The assigned articles present e-mail scams as something more than just criminal activities and claim that these scams reveal much about the society we have created. The book The Rumors of the World explains that e-mail scams appeal to the victim’s desire to get rich quick. While humans have always been attracted to fast rewards, the Internet may be aggravating this behavior. Internet users are able to get what they want faster than ever before by accessing information and entertainment almost instantly. The billions of dollars that victims lose to e-mail scams may be symptomatic of how the Internet has affected the mindset of our society.

The articles also associate e-mail scams with characteristics of our economic and political landscape. The article “Dearest One, My Sincere Greetings To You, And How Are You Doing?” seems to promote the idea that e-mail scammers are no different than the corrupt bankers and businessmen that swindle the common folk and led to the recession of 2008. I personally do not know enough about the true level of corruption in the world’s dominant financial institutions so I am not prepared to agree with the author on this. However, I do concur with his claim that the political corruption of third-world countries like Nigeria creates a desperate and dishonest atmosphere that easily breeds the criminals who distribute scam e-mails.

I also enjoyed reading about the film that Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige have created. It seems to be an effective way of making the viewer understand the way in which scammers emotionally connect with their victims through their message.