Careful with Scammers Posing as Spanish Lawyers
Within the last year we’ve seen an alarming increase in the number of queries regarding the legitimacy of certain Spanish law firms and lawyers. These companies are in fact non-existent and act only as shelter companies devised to fleece foreigners offering them dubious legal services often related to some murky financial interest, which is in the end nothing but some sort of advance fee fraud (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Advance_fee_fraud). Foreigners should be well advised that these scammers pass themselves off as legitimate Spanish law firms and lawyers. They prey exclusively on foreigners and are in fact not even Spanish themselves. Their command of English is very good.
Spanish lawyers belong to one of the numerous Bar Associations that sprawl throughout Spain. There are a total of 83. Every lawyer member of a BA will have a registered number. It is very easy to check in less than a minute if a Spanish lawyer is legitimate, providing he is in fact registered of course.
These fraudsters will always contact you to offer legal assistance in some service of which you by chance are the sole lucky beneficiary. The potential reward to reap is huge (hundreds of thousands if not millions) in exchange of a reasonable legal fee which in comparison doesn’t seem like much. The preffered contact method is email (which they may follow up by ordinary post), and they will offer you either of the following legal “services”:
- Letting you know that after a long and winding investigation it has surfaced that you are the sole live beneficiary of a considerable Spanish inheritance from some distant relative you had in Spain (unbeknown to you) that has sadly passed away.
- Offering you to join group actions to recover deposits from bogus resale time share companies in ongoing court proceedings (Reclaim Certificates (http://www NULL.thisismoney NULL.co NULL.uk/news/columnists/article NULL.html?in_article_id=401923&in_page_id=19&in_author_id=5)).
- Notifying you that you have won the Spanish Lottery (despite never having played it) or that you have been selected in a random draw and are now the lucky beneficiary of a special promotion from the generous Spanish Lotto Administration.
- Contacting you regarding using your bank account, in exchange of a sizeable commission, for some million dollar bank transfer with origin in some dodgy place in Africa. This is known as the Nigerian Letters.
- Offer to assist you in the verification and payment of unclaimed funds located in Spain of which you happen to be the only beneficiary.
An example of enquiries about such bogus firms are the following:
- Martinez e Beneficio (http://www NULL.marbella-lawyers NULL.com/forums/showthread NULL.php?t=117)
- Alberto Ganez Y Socio (http://www NULL.marbella-lawyers NULL.com/forums/showthread NULL.php?t=155)
- Perez, Gonzalez and Associates (http://www NULL.marbella-lawyers NULL.com/forums/showthread NULL.php?t=97) & Perez, Carrera and Associates (http://www NULL.marbella-lawyers NULL.com/forums/showthread NULL.php?t=97)
Our recommendation, as always, is to never ever pay moneys upfront if you have the slightest suspicion about the legitimicay of the people you are dealing with.
We have compiled a list of bogus law firms (http://www NULL.marbella-lawyers NULL.com/forums/showthread NULL.php?t=382)which is continously updated.
Other interesting related links:
- Protecting Yourself from Pyramid or “Ponzi” Schemes – 21st February 2009
- Fraudulent sell of shares from Spain – Boiler rooms (http://www NULL.fsa NULL.gov NULL.uk/pages/Doing/Regulated/Law/Alerts/overseas NULL.shtml) UK FSA’s link.
- Timeshare resellers: Be careful! (http://www NULL.marbella-lawyers NULL.com/articles/showArticle/timeshare-reselling-scam) – 23rd of August 2001
- Lottery Fraud: Yet Another Scam (http://www NULL.marbella-lawyers NULL.com/articles/showArticle/gordo-sweepstakes-scam) – 24th September 2001
- Is the ‘El Gordo Lottery Sweepstake Company’ a genuine company? (http://www NULL.marbella-lawyers NULL.com/questions/showQuestion/133-Is-the-%27El-Gordo-Lottery-Sweepstake-Company%27-a-genuine--company-)
- European Mediation Limited (http://www NULL.marbella-lawyers NULL.com/forums/showthread NULL.php?t=77)
- Bogus Holiday Club Membership (mostly in Canaries) (http://www NULL.marbella-lawyers NULL.com/forums/showthread NULL.php?t=365)
Recieved a letter from Juan Ramon Alfonso Abogados that is a legal solicitor. Add this name as a scam also. They offer a split of $12 million and 10% to charity. of my late next of kin´s estate. I sent an email asking for proof and came across this website. They just wrote a mobile no and a emial with gmx.es.
Juan Ramon Alfonso Abogados
C/Ruiz de Alarcon. S/N
28014 Madrid, Spain
Hi, I live in Norway and we just received a letter from Pablo Suarez, Cuatrecasa Abogados. The same thing about unclaimed funds from a person who died in a Tsunami. He offers to share 50%. Crazy… I wonder how much do they get doing this…
The address he gives is:
Via Laietana 28
08003 Barcelona
Tel:0034602684748
pablosuarezesq@yahoo.es (pablosuarezesq null@null yahoo NULL.es)
@Lui
I live in Denmark and I got identical letter. There was also the same adress and telephone number and information about tsunami.
Jsem z České republiky (CZ)a dostal jsem dopis od PABLO SUAREZ a je to právní zástupce firmy CUATRECASA ABOGADOS prý jsem jediný pozůstalý po zemřelých při tsunami.Je to další podvod.Nekomunikujte s nimi vůbec.Chtejí majetek rozdělit na 50%
Adresa je:
Via Laietana 28
08003 Barcelona
Tel: 0034602684748
pablosuarezesq@yahoo.es (pablosuarezesq null@null yahoo NULL.es) (pablosuarezesq @ yahoo es)
same story…..I received a letter from “Mariano Acosta Ruis Esq.” that my relativ,same family name left 5.8 million Euro. 20% persent for charity and the rest to share equally with him.
evrything is fake even the resume of this “lawer”
@Fafek Vladimír
Jsem také z České Republiky a naprosto stejný scénař – souhlasí jméno i adresa.
add this one to the list :
Barrister Pablo Garcia Esq
Santa Feliciana 18, P28010 Madrid
He has 9mln euro for us…
So my mother just received a letter from spain, the Name and adress :
Frank nicholas barrister
adress Av/reino de Valencia, 8, 11 46005
Received letter from Gonzales Domingo Abogados Law Firm, Madrid Spain. It seems a client died, leaving 50 Million Euro to a relative but the lawyer, Richard Gottlieb, could not locate a relative in Spain, so he had to search all the way to Australia & end up with me by the same last name. For all his trouble, he wanted 50% of the inheritance proceeds. I did google a Spanish Law Firm by that name, with a lawyer by that name, though spelled differently and with a different email address. This has SCAM written all over it!
I received a similar letter. Just curious as to how the scam works. Could someone please explain it to me. I’m thinking as long as you don’t send any money, how could you possibly be scammed ? So you agree to be Next of Kin, then what ? Just ask for the money then ?? Is there any lawyers on here reading these posts, with a way we could actually get the money to scam the scammers ? !!
Hi pls add this one to the list. Ruiz Nova Garrido,Calle Alcaravea 21 ,288850 Torrejon de Ardoz,Madrid, Espana,how can these people be so stupid to think someone will actually fall for these scams!
Also received an letter in the post from:
Gonzalez Domingo Abogados Law Firm
Calle Esperanto 11,3• D 28930 – Madrid
Email: richgotieb.es @gmail.com
http:// gozdabogadoes.com/es
Tel: 01134611226491, Fax: +34917693046
They claimed a distant relative has died in Spain and left me US$6.4 million.
They also said that even if I’m not a relative they could “fix it up” because we have the same surname.
On the form it is clear that a new surname is used to personalise the message as the font is different from the rest of the letter.
Scam! Scam! Scam! Scam!
These people should go to jail.
My husband just received a letter from Mr Alex Blanc With the an offer. The Law firm name was Fal & Co Law Suit in Madrid Spain. May want to add this to the list
snail mail delivery to Canada from Barrister Richard Gottlieb of Madrid-based Gonzalez Domingo Abogados Law Firm today to share in the claim of USD$6.5M from a bank vault that belonged to a passenger on Spanair Flight 5502. With less than 5 minutes of Google research it was confirmed that a passenger with a similar name perished but not the one cited in the letter.
Just received a letter today that contains almost the same information as poster #12. The only difference is the following:
– Email: gottliebrich.dr@gmail.com (gottliebrich NULL.dr null@null gmail NULL.com)
– Money sum: USD $6.5M
– No fax
I had a laugh though, but at the same time angry with whomever sold my contact details to this group.
I’m living in Denmark, got the same shit :))) :
from
Barrister Mark Corel.
COREL ABOGADOS.
Hi, i’m from Canada and I received a fax from Alfonso Martins who supposedly works for Legal Practisioner & Notaria Agencia… He offers to share 60/40 the 15 million dollars of his late client Mr Graf Mamfred who died in the tragic Madrid train bomb attack on March 11 2004. He says that we have to hurry up because the money will be confiscated after 10 years if not claimed(which is in a few months…) Yeah right!
Be careful for this man. See below his information:
Barr. Alfonso Martins (Esq.)
BA/LLB/LPC (EU Law)
Legal Services
Tel: +34-631-414-010
Fax: +34 917-692-935
Email: alfmartins@lawyer.com (alfmartins null@null lawyer NULL.com)
Received a letter from Mr Alvaro Gabriel De Muneno of Ruiz Nova Garrido law firm.
Got a letter from Mariano Nuncio Jimenez from the law firm Estudio Juridico Miguel Nova & Asociados stating a long lost relative died and I was going to inherit MILLIONS of $$$
Question is: the last name is on my husband’s side, so how could he be my uncle.
Also, if he is from Spain, why don’t they offer EUROS and not Dollars!!
Looked up address and names and of course, they don’t exist
BEWARE!!!
I am in Ontario Canada and I just received a letter from a Barrister Manuel Dopico Sanjurjo and I apparently may have a relative who died…who has an unclaimed 6.9 Million.
His email is info-dopico@dopicoabogados.es (info-dopico null@null dopicoabogados NULL.es)
direct # 34602460980
I don’t need to check anything…a total scam!
I live in Ontario Canada and I received a latter from a Barrister in Spain by the name of Manuel Dopico Sanjurjo. I apparently have a ‘maybe’ relative who died and has 6.9 Million sitting unclaimed.
The contact info is info.dopico@dopicoabogados.es (info NULL.dopico null@null dopicoabogados NULL.es)
Phone: 346 024 60980
I do not need to check. This is a total scam!
And most probably Nigerians, or any other West-African country.
The authorites there need to get a grip on this.
Hi I am from Cyprus and I received the same letter from “Edward Marco Pardini ESQ” (Attorney at law) that a man with same family name left 9.5 million dollars after train bombing in Madrid. 10% persent for charity and the rest to share equally with him.
The contact info is: mpardiniesq@yahoo.es (mpardiniesq null@null yahoo NULL.es) marcopardini@gmx.com (marcopardini null@null gmx NULL.com)
01134602371583
Hi, today I received a nice letter as well stating that within soon I will be a millionaire.
The address of the Spanish Sollicitor:
Estudio Juridico Alvaro Gabriel De Muneno Law Suit
Plaza Pablo mar Picasso 1, Madrid 28020, Spain
Amgabriel@lawyer.com (Amgabriel null@null lawyer NULL.com)
Avg@ruiznovagarrido.eu (Avg null@null ruiznovagarrido NULL.eu)
Hi, i’m from the Netherlands and I received a letter from Alvaro Gabriel De Muneno he says he is a Lawyer, found my dead ‘uncle’ ho has left 10 million. Be careful for this man. See below his information:
Estudio Juridico Alvaro Gabriel De Muneno, Law Suit, Plaza Pablo mar Picasso 1, Madrid 28020. tel: +34698215218/fax +34911820176, avg@ruiznovagarrido.eu (avg null@null ruiznovagarrido NULL.eu), email:amgabriel@lawyer.com
I live in the Netherlands and I received a letter that Alvaro Gabriel De Muneno of Ruiz Nova Garrido law firm wants to share 9.6 million dollars with me from a non existing relative who died in 2006.
The address he uses is Plaza Pablo mar Picasso 1, Madrid 28020. Does not exist I think.
The contact info in the letter is: alvarog@ruiznovagarrido.eu (alvarog null@null ruiznovagarrido NULL.eu)
@ Johan Moes
zelfde brief ontvangen van de zelfde man uit spanje. het geerfde bedrag is 9.6 miljoen. hij wil de helft van het bedrag. nu vraggt hij een telefoon nummer om verder te communiseren.
de kans is groot als je accoord gaat in zon zaak, dat je de zogenaamde gerechtskosten moet gaan betalen, als je halverwegen afzegt. ik weet dit niet zeker maar denk het zo, omdat deze ‘(advocaten) voor jou aan het werk zijn geweest.
denk erom, zij weten de juridische weg en wij niet.
zelfde zaak als johan Moes. zelfde man (alvaro gabriel de muneno, law suit).
ik zou 9.6 miljoen geerft hebben, waarvan 50% commissie voor mr alvaro.
nu wil hij verder onderhandelen via de telefoon, en vraagt mij, mijn tel. nummer.
de kans is groot als je accoord gaat in zon zaak, dat je de zogenaamde gerechtskosten moet gaan betalen, als je halverwegen afzegt. ik weet dit niet zeker maar denk het zo, omdat deze ‘(advocaten) voor jou aan het werk zijn geweest.
denk erom, zij weten de juridische weg en wij niet.
Ook ik heb zelfde brief ontvangen van de zelfde man uit spanje. het geerfde bedrag is 9.6 miljoen. hij wil de helft van het bedrag. nu vraagt hij ook mij een telefoon nummer om verder te communiseren. hmmmm
Hi my name is Yolanda and I also live in the Netherlands.I also received a letter that Alvaro Gabriel De Muneno of Ruiz Nova Garrido law firm wants to share 9.6 million dollars with me ( 50/50) from a non existing relative who died in 2006. The letter was dated 06-05-2014.
The address he uses is Plaza Pablo mar Picasso 1, Madrid 28020. The contact info in the letter is: alvarog@ruiznovagarrido.eu (alvarog null@null ruiznovagarrido NULL.eu)
This morning I received an e-mail that we need to talk “intimate”? on the phone, he wants my number or I have to call him! hmmmmmmm
@Yolanda
hoi Yolanda. de email die ik kreeg is;
avg@ruiznovagarrido.eu (avg null@null ruiznovagarrido NULL.eu). je ziet de email adressen kloppen al niet.
mijn brief die ik kreeg was gedateerd op 07-05-2014. kees
pas op, deze man probeerde mijn rekeningnr, mn id kaart nr, en een handtekening los te krijgen, ivm de te storten erfenis. als je deze gegevens geeft doet hij allerlei aankopen op jou naam, er zijn mensen die met soortgelijken acties tot wel 80.000 euro de schuld in gingen. huis weg, auto weg, huwelijk kapot…..dit is een fisching methode. pas dus op……………stort ook niet 1 euro ter bevestiging of de rekening wel van jou is….
My husband and I, who live in Brisbane, Australia, received a letter from Gonzalez Domingo Abogados Law Firm. Giveaway was typo in the name Gottlieb but email address is: richardgottliedlaw@gmail.com (richardgottliedlaw null@null gmail NULL.com)
Claiming a relative died in SpainAir 5022 crash splitting inheritance 50% to lawyer 45% to (husband) and 5% to charity.
Be wary…
Hi, I received a letter from Manuel Dopico Sanjurjo saying that a person with the same last name as me died leaving a large estate worth $6.9m and we can 50% each. He’s from Dopica Abogados in Vigo, Spain. Looks convincing but after checking the law firm and the contact numbers looks dodgy.
lol i have received a letter from the same guy as adam and the same amount of money. dodgy much?
Got a letter from Barrister Manuel H. Philips for US$ 9 Million
Though the letter is stamped from Valencia Post Office the address is in Madrid:
Campo de las Naciones
Poli Ind. C/Ribera del loira, 21
28042 Madrid, Spain
tel +34 691 726 940
philipslawos@gmail.com (philipslawos null@null gmail NULL.com)
manuelphilips@outlook.com (manuelphilips null@null outlook NULL.com)
Hi I live in Australia and just recieved a letter from
Mr Nicolas Simon Garcia,
Associate Attorney
Phone number and Fax number supplied on a letter head with Soler Monte International as the Company Logo
I too was told my distant relative has passed and have 5 Million Euros coming my way, I knew it was a scam but thought you should know about this one too
I live in Canada. I received a letter (snail mail) from Soler Monte International of Spain. The letter says Mr. Jacob Miguel Salvador (Attorney/Solicitor) wants to give me 5 Million Euros left by a relative. I have not contacted this person and destroyed the letter.
Nicolas Simon Garcia of the “law firm” Soler Monte International in Albacete,Spain, tells me in a letter sent from Germany (?) that a distant relative who was a major industrial magnate (oddly not listed in Google) who died suddenly along with his family (in an apparent tragedy unreported anywhere) has left me 5 million Euros. I can’t believe my luck! No, really, I can’t believe it.
The “law firm” does have a superficially persuasive website. As tempted as I am to send them an FU email, I’ll resist. I am very annoyed, however, that they have my contact information. But I’m sure they won’t waste another 75-pfennig stamp on me if I ignore them.
Hello I also received a letter from Soler Monte International in Albacete Spain, I received this on June 28th as well although the lawyer was different he was Jacob Miguel Salvador. He promised the same 5 million dollar euros and same story about a tragic death for his whole family, and that I should contact him by email. I was almost going to email the lawyer and president of that company saying someone hijacked there company email and was sending out this BS when I saw this website.
Thanks for the info.
You say it is easy to check on a registered Spanish Lawyer but how do I do that. I do not find it on an Internet search.
Hello Fred
The site below enables you to conduct a search on any lawyer registered in Spain:
http://www.abogacia.es/servicios-abogacia/censo-de-letrados/ (http://www NULL.abogacia NULL.es/servicios-abogacia/censo-de-letrados/)
Regards
I just received one (I live in Sweden)
He says his name is Adams Davis, works for B& Q ABOGADOS on Calle Molina de segura 5,3,1B CQ 007 Murcia, Espana but the letter was sent from Sevilla
He offered a 50% offer and said a relative in Spain died in 2005…..
Add this to the bunch
Barrister Manuel H.Philips Esq
Campi de las Naciones
Poli Ind. C/Ribera del Loira 21.
28042 Madrid, Spain
Tel: +34 691 726 940
Unknown Oliver with my family name died. He had fix deposit on his house, worth 9million USD. 50% is his, 40% is mine, and 10% goes to charity.
LOL 😀
I wish it was true, hahaha. I could deal with 3.6 million USD 😀
Today I received a letter from Antwerpen, Belgium. A certain Victor Fernando Enrique has 5 Millions to give away as his client has sadly died (RIP) and is now looking for a person with the same surname. The company’s name is Soler Monte International. Do not respond!
I just got a letter in the mail from my lawyer saying that my great grandfather died and left several thousand dollars in my trust. It has my name and I received the mail 2 days ago. I know the people sending it to me, but it has to be a scam. Seems just like the rest of your stories. I mean this money is $124,000, but I’m not sure what I could even do with that much money. Might buy a new door for the house if I had that much. Maybe get a new used car. But gees, I don’t know. They want me to come watch a video and stuff with them that he left, but I feel like I should be very cautious. I think my parents are going to be there too. I am trying to make them know it’s probably a scam. I’m so glad you guys are on here telling this stuff and these stories. I don’t want to get there and be had. Thanks so much. Law firm is Lutz Longstaff and Associates. Hampton, NB, Canada. or something like that…
i also got a letter from Jacob Miguel Salvador of SOLER MONTE INTERNATIONAL advising five million euro was waiting for me as possible heir. Not in the least is this a convincing letter.
my elderly father who himself is unwell received a letter today from soler monte international and mr Jacob Miguel Salvador saying that someone we don’t know with my fathers surname has passed and we are to receive 5 million euros and after researching this on the net found all you guys ,,so thanks to all and may the scammers all go to buggery…becareful out there,,these guys pray on the vunerable and people with huge kind hearts…its not right…so be careful…
Ditto. Snail mail from Spain to Australia. Barrister Manuel Dopico Sanjurjo of Dopico Abogados Law Firm. Offered a 50/50 split of inherited $6.9 million U.S. The words “we don’t need to make undue publicity” and “Secret and discretion must be maintained” were enough to make the alarm bells ring twice as loud! Damn, I would have been very happy to have the $3.45 million.