We thank reader Colin Swan for the following 419 email, which we believe is a first.

It contains the bog-standard Liberian connection, as is the local custom, but this particular advance fee fraudster appears to have ten rather than the traditional two legs:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am deeply sorry for the embarassement this mail will cause you, I did not mean to be a crab. I am Harrison Karnwea, a liberian by birth and the cousin of John Yormie deputy national security minister who was murdered along with Isaac Vaye deputy minister for public works

Sir/Madam, this is highly confidential, We have united state dollars, and we are looking for a capable individual who can assist in safe keeping it, we are ready to negotiate on the percentage that will be due for you. This is not childs play, if you are capable, kindly get back to me for more explanitions/details.

I look forward to your response,

Regards,

Harrison Karnwea.

We're sure poor old Harrison didn't mean to be crab, although this just goes to show that just about everyone - and everything - in sunny Liberia is in some way related to someone who just happens to have access to vast reserves of illicit currency, courtesy of the fall of the late, lamented, Charles Taylor.

And, as the idea that foolish Westerners can easily be fleeced of their cash continues to filter down the food chain, we can only hope that the next missive is not from a herd of Thompson's gazelle which, having escaped war-torn Zimbabwe in a Red Cross aircraft, urgently need help in relocating $35,000,000 (THIRTY-FIVE-MILLION-DOLLARS) left by their white farmer owner after he succumbed to an assault by the Zanu-PF.

In the meantime, we're checking out the official Jacques Cousteau site for tips on how to handle illegal money transfer deals with crustaceans. All subaquatic suggestions are, as ever, welcome. ®

Bootnote

The real Harrison Karnwea is in fact superintendent of Liberia's Nimba County. According to this report he's in a bit of a scrap at the moment with Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Chief Jerry Gonyon. Doubtless his eight extra legs will come in useful when the shooting inevitably starts.