I came across an interesting music video from Nigeria today. It's the popular (in Nigeria) hit "I go chop your dollars, " by Nkem Owoh. You can see the video here. It's an ode to the Nigerian email scam, which for those of you who haven't received the email (2 or 3 show up in my spam box every day), involves receiving an email from someone purporting to be the beneficiary of a large inheritance who would like to share some of it with you -- if you can advance them a few thousands dollars so that they can secure the money. Of course, the unwitting victims send in the money and never receive a dime. You can read more about it on ExpertLaw.

The scam has become one of the largest industries in Nigeria, with the government only recently ramping up efforts to crack down on it. Victims include widows and several churches have gone broke with the scam. Many of the fraudsters rationalize defrauding Americans by seeing the scam as their way of "stickin' it to the man," in a country that is rife with anti-American sentiment. The music video provides interesting insight into a culture where scamming Americans is glorified in some circles. Of course, people involved in the scam represent only a small fraction of the country, and most Nigerians are honest hard-working people. But it is certainly interesting that an artist was able to have a hit song with such a message.