'Fake SARS cure scammer' scammed by 419ers

Tales of 419 scams that rip off gullible email users with promises of riches beyond their wildest dreams but deliver nothing except an empty bank account don't make for comfortable reading. But when one of those losing thousands happens to be a bit fast and loose with other people's money himself, you'd be forgiven for thinking of poetic justice.

One unlucky victim of the 419 scam, Weidong Xu, had allegedly been collecting readies from friends and neighbours - one of his contributors got a second mortgage on his house - and promising to create a research centre to stop the deadly SARS virus during last year's outbreak in Asia.

The scammer, an ex-Harvard medicine teacher and employee of a cancer institute, had raked in several hundred thousand dollars for the vapourware hospital but when the temptation to make tens of millions from a shady business deal landed in his inbox, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

He happily handed over his details to the 419ers, who promptly made off with all his ill-gotten gains.

While it won't bring much satisfaction to those who lost their cash to the altruistic research-centre builder, there are doubtless a few Nigerians laughing all the way to the bank. Weidong, on the other hand, is not just penniless; he's also due to stand trial for his alleged crimes.

He was arrested earlier this week and is being held on $600,000 bail. It's a figure that Weidong may be haunted by - it's also the amount he 'earned' for the SARS research centre and lost to the 419ers.