419 scam: Paul Mertz <jeremias.salonen@salokuu.fi> Kindly Read

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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:

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 british pounds" (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)
- "here in united kingdom" (this email uses bad English)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: Paul Mertz <jeremias.salonen@salokuu.fi>
Reply-To: pmerzt@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2019 02:44:41 +0300
Subject: Kindly Read

Attn:

My name is Paul Mertz I am a Staff of one of the leading Banks here in United Kingdom. I have a business deal for you which involve £10,000,000 GBP (Ten Million British Pounds) that i discovered when carrying out auditing of accounts in my department.

However, if you can permit me I will use your Information as the beneficiary of the fund if you are willing and ready to co-operate with me.

I await your response to enable me furnish you with more detailed information.

Best Regards,

Paul Mertz.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam