AOL is taking this whole Pirates of the Caribbean thing way too far. I’m not talking about the dastardly way they treat subscribers who try to cancel service. AOL, with a judge’s blessing, is digging for buried treasure in, of all places, Medfield, Massachusetts. They know Medfield’s a long way from white-sand beaches and umbrella-bedecked cocktails but, they’ve got their reasons.

It’s alleged that Davis Wolfgang Hawke, fleeced gullible AOL subscribers out of millions of dollars with bogus email spams for loans, pills and porn.

AOL won a $12.8 million judgement against Hawke who, it’s rumored, converted some of his ill-gotten booty to gold and platinum bars, burying them… no one knows where. Hawke’s on the lam but AOL figures they’ve got a good shot at finding the stash under his parents’ 2-acre lot.

AOL’s pretty determined so they’re tossing aside the picks and shovels in favor of geological teams with bulldozers and stuff.

When all’s said-and-done, there probably won’t be much left of the 2 acres. But, even if they don’t turn up the loot, they’ll have accomplished one important thing.

That yard can then be added to the short list of places not to dig for Jimmy Hoffa’s body.