Even before the internet they used to send these via snail mail, and usually targeted at a business audience that might have some involvement with international commerce. I even received one.
I was working communications for an international trade association in th early to mid 1990s and put out a warning in one of our newsletters about such scams, which were fairly rare. I soon received a panicked call from one of our members who had responded to the scam. I told him that yes, these were scams, and you had better lock your accounts ASAP. Never heard back from him.
Charon
