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Question about the center plate screw

I'm using a cheater plug to plug a three-pronged connector into a two-pronged outlet. I've unscrewed and replaced the center screw through the green loop that goes off of the plug; in theory, this acts as a ground by coming into contact with the piping and going down a water pipe to ground. This probably isn't true with newer houses, but I live in an older one (1950s) and there are indeed pipes behind the outlets designed to carry current to the water pipe which goes to ground.

I've read that this ground connector actually isn't an adequate ground at all. But green = ground, and I don't think they'd allow a device (for decades, even) that lulls the owner into a false sense of security then kills him.

Should I worry? In either case I'm not going to give it up and get it grounded, because I'd really have to have the entire house grounded, and I can't afford it. So my options are to essentially bankrupt myself or to stand an extremely remote chance of death; I'm willing to take the risk. I'm just wondering if what I've heard about the center screw being an inadequate ground is true.

I'd imagine that most cheater plugs are used to float grounds and not for their intended purpose (i.e. to convert three prongs to two safely), and so the green loop isn't connected to anything which would obviously be a hazard, but I don't know.

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