Fake Inheritance Scam
I suppose someone could think that they have a long-lost relative that might have left them money, but why would they be contacting you from an Institute of Chemical Engineering at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences?
E-Mail received:
Date: 21/06/2025, 21:07
From: Mr. Johannes r.vladova@iche.bas.bg
To: [Undisclosed recipients]
Reply to: johannesvasco10@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Is your email still active?
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: johannesvasco10@gmail.com
Mr. Johannes
Institute of Chemical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Notes: You are one of many to receive this email. If it were true that there were unclaimed inheritance funds how could they be linked to the names of EACH person who received the email. If there was a good response to the email how could ALL the persons responding receive unclaimed inheritance funds.
Sender email address educational establishment in Bulgariam possibly hacked or the genuine user is misusing his account. Standard anonymous Gmail account for reply. I am going to play him along for a while.
The name Johannes Vasco with different email addresses is associated with the same scam email message. Just search Johannes Vasco Scammer on google.
My response;
Date: 24/06/2025, 13:23
From: [Name and email address redacted]
To: johannesvasco10@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Is your email still active?
Hi Mr Johannes Vasco,
Please will you tell me more about these unclaimed inheritance funds and how I might receive them.
Regards,
[Name redacted]
Notes: I am of course not using my real name nor regular email address/account.
Mr Johannes quickly responded:
Date: 26/06/2025, 19:37
From: Johannes Vasco johannesvasco10@gmail.com
To: [Name and email address redacted]
Subject: UNCLAIMED FUNDS
Good day Mr. [Name redacted],
I am Mr. Johannes Vasco, it has been over 3 months now since I started the search to find you. I am the Secretary to the Managing Director of RPK TrustNet Bank, here in South Africa. I have been thinking about who to contact concerning this issue until I stumbled on your email address.
A General Merchant in Business, named Mr. [Name redacted] had a very fat account with our Bank, until his demise. Mr. [Name redacted] had a total of 17.3 Million USD in his Account, and died about 5 years ago in a car crash in East London, South Africa.
All attempts to contact his next of kin or any family members proved abortive, as he was a businessman, who came to settle alone in South Africa. To cut the long story short, the Directors in my Bank are conspiring to share the money amongst themselves, instead of turning it to the Government.
I noticed you had shared the same last Names with the deceased. This has prompted me to email you. I can provide you with all the paperwork that will have you as the next of Kin, and the money will be released to you. My reason for doing this is that I have a whole lot to take care of in my life and I think this is an opportunity to do them.
I will make sure of your share in this transaction, as it will be shared 40% for you and 30% for me and another 30% for the persons who will assist us with the paperwork. I will plead with you that there will be no problems resulting from this as you will be kept anonymous and I will do the whole inside work. And because I know my way through, this will be a success.
I await your reply,
Mr. Johannes
Notes: What a co-incidence that this man had the same surname as me! Even more of a surprise was that he had the same first name as well!. Johannes had been spending the last 3 months searching for me and discovered an email address (mine) that is not listed anywhere on the internet, because it has not been used before.
Johannes is also dealing with the affairs of another person who has the same name as another assumed identity I have used to contact Johannes and even more of a co-incidence is that they also died in a car accident in East London, South Africa and left no next of kin! Remind me not to visit East London in South Africa because people keep being killed in car accidents.
Johannes Vasco claims to be the "Secretary to the Managing Director of RPK TrustNet Bank". RPK Trust(Net) Bank is a fake bank with a fake website at www.rpktrust.com. I hope to do a feature on this "bank" shortly.
You should not be in any doubt that this whole story is made up and part of a well-known scam.
My response:
Date: 30/06/2025, 15:37
From: [Name and email address redacted]
To: johannesvasco10@gmail.com
Subject: Re: UNCLAIMED FUNDS
Hi Mr Johannes,
What an sad story you have told me about this man who died so tragically in South Africa.
Seeing as the man had no next of kin to inherit this money it seems only reasonable that other individuals such as you and me benefit.
Please proceed with making the arrangements and let me know how I can help in this matter.
Regards,
[Name redacted]
Notes: The waiting for a response is the difficult part... I want that US$17.3 million, well at least 40%.
A further email from Mr Johannes:
Date: 03/07/2025, 14:15
From: Johannes Vasco johannesvasco10@gmail.com
To: [Name and email address redacted]
Subject: UNCLAIMED FUNDS
Good day [name redacted],
I am so glad that we are going to be doing this together; so please at all times I want you to believe and know that this is a very serious issue.
I am starting the process by getting a lawyer to prepare documents in your Name, that will make you the beneficiary of the Late Mr. [Name redacted] Estate regarding the said amount. This document will be backdated and signed as if the late Mr. [Name redacted] did it years ago when he came to my bank to invest, that in the event of anything happening to him, you would be paid all his entitlements as his beneficiary and next of Kin. It is this document I will include in the file as I submit it to the board of my Bank. When this is in the file and submission is made to the board, meetings will then be held and the board of my bank will now determine how payment will be made to you. They will then instruct the Account officer in charge to advise you with opening an account with them to commence payment and then that is when the specialist bank will be getting in touch with you.Also at that stage, I will be relying on you to update me daily as access to files and procedures will be out of my hands. I will be guiding you all the way to make sure there are no delays whatsoever. I am sure we can conclude everything within 2weeks.
Note: that as I said earlier the specialist bank will be getting in touch with you without knowledge of the communication between us. Please never mention that we have communicated.
When the specialist bank ( RPK TrustNet Bank ) begins contact with you, with the help of my partner there the process will be very easy and then the funds will be paid to any account you should provide.
When the transfer is done, the bank will be sending all the necessary original inheritance and probate documents directly to your bank alongside the transfer. You do not need to tell your bank anything. It is your bank that will inform you when they have received the funds and all the covering documents.We will leave the funds in your account for at least 10 working days and then I will come to your country and meet with you, where we will share the money as agreed.
I want you to know a bit about me, I have been working at the bank for the last 10 years now, I have 2 daughters, I will be 41 years old next January. Please my friend, let us work together. I want us to work as a team. I have checked and confirmed that if we do everything as planned without any inquiries, we will scale through. The South African economy is bursting up with so many investments that people do high deals daily and scale through with them. I am very positive this will work but only if you do as I say and obey my instructions.
We will be communicating day to day till we get this done. So I will be keeping you informed on what I do here on a daily basis so you can have a clear picture. I have to start by getting a good private and reliable solicitor who has been in practice for at least 20 years to do the paperwork. I am happy to work with you and please respond to all communications.
There is a South African saying that goes "Over long distances you learn about the strength of horses and over time you learn about the character of a friend”. My friend please know that I am following my heart on this, I have no choice but to trust you, please know that my whole life, family and hopes are depending on this. When the money is paid to you, I am trusting that everything will be as we have agreed. I will keep you informed with my progress in trying to find a solicitor.
Take care and my greetings to your family.
Regards,
Mr. Johannes
P.S. Let me know when you receive this email
Notes: As I have previously mentioned the RPK Trust Bank is a fake bank, see further reading. Johannes is also confused about the name of the bank he claims to work at. In his emails he names the bank RPK TrustNet Bank, wheras the website says the bank is called RPK Trust Bank. Johannes is also confused about his own name calling himself Mr Johannes when it is clear to western eyes that he is in fact Mr Vasco, he also calls me Mr [First name] rather than Mr [Surname]. This is a common mistake made by Nigerian scammers.
Date: 7/7/2025, 15:13
From: Johannes Vasco johannesvasco10@gmail.com
To: [Name and email address redacted]
Subject: UNCLAIMED FUNDS
Good day [Name redacted],
I was at a solicitor this morning but I was not comfortable as he was asking too many questions even before I could explain the whole situation to him and he was far too young for me to work with so I just left him. I am glad I did not disclose details to him. However my partner has recommended one who he has had dealings with before and who he assures me is very reliable and discreet. I have contacted him and we have a meeting scheduled for Tomorrow Tuesday Morning.
I will let you know the outcome of the meeting with the solicitor and also I will tell you the right time for you to open this account in the bank so do not contact anyone yet.
Do have a nice day and my regards to the family.
Thank you,
Mr. Johannes
Notes: It's like waiting for a kettle to boil. Get a move on I want my money!
At last...
Date: 16/7/2025, 13:08
From: Johannes Vasco johannesvasco10@gmail.com
To: [Name and email address redacted]
Subject: UNCLAIMED FUNDS
Good day [Name redacted],
How are you and the family? It was a very busy day for me but I write to inform you that I have met with the solicitor and his signature expert and the meeting has gone smoothly, the signature expert assured that it is not going to be a problem for him to draft late Mr. Peter's signature provided I can get a sample for him which will not be problem for me at all.
However the solicitor insists that I pay him before he commences with his work. I tried to negotiate a percentage with him that when the whole deal has come through, we will give him something good, but he told me that he does not have the time to follow up the transaction daily. He just wants one deal off, that I pay him and he arranges the documents as if Mr. Peter had arranged it with him 5 years ago. After much thought I agreed with him and I think it is better for us. He has charged me $ 7,000 United States Dollars. This is very big money here in South Africa, but I will do my best to sort this out on my own. Do not worry because I believe you will be able to take care of the account opening yourself if any financial need arises. I also confirmed from the bank that the account opening fees will cost you $300.00 USD. Also let me know if this is acceptable by you.
I just want you to know that the stage and steps that we are about to take now are very bold steps and please I need your full trust, confidence and commitment now because my life is in this now. I am having to pay money upfront, please do not let me down in whatever sacrifice we may have to take together to make sure that things works out. I am very sure we can handle this.
I will immediately apply for a short term loan so I can raise the amount to pay the Solicitor to enable him prepare the documents without further delay. I would like to keep our communication tight and more frequent so we do not miss anything.
Let me know if you have received my email. My greetings to your family. I will update you as I make progress.
Mr. Johannes
P.S. Let me know when you receive this email.
Notes: So Mr Johannes is prepared to take out a loan to pay the solicitor? I don't think so. The solicitor is either himself or a fellow scammer... no money will be paid out to a solicitor. It is just to "soften" the fee of US$300 to open a bank account, of course a very special one, a fake bank account. I wonder how they expect me to pay the US$300?
I write back confirming receipt of email and saying no problem with the bank opening fee. Of course I wont be paying any money to the scammers.
Date: 18/7/2025, 12:54
From: Johannes Vasco johannesvasco10@gmail.com
To: [Name and email address redacted]
Subject: UNCLAIMED FUNDS
Good day [Name redacted],
How are you today and how is your family? I hope everyone is okay. It is unfortunate that I could not secure a Loan. In order not to raise any eyebrows, I didn't apply for the loan at my bank. However, I have been to two places but they all want collateral. This is a very hard time I am facing with my family, my work and also this transaction.
After being turned down by two finance institutions, I have been thinking about the situation and have made a confident but highly risky decision. I have decided to sell my family’s paddy rice field in the village or use it as collateral to take out a loan depending on which is faster. Everywhere I go, they tell me to bring something against the loan so I am traveling to the village today immediately to speak with my uncle who is the oldest in our family since I cannot do this without his consent. I am going to inform him that I want to use the family paddy rice field as collateral to secure a loan. It is going to be very difficult to convince him but I will assure him that I have a very big project at hand and that I will buy it back for the family (Although I will not disclose the real details of our transaction to him). I will use another subject as my reason.
I will get back to you when I return from the village. My friend, I want you to see and understand the effort I am putting into this now. I have now taken a risk upon myself and my family because my whole life is into this now and from my end I am absolutely sure it will work. Please do not let me down! Please. I would have asked for your assistance but never mind. I believe I can secure the loan with the paddy rice farm as collateral. Please kindly arrange for the $300.00 USD which is R 4,372.22 South African Rand for opening an account with my bank so that the fund can be moved easily to you.
In a couple of weeks from now we should have the funds in your account. I trust that you will follow my instructions as we have planned and not turn your back against me. I will be leaving for the village immediately. I will keep you informed when I return. I have attached a copy of my driver's license so at least you could know who you are communicating with, also a link to my bank below.
https://rpktrust.com
Do let me know you have received this email. My regards to you and your family.
Mr. Johannes
P.S. Let me know when you receive this email
Notes: The lengths of story telling... selling or using as collateral a family paddy rice field
Checking google, the AI assistant writes... "While South Africa does grow some rice, paddy rice fields (flooded fields for rice cultivation) are not widespread. Rice production in South Africa is limited, and the country relies heavily on imports to meet domestic demand. However, there are areas like KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, and Limpopo where some rice is grown, including in paddy conditions, though not on a large scale. "
So whilst it is plausible that there is a family paddy rice field it seems a bit far-fetched.
I am supposed to arrange a payment to open a bank account but have not been told how I should make the payment. I am doubting that the fake bank account will be able to accept payments as it is well... fake so there will have to be a payment into someone's personal account or a wire transfer payment such a Western Union or Moneygram. We wait to see.
https://rpktrust.com. First mention of the fake bank but I anticipated this would be the bank from the previous use of the domain name for email account. Check out full write up of the fake bank... RPK Trust Bank Scam Website
Johannes Vasco promises me a copy of his driving licence to be attached so I will know what he looks like. The document supplied was actually a fake RSA Identity card
Johannes Vasco Fake ID card
Performing a google images reverse search showed the photograph above was not of a Johannes Vasco but of a man called Michael Stopforth whose photograph had been taken off the web.
Click above photographs to see images of Michael Stopforth on several legitimate websites.
A few days later another email from Mr Johannes:
Date: 22/7/2025, 14:27
From: Johannes Vasco johannesvasco10@gmail.com
To: [Name and email address redacted]
Subject: UNCLAIMED FUNDS
Good day [Name redacted],
How are you and how is the weather over there? I trust that you and your family are doing well. I am pleased to let you know that I am back from the village and was able to convince my uncle about obtaining a loan with our paddy rice field, However I did not divulge the real details of our transaction to him. My uncle has so much trust and respect for me as I have been a diligent and credible man right from my younger years and so he could not afford to turn me down as he is certain that I will pay back the loan in due course so as to recover the rice field for our family as it is the main source of my extended family's income and livelihood. I was at the loan institution today and submitted the property documents to them and was told to return by Tomorrow Wednesday Morning . I am very positive that the loan will be approved this time since I presented a good collateral.
You see my friend, I have taken a very bold step and I am trusting you explicitly that you will not betray the confidence I have built in you when the funds have been transferred to your account. The reason I believe you can handle the account opening charges is because a new account needs to be opened with your new name as the beneficiary to enable the bank to move the funds quicker for us. Kindly make the $300.00 USD available as soon as possible for the account opening charges so that everything will be faster once I receive the loan sooner. I will let you know when to contact my bank and ask for intrusions on how the process will be done.
I must say that good fortune has blessed you with a name that has planted you into the center of relevance in my life. Let’s share the blessing. If we can be of one accord, we would meet in the nearest future to celebrate our success. Please observe utmost confidentiality, and rest assured that this transaction would be most profitable for both of us.
I will let you know how things progress with the loan company. Until then, you stay safe with your family.
Thank you,
Mr. Johannes
Let me know immediately you receive this email.
Notes: I really feel for the imaginary uncle and the imaginary paddy field. So everything will be alright tomorrow (Wednesday) then I will need to contact the imaginary bank and open an imaginary bank account and pay US$300 to open that account. Fortunately I have an imaginary US$300 already in an imaginary account of my own which I can use to make an imaginary transfer to Mr Johannes.
All this story telling is to gain my confidence that this large sum of money will be coming my way shortly after I pay the US$300. He has not convinced me.
Things are going well, well he thinks they are going well
E-mail received:
Date: 24/7/2025, 16:37
From: Johannes Vasco johannesvasco10@gmail.com
To: [Name and email address redacted]
Subject: UNCLAIMED FUNDS
Good day [Name redacted],
I have been able to secure the loan and I began the process immediately. I was at the solicitor today Thursday to know how much progress he has made on the beneficiary document and he said that he needs your full names and present contact address to input on the document. Please provide this information as below.
Full Names:
Full Home Address:
Direct Phone Number:
He also said that since the document will be backdated to when Late Mr. Peter was alive, if you have changed your name or address in the last six years that you state both the old and new ones.
Please send me this information asap so I can get it across to the solicitor immediately.
Regards,
Mr. Johannes
Notes: Now we need to go over some safety precautions in dealing with possibly violent Nigerian Scammers. Never use your real name, email address, postal address or telephone number.
Create a fictitious identity when engaging with scammers (as we have done)
Name: create your name with Random British Surnames (with first names)
E-Mail: set up an email account using your fictitious name with GMail, Outlook, Mail.com, GMX.com, AOL.com or Yahoo
Address: don't use a real address of someone else, use Random UK Address generator and match to a telephone number, below
Telephone No: don't use a real telephone number of someone else use Fictitious Telephone numbers matching area code to address chosen.
Will the scammers check the address is genuine or that you have given them your telephone number by phoning you? They may do but they could very well not bother. Remember if you are ever challenged in an email you don't need to reply to them.
So we replied giving fictitious address and telephone number, they already had our fictitious name.
Bit of a wait now but received the request for money:
E-mail received:
Date: 01/8/2025, 12:50
From: Johannes Vasco johannesvasco10@gmail.com
To: [Name and email address redacted]
Subject: UNCLAIMED FUNDS
Hello,
Do you have the $300.00 USD for the new account opening fees so that we can move forward as soon as possible.
Regards,
Johannes
Notes: I will get straight back to him to request details Of the Bank's details to make payment. I know the Bank is fake. Let's see what method they wish me to use to put the money into their pockets.
I had to wait a while but both my identities #1 and #2 I was using to communicate with Mr Johannes received the following email:
E-mail received:
Date: 5/08/2025 22:40
From: Johannes Vasco johannesvasco10@gmail.com
To: [Name and email address redacted]
Subject: UNCLAIMED FUNDS
Good day Mr. Peter,
You are advised to send the fees Via Money Gram Transfer or Western Union. Find below the accountant details where the fees have to be paid to.
MONEYGRAM INFORMATION.
RECEIVER'S FIRST NAME: SADIA
RECEIVER'S SURNAME: LOUW
RECEIVER'S ADDRESS: 50 BATH AVE, ROSEBANK, JOHANNESBURG, 2196
RECEIVER'S COUNTRY: SOUTH AFRICA
TEXT QUESTION: SADIA
TEXT ANSWER: LOUW
AMOUNT EXPECTING: $300.00 USD.
Kindly provide proof of payment once it's done.
Regards,
Mr. Johannes
Now #1 replied as follows:
Date: 6/8/2025, 9:04
From: [Name and email address redacted]Johannes Vasco johannesvasco10@gmail.com
To: Johannes Vasco johannesvasco10@gmail.com
Subject: UNCLAIMED FUNDS
Hi Mr Johannes,
I am puzzled why fees to open a bank account are being requested to be paid to a private individual by a money transfer system such as Moneygram or Western Union. You indicate that Sadia Louw is the accountant (of the bank?). It is not normal commercial practice to make business payments to an individual except in the case where the business is run by a sole trader.
Should the account opening fee not be paid directly to the bank, I think you mentioned the one you were going to transfer the funds to was the RPK Trust Bank, by bank to bank transfer?
Please provide the RPK Trust Bank account details for the transfer of the account opening fees together with confirmation from the bank website that there is an opening charge and the amount for opening such an account.
I am sure that you understand my concerns that the money that might be transferred to Sadia Louw could be embezzled by her and never be credited to the bank as the account opening fee.
Regards,
[Name redacted].
And identity #2 replied thus:
Good Day Mr Johannes,
Please provide bank transfer details.
Requesting payment by western union or moneygram seems a bit suspicious.
I find it strange that Sadia Louw claims to live at 50, Bath Avenue, Rosebank, Joburg when that is the address for the well known Rosebank Shopping Mall.
I visit it anytime I am in Joburg.
Regards,
[Name redacted]
Notes: Questioning scammers is a sure way for them to guess something isn't as it should be and for them to discontinue the correspondence. There are ways of faking western union and moneygram payments but really I can't be bothered.
Banks do not receive payments western union or money gram transfers.
You can find out where anyone claims to live through google maps and maybe they do things differently in the RSA than UK but people don't have a shopping mall address.
We monitor visitors to our websites and over the past couple of weeks we have had over 17 visits to THIS page from someone in Joburg, RSA. Whether this is the scammers watching us publicising them I don't know. We do have ways of dealing with annoying and abusive communications which all of us can receive from time to time, so we are not overly concerned.
As of the time you are reading this page we have not received any further emails from Johannes Vasco, once you actually question aspects of their money collection procedure and decline to pay them they tend to move onto other persons who may they hope be less discerning.
Further reading:
Scamminder report on www.rpktrust.com website (RPK Trust Bank)
Michael Fowler
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Credit: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, The logo may be obtained from Bulgarian Academy of Sciences., Fair use, Link, Western Union - https://www.westernunion.com, Public Domain, Link, MoneyGram - http://global.moneygram.com, Public Domain, Link
