419 scam: "Mr. Alfonso Zapata"<agnithazo@agnithazorg.nl> Confidential Letter

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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.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "confidential business" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "there are practically no risks involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "back to me via my private e-mail" (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
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.
- zzapata@rediffmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Alfonso Zapata" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <zzapata@rediffmail.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 06:09:27 +0200
Subject: Confidential Letter

Bill and Exchange Manager

Mr. Alfonso Zapata

PrivateEmail: zzapata@rediffmail.com

Private Fax: 00 34 917 692 656

Attention,

I am Mr. Alfonso Zapata, a staff of Ing-Direct Spain. I have a confidential business proposal for you. There is this business opportunity here in our bank which is an abandoned sum of 8.2M (Eight million Two Hundred Thousand Euros) that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died in 2002. I decided to contact you based on the fact that I will present you as the beneficiary.

Please download the attach file to read about this proposal, I attached it for a security reason.

There are practically no risks involved, this transaction will be executed under a legitimate arrangement with all the legal documents. I plead with you on one issue; keep this transaction confidential and all the information between you and me, get back to me via my private e-mail or my personal fax for confidentiality.

Best Regards,

Mr. Alfonso Zapata

Private Email: zzapata@rediffmail.com

Private Fax: 00 34 917 692 656

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam