solution. I am Mr.. Malick Diatta of MA Legal Consultancy Services, Dakar Senegal. I am writing on behalf of my late client Mrs. Andrea Eich,a successful business woman from your country that base in Dakar Senegal who died unfortunately with her family(Her Husband and two kids) in an air mishap in July 2000.

I am contacting you simply to assist in claiming her deposited assets valued at US$13M before it gets confiscated by the Netherlands Bank. The Bank has written me as her consultant and issued a final notice to provide any of herrelatives orr have the assets channel to the Netherlands National Treasury as unclaimed fund within the next 5 working days.

Since there was no relatives or next of kin left in our record, I seek your consent to present you as her only surviving relative, so that this funds canbe paidd to you. Therefore, on receipt of your expression of interest (EOI), I have agreed that you will inherit 45% of this fund for your help and sincerity, 45%for me while 10% for the refunds of processing expenses and to pay tax in your country(if any) upon successful confirmation of this funds in your bank account.Thereafter, all the related legal documents will be destroyed and we part ways.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating her relatives, my aim now is to usher you in legally as her relative since you are of the same nationality so that the fruit of her labour will not be in vain. All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you fromany breachh of law.

Please urgently reply if you can handle it.

It is in fact slightly different, however not different enough to slip past anyone with two functioning brain-cells. But the contents alone is not what creates the overwhelming sense of incredulity I get from reading it.

No, that comes from the fact that I received the above email from the same email address, with the same name and same subject lines 11 times in one day.