Old Skool Scam
Friday, January 11, 2008

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This is a 419 scam which in itself is not that exciting.  However, this one arrived by post (snail mail), in a stamped envelope and signed by hand.  Lovely personal touch from my new friend Mrs Sara Cardona Raso Zamaz from Spain who is going to share with me 60/40 77.7m USD that was abandoned in the C.C. Bank in Spain by a person sharing my surname who, with every member of his family, tragically died in a “ghastly train accident” in Madrid.  Lucky us!!  But it is all “terribly secret” so I must call or fax directly to Sara or her husband Mr Andrew Paul Zamaz from South Africa. 

Woo Hoo!!  I’m going to be rich!!  Who’s up for a group holiday to Fiji?

Decreed by the goddess on 01/11 at 12:32 AM
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Tags: funmailscamspain

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Previous entry: Happy Birthday Dad

Offerings

  • Barbara Northcott offered on 08/01/11 at 11:05 AM.....

    Sure, you are going to be really rich- just maybe the stamp on the envelope is worth some money! Love, Mum

  • Terri (Alberta, Canada) offered on 08/02/07 at 11:36 PM.....

    My husband just received the same type of letter from ‘Linda Rodriguez Martin of Spain who is married to Barrister John Martin of South Africa’ who ‘have been married for eight years and are blessed with two kids’ (a nice personal touch!) promising to split the abandoned 77.7 million 60/40 as well. I thought I’d google parts of the letter to see if it’s a widespread scam - I didn’t think these archaic scams still existed but I guess they do…..

  • the goddess offered on 08/02/12 at 12:10 AM.....

    Hi Terrie,  It is interesting that this post has received a heap of hits from all over the world with the keywords of the name and the 77.7million dollar figure.  Seems that they have been busy sending out lots of letters lately. 

    Fortunately people are now savvy enough to do a quick google search to see if there are any comments. I am glad that this post is helping people recognise the scam and to not act on it.  These scammers are parasites.

  • Leslie (Victoria, BC, Canada) offered on 08/02/15 at 02:23 PM.....

    I too received this letter.  At first I was excited to see that it was from Spain because my partner had just come back from a European tour (including Spain).  I thought that maybe he had written me a letter on the road.  Turns out it wasn’t an old fashion love letter but an old school scam.  Weird.  I wonder how they chose their potential scam victims…

  • Theres offered on 08/03/17 at 09:51 PM.....

    Our family got this letter today and i thought that i’d check it out. i mean, who would believe these kinds of things; even my 14 year old cousin knew it was a scam!

  • the goddess offered on 08/03/18 at 12:35 AM.....

    Seems that Sara has been a busy little bee sending lots of snail mail around the world.  Should hand it over to one of the 419 baiters to have some fun with her.  Sadly, I am too busy to do it. 

    Just as long as no-body falls for this - these guys are thieves!!!

  • c (canada) offered on 08/03/27 at 11:52 AM.....

    I too received the same piece of mail via snail mail today and by instinct I turn to Google.  How stupid do these people think we are??

  • julia (toronto) offered on 08/03/27 at 10:37 PM.....

    lol, thank you for posting this.. I received this letter today too from my new friend Sara Cardona Raso Zamaz in Madrid.  Seems she is burdened with inheritances! Claims my relative “Anderseni” has left 77.7 mil for me in a “CC bank” account. The letter is so much more personal than an email. Love the grammar.. wonder what her rate of return is?

    Now I will sell the house, quit my job and order a gulfstream jet. 
    ...then again maybe not. 
    Thanks and take it easy.  wink

  • Young (Canada) offered on 08/03/28 at 08:33 AM.....

    WOW ! How many people with big money died that day? Must have been hundreds!! What horror, what terror, what carnage ! At least Sara Cardona Razo Zamaz is trying to do something about it!

    Now they are at names like ” Young ” - believe me , I want mine first! - otherwise it is all my life in this snow and ice-covered climate

    If they are seeking ’ Young” as a surname, wait until they get a Hong Kong phonebook!! There may be greedheads trying to cut their way in to this, my birthright

    Will Sara let me know where to send the Bank Transfer or Cheque? Will her honesty be rewarded?

    Stay tuned to watch Sara against the world!

    PS - I have some Liberian cement contracts that she may want to invest in for the longer-term benefit of her husband and children.

    PPS - Now that they are in Spain can’t INTERPOL do something about these vultures?

  • n offered on 08/04/02 at 12:35 PM.....

    I recieved the same letter today. Can’t you report this somewhere?

  • Gary (Missxissauga) offered on 08/04/02 at 01:06 PM.....

    That Bank must have a huge vault since I too received an offer for 77.7 million. I guess you have to get in a lineup to get paid. I guess I won’t wait for my free money. The train wreck must have been bad to have killed so many Canadians. Someone should let Spain know what bad publicity this is for them and maybe they will close them down.

  • Nancy offered on 08/04/02 at 06:29 PM.....

    Well, I just received the same letter. If it had been sent to another member of my family, they would have jumped at the money, risking everything. This person should be stopped

  • Vlad offered on 08/04/02 at 07:01 PM.....

    Yeah! I got 77mil from Mrs Sara Cardona Razo Zamaz!!!
    All I need to do i dial +34 699 178 117

  • Anne (Mississauga) offered on 08/04/04 at 11:40 AM.....

    Wow, I thought I was the only unfortunate one to lose an entire family on the “ghastly train explosion”!  How dumb do they think we are!!!

  • E (Near Toronto) offered on 08/04/04 at 09:02 PM.....

    Same letter came to our home today (Apr 4 2008). How long will it take to get my money? Maybe I can get a line of credit to tie me over until the cash rolls in. In all serousness where do they get these addresses from it is a little disturbing. What happens when you call the number?

  • Jhann (thornhill ON) offered on 08/04/04 at 09:39 PM.....

    We got the same letter this week. Sorry to hear others have been affected by this.
    Indeed thanks for posting this so we can all rest easy. The typo’s in the letter are the best.
    The cake topping is the “God Bless” on the end of the letter cracks me up.


    I hope nobody falls for this.

  • J-Dawg (Mississauga) offered on 08/04/07 at 06:15 PM.....

    We just got the same message too! Ahahhahahhaha!!! The letter didn’t really bother me – I was more disturbed by their horrible spelling and grammar.

  • Another Gary (Mississauga) offered on 08/04/07 at 06:35 PM.....

    Apparently, we also lost our entire family in a “ghastly train accident” too, horrible how many people died in that, eh? Luckily they were rich…but if they’re supposedly OUR family, why do we get only 40% of the money? I suggest these people spend less time scamming people and take a couple grammar lessons instead…that really was the worst part. Oh well, I guess we won’t be buying that mansion and 5 ferraris after all. ah well….

  • Amy (Mississauga) offered on 08/04/14 at 08:40 AM.....

    I just received this letter too!  How I love the internet.  I was just checking all the details of the letter, and to find information to report these people…and I found you guys!  I am glad I don’t have to waste any more time on these scam artists….

  • Cat (Toronto) offered on 08/04/14 at 10:44 AM.....

    ....40% / 60% what kind of incentive is that?  I guess I shouldn’t be so greedy?  hahahahahahahah

  • Laurie (Toronto) offered on 08/04/15 at 12:35 PM.....

    I rec’d my letter April 14th. 170 people died and 500 were injured in that train bombing,so it is sad that someone is trying to profit from it.But what the hell, my head is reeling as I try to imagine what I will do with my newly found money. And I am more than happy to surrender 60% of it, because I think that when a person signs off their letter with God Bless, they just have to be nice. I can’t believe the stupidity of these people to think that anyone would take this seriously. I guess they’re living La Vida Loca!

  • Brewery lofts offered on 08/04/18 at 08:20 AM.....

    People still falling for these kind of scans? They need to came up with some new ideas to fool people.

    (Link removed - please don’t use my blog comments for links to commercial sites)

  • NIck (Australia) offered on 08/04/20 at 11:15 PM.....

    We too have just received exactly the same mail from Mrs Zamaz and her South African Husband. The amount of $77.7m is the same but surname of the deceased is different. The C.C bank should be notified of this potential scam and the perpetrators prosecuted for their trouble.I have no doubt that some poor impoverished family will fall for the scam hoping the money will solve all their problems. How uncharitable would that be?The Zamazes (if that is their real name) should be behind bars for a lengthy period thus putting an end to any misery they are causing.

  • Baby Sag (Mars) offered on 08/05/04 at 05:28 PM.....

    How can they spend on stamps?... anyone?

  • Jim Bisnett offered on 08/05/15 at 09:21 AM.....

    This is too funny!  The sad part is that there are people that fall for theses scams.  Dateline NBC did an expose on this subject and it was so funny when they cornered the scammers in a hotel room and called their bluff.

  • Jay Bails (Melbourne) offered on 08/05/27 at 03:25 AM.....

    Unfortunately I too recieved the same letter.  I however did not have the foresigh to look on the internet first and I called to see what had happened, before long, I was convinced that my worries were over (having lost my job a couple of weeks before).  They were so nice and all I had to do to release to money was pay to set up a special Gibralta account ($4,400 AUD) and pay $6,000 to transfer the cash in. I started to get a little worried after they stopped returning my calls and now I have had a look on the internet I am horrified.  I took out a new credit card to repay these vultures…

    ...now I feel really silly.  I guess my greed got the better of me.

    These people must be stopped, I’m glad that no one else seems to have lost thier money as I did.

  • the goddess offered on 08/05/27 at 09:24 AM.....

    Well I guess we all know where Sara got the money to buy the next lot of stamps.

    Seriously though, it is a shame you didn’t check it through first. I hope you reported this theft to the authorities such as the australian federal police but there is little chance of getting your money back.

    When it sounds too good to be true…  it probably is. 

    Have you reported this to Scamwatch?
    http://www.scamwatch.gov.au

  • Eric (LV) offered on 08/05/29 at 01:31 AM.....

    Nowadays these spams have become more popular in post as well as through email and I am wondering that poeple are still there to beleive and prove themselfs as fool.
    <Link Removed with prejudice>

  • j-ster (adelaide) offered on 08/05/29 at 04:29 AM.....

    Im so amused by the thought of a spammer commenting on this issue!

  • the goddess offered on 08/05/29 at 04:50 AM.....

    Damn these comment spammers are giving me the shits.  J-ster - how many are you getting?

    Spamming and scamming are so not cool. 

    DO NOT COMMENT LINK ON MY BLOG ANYMORE.

  • Isaac offered on 08/07/05 at 12:04 AM.....

    How terrible…the amount of people that died must’be been horrendous.  I wonder what Mrs. S. C. R. Zamaz will say when the number of people who post here exceeds the number killed in the accident…uho…

    It gave me a good laugh anyway…

  • Nancy (Quebec) offered on 08/07/06 at 09:10 PM.....

    on viens de recevoir cette lettre…. j’avais justement besoin d’une pepine..hourra!!!!!..crisse de conne…...

  • Ashley (Southern Ontario) offered on 08/07/07 at 09:23 PM.....

    Thank you to all who contributed to this site, my fiancee received the same letter dated in june, and it has had us thinking for a while, cause he actually has alot of family in Spain, what does she want from us, it is identity theft?? she faxed us copies of her and her husbands passports, and they have spoken on the phone, has anyone gone over there?? I think that they are hitting small business owners, as we also have a small family business, as mentioned above, in a second letter that she sent she did not ask for id or money she just wanted a date of birth, what can they do with this???

  • the goddess offered on 08/07/08 at 12:17 AM.....

    Hi Ashley,  Cease contact with her immediately and contact your federal police fraud squad - is that the RCMP? 

    See this site:
    http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams/index_e.htm

    The next letter from them will probably ask you for a “fee” to help with the transactions.  This is how these scammers make their money.

  • C (Canada) offered on 08/07/14 at 01:34 PM.....

    Got our letter today lol - riches here we come

  • IAN LAWSON (UK) offered on 08/07/25 at 10:45 AM.....

    Boy am I peed off!! I contacted CC Bank in Spain to claim my inheritance, and why not!! its my money so why should I keep it secret.
    They seemed a triffle dissinterested in giving me my 77.7 million.and srtangely they had never heard of “Nora Zuma”. Worse still I celebrated my windfall with several bottles of Spanish Red last night,If I’d know they would be such a bunch of Bxxxxs! I’d have bought Italian Red !!!
    But you gota larf !!!
    The world is full of chancers!

  • Catherine (NSW Australia) offered on 08/08/13 at 05:40 AM.....

    rolleyes I got a similar letter to this, from someone else. Seriously what is wrong with these people? I just hope no one falls for these scams.

  • Chris Triska (St.Thomas, Ontario) offered on 08/08/26 at 09:37 AM.....

    I have also received this letter through snail mail about my relative that had come to his dimise in this ghastly train wreck on March 11th, 2004. And how he had left behind a staggering 77.7 million dollars unclaimed. I think these people that are trying to rip everyone off should be held accountable for their actions and executed to the full extent of the law…and maybe with some of the money they have ripped off from of us hard working people…maybe get some grammar lessons!!EH…I hope no one else falls for this scam!!!! It’s all a bunck of B.S…Thanks Chris

  • Tim Loos (Edmonton, Alberta) offered on 08/08/28 at 10:09 PM.....

    Wow i got the same letter as all you guys….are we all related…hey wait you all have diffrent last names…haha…yea these people really suck that accident in 2004 at Madrid killed 198 people and injured 1500…to use such a event to make money off it is dispicable…and yea dont they think…of course im gonna contact the bank…Im almost tempted to contact them just to see if i can learn about them…haha…..ohhh Mrs. Sara Cardona Razo Zamaz…how could you…worst part is I wanted to learn more about this lost realative of mine….

  • Disappointed Millionaire offered on 08/10/15 at 02:36 PM.....

    Hello everyone,..
    I have a suggestion.
    and I am sure that many of you people out there thought of it..
    WHY DON’T WE SCAM THE SCAMMERS, Or at least waste their time and show them that we know what they’re doing , OR if we plane it well we may at least scare them.. for example.
    I would like to hear from any of you , if you tried to call Mrs.Nora and her husband!!! or if you fell for their scam?? or if you played them a bit???
    Really let me know..
    question

  • PB (Vancouver) offered on 08/10/21 at 04:08 PM.....

    WOOOOWWWWWWW,  I’m Rich!!!  I just went out and bought a new Porsche and Ferrari and had the auto company send the invoice to the fax number at the top of my letter, now I’m off to buy a few homes, Sara shouldn’t really upset that I am taking an advance on my newly discovered fortune!  I’m not greedy if she wants to have the 60% that’s awesome.  I only need the little things in life.

    If every one sent her a smiley face print out from every fax machine you find then they will go broke just on facsimile paper purchases alone.  Also if everyone made a prank call to the telephone number and bill the charges back to them, they’ll go crazy just changing the message machine tapes.

  • PB (Vancouver) offered on 08/10/21 at 04:17 PM.....

    Follow up to the previous entry,  FOR CANADIAN VICTIMS   The Spanish Consulate in Ottawa is available at this number Phone: (613) 747-2252/7293 Fax: (613) 744-1224   Send them this info and maybe they will put a stop to this scam!!!!

  • Barry (Grande Prairie, Alberta) offered on 08/10/22 at 09:32 AM.....

    Well I do have to say that there was alot of Canadians on that train, if we all can collect I am sure L.C Bank in Spain will be broke. I am thinking of faxing her back and informing her of her great uncle that died in a gopher stampede this summer and he left 110 million in the bank of Alberta, that i could get for her for a small fee of 80%....lol
    These people must think we a nuts.

  • RC (Burnaby BC Canada) offered on 08/10/22 at 12:44 PM.....

    This has happened to me today received snail mail. Andersini?? With a french last name.. HAR HAR! Gotta love it. I hope there are not too many stupid people who would believe this… oops…. jus read about the $6000 / credit card thing… sorry I meant COMPLETE IDIOTS who wold give money to anyone they don’t know.. You fall for this? Shame on you dummy!

  • vlado offered on 08/10/28 at 05:51 PM.....

    i got the same letter this morning…i knew it was too good to be true,so i ran a check on the so called “relative” in the list of the names of the deceased in the bombings,turned out that there isn’t a guy with the name andreas something.then i ran the mrs. name on yahoo and i found this site.
    this is ridicolous,i don’t think that anybody can fall for this one…
    ppl come on,veeeery distant relative?he has noone to pass the money to but you?come on…what’s the point of this thing?

  • larry offered on 09/01/27 at 08:50 AM.....

    well hello. If these letters are to be believed, then i have a combined fortune of over 1000000000 GBP. lol…its fun to go through them once in a while. Although i do sometimes wish if just 1 was true. raspberry

    regards

  • Rich Girl (Los Angeles, USA) offered on 09/02/20 at 02:30 AM.....

    Hey! I just received the same letter just yesterday! The only things that are different are, Anderseni now has a Japanese last name…lol.
    Also, Her name is Maria Emilia Usanga from Spain and married to Jonathan Usanga from South Africa.  Their number is +34 634 890 050.  Anyone would like to try contact them?  Keep us posted about what happens!

  • danny offered on 09/03/11 at 10:51 AM.....

    hey! to rich girl, i got the same letter as you from the same person, after finding out that this letter is a scam, i am still carrying on with the scam, not because of the money that i wont recieve, but for all the poeple that these people have scammed, so to make sure this doesnt happen i will report this case and then i will keep going further to put these scammers behind bars.
    i believe because we are recieving the same letters, but with different name, this means that all of these people are working with each other to scam alot of people.

  • Tracey offered on 09/03/11 at 10:47 PM.....

    Please let me know how it goes.

  • betclic offered on 09/06/01 at 02:24 AM.....

    Such an interesting post, i receive the same card a few month ago but i never answered ! sorry for them ! wink but i’m not stupid !

  • Robina (Australia) offered on 09/09/04 at 05:05 PM.....

    We got the same letter but her name is now Maria Emilia Usanga from Spain married to Jonathon from South Africa, 2 kids, offering 40% of $US77.7 million snugly held in same CC Bank.  I think we should follow the example of the person who purchased the porsche and ferrari and forward the invoices to Saint Maria.  Damn good idea!  She should keep some of the money for a course in punctuation as I kept losing my breath reading the olympic sized sentences.

  • Stu Huntet (Mount Forest, ON, Canada) offered on 10/02/02 at 11:56 AM.....

    My letter—received by snail mail—was from Mrs. Philomena Maria Madiba, married for seven years with two kids to one Jonathan Thabo Madiba of South Africa.  Apparently I am heir to 45.5M USD because of the death of Herbert Hunter killed in the crash of a Russian plane in Irkutsk in July of 2001

  • Krista Bjornson (Slave Lake, AB) offered on 10/02/03 at 07:03 AM.....

    I received the same letter today! I am getting the money because Herbert Bjornson was killed in the same Russian plane crash!!lol What are the chances of that!!hahaha

  • Raymond (Canada) offered on 10/02/05 at 10:26 AM.....

    Just received a letter from Mrs. Philomena Maria Madiba. She has two kids and has a business proposal! Dear old Herbert left me a fortune! I guess the plane was full of Herberts. Thank you to who ever sent me this, I had a good laugh.

    If it sounds too good to be true…..

  • Rebeca (Red Deer, AB) offered on 10/02/10 at 03:50 AM.....

    big surprise
    Just received the same letter from Philomena Maria Madiba.  Seems a Herbert Buswell and all his family died on a plane crash on 2001.  Wow what are the chances???  I truly hope no one falls for this.

  • wendy (uk) offered on 10/03/06 at 09:57 PM.....

    i have just received the same letter her name this time is marie emilia usanga she must have spent nearly all the 77.7 m dollars on post alone and yes sadly my family died in the same tragic train crash as everyone else now days people are weary of anything that is to good to be true it is also when i have looked up the name she gave me it dose not existed please do not fall for this deceiving bitch

  • Mike (Poland) offered on 10/03/08 at 07:02 PM.....

    Just got one from Mrs. Maria Emilia Usanga having two kids and being married “for 7 years now”. The 40% of the sum of 77.7 milion awaits for me in Spain. The phone provided is: 0034672979333. Fax: 0034935504422.

    Does anyone know how this scam works for them? They must’ve been spending A LOT on international mails…

  • Jen offered on 10/10/13 at 04:45 AM.....

    Guess what!  Herbert is now Chinese!  My husband just got the same letter from Philomena!

  • Iranmaria (Tehran Iran ) offered on 12/07/03 at 04:46 AM.....

    Ok I got this letter today and I got so excited and then I called this Maria Emilia usanga over 10 times , no answer. The stamp was real and everything then I thought let’s see if there’s such thing of a cc bank, there’s not and then I googled her name and thank god. I was about to fax her and get the $$$$$$. Her signature was not of a native English speaker because her cursive was foreign. “M.Usanga” her name is in my head!!!

  • deborah (ontario, canada) offered on 14/11/28 at 08:03 AM.....

    I’m feeling a little short changed here….  I only got left 59,370,000.00.  how come no 7.7 mil???  oh well…. better luck next scam.  my story was from Philomena Maria Madiba…the administrative director of ‘a vault of financial and security’ in Europe.  Herbert and his entire family died in a ‘ghastly car accident’ and seeing as we have the same last name (one of the most common names ever) she sought me out to share with her and her husband in a clandestine… (don’t tell anyone else) business venture.  Would love to have seen the media coverage of this and how the scam played out.

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