My favorite was the sad tale of the Nigerian astronaut who has been stranded in orbit on Mir ever since 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed.
The ever resourceful Nigerian Government stepped in but since they don't have a bilateral trade agreement with Russia they can't post them the necessary cheque for the $25million needed to hire a Soyuz for the journey home, so you - in return for a small royalty - are being recruited to bank the cheque and pay the Russians for a space capsule.
Just how the unfortunate Nigeral has survived fourteen years of solar flare activity, not to mention the destruction of Mir in 2001 has yet to be satisfactorily explained....