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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- bettinrina@yahoo.co.jp (Yahoo, Japan; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
- if you can help respond back to me on my private email: bettinrina@yahoo.co.jp or bettinarin@yahoo.com bettina rinaldo. (Yahoo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs.Bettina Rinaldo" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bettinrina@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:15:05 -0500
Subject: PLEASE I NEED YOUR HELP..
HELLO,
I AM MS. BETTINA RINALDO, A DEVOTED WIDOWED CHRISTIAN LEFT WITH AN UNCOMPLETED FOUNDATION/ESTATE BY MY LATE LOVING HUSBAND.
I BELIEVE OUR FATHER ALMIGHTY HAS DIRECTED ME TO YOU AS I PRAYED AND SEARCHED OVER THE INTERNET FOR ASSISTANCE BEFORE I COME ACROSS YOUR EMAIL ON MICROSOFT EMAIL OWNERS LIST AND PICKED YOU.
BECAUSE OF MY ILL HEALTH, I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO FINISH OUR PROJECT EVEN WITH THE AVAILABILITY OF ALL THE LARGE FUNDS IN MY POSSESSION. THAT'S WHY I'M PLEADING WITH YOU TO HELP IN FINISHING THIS OUR PROJECT.
IF YOU CAN HELP RESPOND BACK TO ME ON MY PRIVATE EMAIL: bettinrina@yahoo.co.jp or bettinarin@yahoo.com
BETTINA RINALDO.
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Anti-fraud resources:
