Yes they are, they are pure crap. Then again, there's a sucker born every minute. Kind of off topic, but there are still people falling for the nigerian check scam. This guy is a lawyer, had other people warn him not to sell to a nigerian overseas, then gave the scammer his bank account info to wire him the "refund'. The bank account was promptly cleaned out.
http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?t=171960
http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?t=171960