The 100 Weirdest News Stories we Dugg in 2008: 10 - 8

10. Oregon Woman Loses $400,000 to Nigerian E-mail Scam (4223 Diggs)
This is webscam classic, and enjoyed the popularity due to the kind of nostalgia normally reserved for Mario Kart. Janella Spears, a nursing administrator and CPR teacher sent $400,000 dollars over the course of two years to con artists in a "Nigerian Scam" involving "official-looking documents and certificates from the Bank of Nigeria and the United Nations. President Bush and FBI Director Robert Mueller."

Fortunately, the Digg community is not without heart and user oo7evan has a full proof plan to save this woman's retirement. "You can help this woman gain her money back. Just deposit a small amount of money in a savings account my friend has in Nigeria, and it will go directly to her. For your troubles, I will give you $10,000. Promise."


9. Prostitutes on Google Street View (4303 Diggs)
Easily one of the best Internet memes of the year was finding wild, outlandish sh*t captured by the cartographers of Google Street View. Besides helping us out with directions, Google Street View provided us with passed-out drunks, thieves caught in the act, and, of course, girls tanning in bikinis. In this map of Oakland, California, Google managed to catch some ladies of the night peddling their wares in broad daylight. On Digg, this image sparked an intense debate over whether these women were prostitutes, students from Madison High School, dudes in drag, or part of an elaborate GTA IV viral marketing campaign.

DaviDaviDaviD wrote, "Woah, that's just down the road ... brb."

8. Man Tries to Cash Check Worth $360,000,000
Criminals! Did you know they occasionally do stupid things? Like Charles Ray Fuller, a one man brain trust from Fort Worth, who tried to cash a check for $360,000,000,000 (we believe that many zeroes are pronounced "a bajillionty"). Charles claimed that the pittance was a gift from his girlfriend's mother, intended to help him get set up in the record industry. Seeing as the check was enough to buy an archipelago and declare it the Nation of Record Industry, the bank called the cops and an investigation revealed that said girlfriend's mother had no knowledge of doing Charles such a massive solid. Too bad, because that kind of money would have made him the richest man on earth, and we're getting pretty sick of Warren Buffet's smug self-satisfied grimace.

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