Has anybody ever tried something like this?

That's a good one :) No, your right I never did get an e-mail back from them, though got one from "postmaster" telling me that my message could not be delivered to, perhaps they are not using a proper email address, an anonymous spammer or something.

pranKster

And don't forget the "I am a soldier in Afghanistan who needs to get drug money out of the country... but in order to do that, you need to give me a bit of money first, before you get your cut of the millions...", a new twist to the african-bank-account one.