Australians lose $186M to scams as inheritance fraud becomes increasingly convincing

Cheryl Allsop opened an email one day that looked like it came from a distant relative. The message said she was about to receive a substantial inheritance—all she needed to do was provide her bank details and the money would be transferred. The email was polished. It included the names and addresses of real solicitors. It referenced an actual family member by name. Everything about it felt legitimate enough to make her pause and consider it.

Then she called her brother. Within minutes, she learned the truth: the email was a fabrication, sent by someone impersonating her family to steal her money. The retiree from Maitland in NSW's Hunter region had narrowly escaped losing her life savings to what has become one of the most convincing forms of fraud targeting older Australians.

Allsop's close call is not an isolated incident. Australians have lost $186 million to scams in the first seven months of 2026 alone, according to data from the National Anti-Scam Centre. The damage is concentrated among older people. Those over 65 have reported more than 24,000 scam incidents so far this year, losing more than $49 million collectively. Email remains the primary weapon, though nearly 50,000 Australians have also been targeted through phone calls and online platforms.

Inheritance scams work by exploiting hope and creating artificial pressure. Scammers craft fake letters with official letterheads and fabricated legal credentials. They name real relatives or create plausible family connections. Their goal, according to a National Anti-Scam Centre spokesperson, is straightforward: generate excitement, urgency, or a sense of trust—anything that pushes someone to act before they verify the claim is real. The psychology is deliberate. A person who believes they are about to receive unexpected money is primed to move quickly, to not ask too many questions, to assume the details will sort themselves out once the transfer begins.

The defence against these scams is simple but requires discipline. The National Anti-Scam Centre recommends three steps: stop and think before sending money or personal information; check that the sender is who they claim to be by contacting the organisation or person using contact details you find yourself, not ones provided in the message; and protect yourself by acting quickly if something feels wrong—report it to police, your bank, and Scamwatch. A real inheritance will not vanish if you take time to verify it. Legal advice, before proceeding with any inheritance claim, is essential.

Mark Williams, chief executive of The Mutual Bank, frames the issue as one of education. The difference between someone being caught by a scam and someone staying safe often comes down to a single habit: the willingness to pause, ask questions, and verify who is actually on the other end of the communication. Allsop, after her near miss, attended a scams awareness session at The Mutual Bank in Maitland. She has become more cautious with her inbox. "I've been a little bit sussed about everything now," she said. The temptation to click on something new, to assume it is legitimate, remains—but now she knows the cost of that assumption. She has learned, as many older Australians are learning, that the most convincing messages are often the most dangerous ones.