I see where you are coming from, and in fact I don't dispute your point; crime and scams are everywhere and even at home. However, once you've been bitten; you really don't want to go back there. This is just being extra cautious. Maybe with your local scams, we're more willing to take risks as it's also a case of better the devil you know? I've seen many documentaries that are just too scary, and those people are aggressive and relentless. So even if there may be legitimate and viable online services coming out of there, I won't want to know until a trusted friend of mine assured me it was safe, it's just human nature. I even had a Nigerian friend warn me off Nigeria as a whole, actually told me never to even dream of visiting Nigerian on my own!
