Over the past three months, I’ve been involved in one of these scams myself — an inheritance scam that started with a single email.
Let me set the scene.
As part of my work with McPherson Media Group, I often check through the company’s blocked and quarantined emails. One subject line caught my eye:
“Is your email still active?”
The message read:
I am Mr Johannes Vasco. I have a very important transaction to discuss with you regarding unclaimed inheritance funds linked to your name. Kindly respond to my private email.
So, out of curiosity, I created a brand-new email address and replied simply:
Sorry, I think you have the wrong person.
And that’s all it took.
This is how scammers work — they send out thousands of identical messages, and all they need is one response.
That first reply tells them your email is real and that you’re willing to engage.
They replied saying I was, in fact, the person they were looking for.
After a few back-and-forth messages, I decided to give them a name: Alex Smith.
To my surprise, they immediately confirmed that “Alex Smith” was the name connected to the unclaimed inheritance.
The story went like this: a wealthy man named Alex Smith had died a few years ago, and this “banker” — Mr Johannes — was supposedly trying to find someone with the same name to help claim the funds.
The idea was that “I” would impersonate the deceased Alex Smith, open a bank account in South Africa, and receive $17.3 million, which we’d then split three ways between myself, the banker, and the lawyer who would “handle the paperwork”.
As the emails continued, the emotional manipulation began.
Johannes spoke about trust, honesty and how this money could change his family’s life.
He said he’d borrowed $7000 from his uncle — a rice farmer — to pay the lawyer upfront and just needed me to cover the $300 account opening fee to make everything official.
Now, some people might think this all sounds convincing, but I’d already confirmed it was a scam early on.
A quick Google search of the sender’s email address showed multiple scam reports dating back to 2024 — all with the same story, same wording, and even the same “Mr Johannes Vasco”.
For a scam to stay active that long, it’s likely a very profitable one.
These scams work because they blend emotion and opportunity — a mix that makes people overlook red flags.
Once the scammer earns your trust, the requests for money or personal information start small and grow over time.
In this month’s podcast, Inside an Inheritance Scam: What Really Happens When You Reply — available now on the MMG Apps and Spotify — you’ll hear the full conversation between our fake profile, Alex, and scammer Mr Johannes.
Using AI-generated voices, we’ve brought the email exchanges between the scammer and the victim to life.
So next time you see one of those strange “inheritance” or “urgent transaction” emails, don’t reply — and definitely don’t click that link.
As always, I hope you found this interesting and came away a little more informed about how scams work and how to spot them.
If you have any questions, or if there’s a tech or scam topic you’d like me to cover, feel free to reach out at askatech@mmg.com.au
