Geraldo Mendoza y Socio: Real Lawyers?

[Lisa]

I am today in receipt of a letter my mother has forwarded to me by GERALDO MENDOZA Y SOCIO, solicitor y notaries public, calle Valezquez 94 1st 28006 Madrin Spain, tel 0011 34 627940 and email barristergeraldomendoza@ozu.es. I am concerned with the contents of the letter being legal tenure. He appears to be searching for clients and wanting to be paid monies out of estates which I feel don't exist. Can you please advise me if the above person is actually a legal attorney in your country, I however feel strongly that this may be a hoax letter that has been sent to my mother. The telephone number has the prefix that one would dial out of Australia which is strange to have on a letterhead from another country. I look forward to your reply if this person does actually exist in your country. Many thanks

[ifv]

Dear Lisa

Please be advised this is nothing but a scam.

Kind regards,

[Unregistered]

Dear Lisa,
I have also received a letter from this so called barrister refering to someone with my surname. People should get a job, work & earn. Not to try to steal from other.
Regards.

[Unregistered]

Dear Lisa,
I have also received a letter from this so called barrister refering to someone with my surname. People should get a job, work & earn. Not to try to steal from other.
Regards.

i have today received a letter saying the same thing from this so called lawyer, who the hell do these people think?, there's so many of these scams going around that people should be very careful with, but i wonder how many do get caught up with these nonsense

im thankful for the internet that we are able to find out straight away what/who these people are.

thanks

[Unregistered]

Hi, just thought I would put in my 2 bobs worth. I've just received a letter from this guy and I've decided to push him a bit further to see how far they will go. I'm then going to get onto the federal police although I'm guessing that its probably a fake address and phone number. Thank you to all those that have bothered to post on the forum - with a bit of luck it will assist in some people NOT getting caught up in this scam. I am most concerned about the elderly as they are more vulnerable.
Cheers
Pat

[Unregistered]

Hi I just recieved a letter also stating that my mother was a benificiary to someone with the same surname. I am very suspicious of this and thankyou for your posts as I now realise it is a scam.

[Unregistered]

Just arrived home and had the same sort of letter sitting in the mail box. This letter asserted that I was the beneficiary of an estate valued at 4.5 million Euros and that, as I have the same surname as the deceased, I could inherit it all minus 10% for charity and the remainder shared between the lawyer and me. I am curious as to why someone with an English name would deposit such an amount with a Spanish lawyer.

The letter is going into the paper recycling bin.

Cheers

Dave

[Unregistered]

I am also in possession of a letter forwarded to my father in Sydney Australia from Geraldo Mendoza Y Socio promising a share in an estate of someone of the same surname. This appears to be a scam.

[Unregistered]

Howdy its seems this spanish lawyer has been a busy boy,received same letter in Australia,who would you contact to report it?Anyway he has wasted a lot of money on postage Cheers .

[Unregistered]

I to, have received not just one letter asking for the utmost confidentiality, in securing an amount of 4.5 million euro, less 10% for a charity, less 50% for the solicitor, but 2 letters.
I decided that the first, was a hoax, and threw it in the waste basket where it belongs.
After receiving a second letter today, I thought that I would check him out on the net, to see if he was real.
Guess what, everyone seems to bank 4.5 million Euro with this guy and then dies, without leaving a will and a nominated heir.
Maybe, the silence should be broken with this guy, and report your letter to the authorities.
I'm sure that there is a law concerning mail scam, and as he is advocating an internet address, could be involved in internet scamming as well.
If you are tempted to contact this 'gentleman', do not provide any personal details re family names, banking details, (for his depository note-or withdrawal) etc.
You would be amazed at what uses such information can provide, and it is all bad for you.

[Unregistered]

And yes, I received an identical letter from Geraldo Mendoza y Socio; same amount of money lying unclaimed, same proposed donation to charity and split the remainder 50/50 with me. I have colleagues in the probate search business in London whom I emailed about this approach and they said it was a certain scam.

If you wish to pursue it, they suggest that you contact the solicitor in question and ask how [insert the name of the deceased here] is related to you and how many beneficiaries there are. If this is genuine and is based on proper research then the solicitor should have access to a family tree which would allow this question to be quickly and simply answered. They should also be able to provide detail that would be unavailable to anyone trying to steal identity information. Naturally, it goes without saying that on no account should you provide this solicitor with any personal details (eg, bank, etc) until you are satisfied as to their probity - normal practice is to send a cheque for payment in these cases, so be suspicious of any request for bank details.

The letter I receied looks quite professional in appearance but we all know how easy that is to do with simple graphic programs. Please be careful!

[Unregistered]

Hi Lisa ,

The first alarm bells ring when you check the envelope : he claims to be a Spanish barrister, so why was this posted from Lisboa, Portugal ?

And he forgot that these days is easy to find other people that receive similar letters...THANKS UNCLE GOOGLE !!

[Unregistered]

Hi,

Just received a similar letter, but the so-called solicitor from Spain (posted in Lisbon, Portugal) does not even say that I am related to his client who left 4 million 500 thousand Euros, just that I have the same surname and as he can't find any true relations, he will somehow prove that I am related to the client with the same surname and the solicitor, a charity and I will all benefit rather than the money just going to the Bank treasury. Maybe he has had too many people asking how they are related and so is now admitting that its a scam, but not, of course the real scam that it is. I guess if people go along with this scam, they will get scammed themselves rather than scamming. Ho Hum.

[Unregistered]

My elderly mother got the same letter dated 24 Sept 2010 here in Adelaide, she actually phoned the a*hole and then phoned me all excited. Unfortunatley I had to deflate that baloon.

[Unregistered]

Hello again, thought you might like to know the happy little chappy actually phoned me after I emailed to advise I didnt think I actually had a relative by that name and he said "of course you dont, I told you that in my letter, as I said in the letter I will look after this" "Do you or dont you want to claim this money less the 10% etc?". To which I replied, "So its illegal then?" Needless to say he got very narky with me and called me a stupid woman amongst other things and I hung up mid sentence. Unbelievable.

[Unregistered]

Hi folks,
I got a similar letter, dated on the 24th. I'm wondering - I'm originally from Germany and moved 5 years ago to Australia. Where did he get my address from? Do we have a chance to involve a trial in portugal?

[Unregistered]

I got a letter with everything all of you have described, however the name of the solicitor is Barrister Mr. Gerald Lescourd. My first instinct was this is a scam and I immediately looked him up - thatnkyou all for posting about your letters - you saved me from having any doubt about the legitimacy of this letter (which is printed in VERY poor quality for a solicitors office.......)

[Unregistered]

Go the same letter, Dated 12 Nov 2010, yet it arrived 19th of Nov, stamped from a melbourne Australia PO BOX, offering 4.5 mill euros, or 45% of it one he gets half and charity gets 10%!!
What a load of rubbish an an obvious scam!!

[Unregistered]

I received similar yesterday. My lost relative at least had the same surname as mine !

GRW, Melbourne

[Unregistered]

Hi all i got the same letter too dated 12 November 2010 and received 22 November 2010. All the same details same amount of money too, the one thing that caught my attention as fake was the supposedly late relative's last name is in a completely different font and in bold. Im glad I looked up the website though to know for sure it is a fake and not the only one.

[Unregistered]

Good morning to all,

We are a Business Center in Madrid, Spain.
Several letters to a "Geraldo Mendoza" person are getting here, we DO NOT know this person.
I have found out that this person is using our address (velazquez street, 94, 1st floor) ILEGALLY.
He is putting our address in his letters.
Once again, we do not know this person.

On one letter there was a mobile phone: there was no answer, the voice mail came up with no greeting mesagge. Instead, an African person with very bad English was heard on the back of the recording.
This is clearly an scam and are using a real address.

Please let us know any info on these people so we can proceed to the proper authorities.
Thank you for your help.

Kind regards.

Borja Rodriguez
ZURICENTER Business Center.
Velazquez street, 94, 1st floor
28006 MADRID. SPAIN.

[Unregistered]

Yes, i believe this is a hoax/scam. My father also received this letter and he is in his 80's, either this person is targeting the erderly, but i think it's sick and cruel.My father insisted to show his lawyer but we convinced him otherwise because it is a scam and ditched the letter.People like this scam artist should be put behind bars for fraud

[Unregistered]

Dear all,

I am Borja Rodriguez, Manager of a Business Center whose address is/was being used by this scam criminals as their address.
I have reported the Police the little details I have.
This scam is called "Nigerian letters". The criminals (formerly from Nigeria or so, giving this scam its name) send thousands of letters offering a scam deal, on the premise that a little % of people would fall for it.
The name "Geraldo Mendoza" is made up to sound like a Spanish person, but that name would belong to someone from South America, not Spain.
Also, in this country a Notary cannot be a Solicitor at the same time.

Please ignore all letters you receive from these criminals.

It really bothers us that they are using a real address in Madrid, our address.

Do not hesitate to contact me in: administracion@zuricenter.es.

Borja Rodriguez
ZURICENTER Business Center
Velazquez 94, 1st floor
28006 Madrid