419 scam: William J Burns <t-imagawa@sairaku.jp> SALUTATION ESTEEMED

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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:
- "million dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
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.
- williamjosephburnsorg@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: William J Burns <t-imagawa@sairaku.jp>
Reply-To: williamjosephburnsorg@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2023 09:12:41 -0800
Subject: SALUTATION ESTEEMED

--
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,Langley, McLean,
Virginia, United States.
ATTENTION!
Greetings to you dear citizen/resident of United States of America and
the World at large I am William J Burns the Director of CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DEPARTMENT . I sincerely apologize for my late
intervention to your welfare, I'm contacting you this very minute to
inform you that your name was shortlisted in our payroll list of
citizens/residents of United States of America who are victims of scam
and fraudster who took away your hard earned money unlawfully. Through
my office in collaboration with the Bank of America and the office of
the President United States of America, we have decided to compensate
you with the sum of Twenty Million Dollars($20,000,000) for you to start
a new life regardless of all the damages and pains caused to you by
scammers and fraudsters.
Do accept our best wishes for you and reconfirm the following
information;
Your full Name................
Home Address................
State...............................
Phone number................
Occupation.....................
We look forward for your immediate co-operation so that we will proceed
with the Endowment .Together We shall Make World safe and Great Again.
contact the CIA director through this Email
"williamjosephburnsorg@gmail.com"

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam