I got a message from a Nigerian living in Britain saying that his bank account was locked due to an unauthorized transaction, and that he needed me to wire him some emergency funds until he could get his bank account issues resolved. He said that he was working for a prince who got rich from oil discoveries in the Nigerian Uplands, and if I temporarily loaned him some funds, that I would be rewarded richly. I went ahead and did it.

Did I get scammed?

If you ever see the word "Nigeria", you are being scammed. I won't say flatly that there are no honest people in Nigeria, but I will state with absolute confidence that none of them are contacting Americans requesting money or personal information.

If you really did this - which would surprise me, as this particular scam is as old as the country itself - then yes, you got scammed.

I actually did get paid back by the Nigerian. Although it was slightly less than what I initially gave to help him, I am nonetheless satisfied, because this particular Nigerian is a longtime friend of mine. His name is Tom, and it does me good to help friends.