419eater.com is one of several sites that have been set up to combat the practice of 419 scams (named after the section of the Nigerian penal code that addresses such crimes). These are fraudulent emails, often claiming to be from a government agency, asking for the recipient's help in tracing a large sum of money, a cut of which they are promised. Now, if they could just help out with a few hundred dollars to meet some short term issues...
419 eaters specialise in turning the tables on the scammer, promising all sorts of riches if only they will accede to certain ridiculous, often expensive and time-consuming demands. Anti-scammers compete with each other to see who can get the scammers to do the most ridiculous things. The Trophy Room of the site shows some of the best results (the chap above got away lightly - one man was persuaded to carve a Commodore 64 out of wood and send it to England).
