419 scam: "Ms. Maria Omar Shatwan" <mariaomarshatwan23@gmail.com> Letter of Business Proposal (View letter attached below)

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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 united states 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)
- "foreign exchange" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Ms. Maria Omar Shatwan" <mariaomarshatwan23@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Ms. Maria Omar Shatwan" <mariaomarshatwan@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2014 21:35:54 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Letter of Business Proposal (View letter attached below)

Mrs. Maria Omar Shatwan
Flat 401 Duncan Boulevard
42 Church Street
Turffontein
Johannesburg 2001
South Africa

Good day,

Firstly I want to say thanks for responding to my email even though we have not met and know each other but I believe this is a step to a lasting relationship between us. I will like to give a brief description about myself and also my plans in your country.

Before the death of my husband, he had taken my son Mr. Hassan Mohammed Shatwan to the Republic of South Africa to deposit the sum of US$36,000,000,00 (Thirty Six Million United States Dollars) in one of the private security / finance company as if he foresaw the looming danger in Libya. This money was deposited as a family treasure.

This money was realized from the looting and crisis that was happening in Libya years ago. This crisis came when Libyan President Lt. Col. Muammar Gadaffi introduced War Act Reform which wholly affected all the Libyans citizens and foreigners, and this resulted to the killing and mob action by Libyan war veterans and some lunatics in the society. In fact, a lot of people were killed because of this Lt. Col. Muammar Gadaffi regime dictatorship which my husband was one of the victims who died.

It is against this background that I and my son Mr. Hassan Mohammed Shatwan decided to migrate to the republic of South Africa to find a way to transfer my husband’s money to foreign account since the law of South Africa prohibit a refugee (asylum seeker) to open any bank account or to be involved in any financial transaction throughout the territorial zone of South Africa. I am saddle with the responsibility of seeking a genuine foreign partner who can assist my son with your personal/company's account where this money could be transferred without the knowledge of the interim government who are bent from taking everything we had and assist in investing it.

The South African government seems to be playing along with them. I am faced with the dilemma of investing this amount of money in South Africa for fear of going through the same experience in future since both countries have similar political history. Moreover, the South African Foreign Exchange policy does not allow such investment as an asylum seeker.

I have already secured the help of a very good and reliable attorney here in South Africa that will assist me through this process and I will handle everything on this side so that the money can be moved to your country then I will meet with you with my son for the investment planning.

Do get back to me with any ideas and also signify your interest in this so we can proceed with the plans as I previously discussed with my attorney.

Best Regards,

Mrs. Maria Omar Shatwan
(For the family)

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