Between newsletters, data breaches, and general spam, an average person may receive hundreds of emails each day. It’s not too surprising that a large majority of senders don’t know you—even if they pretend to.

Emails are a prime way for cybercriminals to learn more about targets and scam them out of money. Such schemes have become something of a joke, with most people leaving those messages in the spam folder.

Still, some of us can’t help but be curious about these mysterious emails. That’s why we responded to spam, so you don’t have to.

What Are Phishing Emails?

phishing hook line skinker laptop

Phishing emails refer to scams where predators aim to trick you into handing over your information. There are tons of ways scammers accomplish this, including sending you to fake login pages disguised as platforms you use, advertising fake contests, or pretending to be someone they are not.

The latter is the classic example that we see with the notorious “Nigerian Prince” schemes. Someone, generally from overseas, claims to be an extremely wealthy individual who happened to find themselves in a compromising situation.

They claim that all you need to do is send them some information, or maybe pay out a small bank processing fee, and they’ll generously share their wealth with you.

Obviously, it's all a lie and you shouldn't share any details or money with them.

What Do Scammers Want?

Contrary to what they say, they don’t want to “escape their captors” or “reclaim their inheritance.”

The scammers want to take something of value from you—whether it be your sensitive information or money. Once they get what they want, they cut you out, and there's very little you can do about it.

This leads to theft, either through stealing your identity following your information exchange or through simply ghosting you after collecting the “processing fee” without offering the promised reward.

More complicated scenarios land you in complex money laundering schemes. For example, scammers send you large sums of money and have you move it to other accounts for them and allow you to keep a portion.

These scams are incredibly dangerous as they don't only trick you into getting involved with something you don’t know about; it lands you in trouble with the law too.

What Happens if You Reply to Phishing Emails?

While some inherent risks come with responding to phishing emails, most exchanges are ultimately harmless—so long as you do not pass over any private information.

We don’t recommend anyone reply to any phishing emails, but when we received a phishing email, we pressed on to see how far it would go.

Related: Sites to Help You Check if Links Are Safe

Unfortunately for us, it did not end with getting the million dollars we were promised, but it did let us understand what would happen when we did respond.

Explaining an Impossible Situation

phishing email example

After receiving an email from “Sophia” asking for help getting her inheritance, we decided to ask for more information.

She claimed that her late father left her millions of dollars that were all hers once she came of age. But her malicious stepmother made the living situation impossible, forcing her to run away, ill-prepared and without any money.

Luckily (for us, apparently), there is one way for her to access funds before she turned 25. Her father left a clause in his will stating that introducing a “capable foreigner” as a guardian would allow us to have this money.

The bank manager we never met recommended she email us. Then, once everything was ready, all the money would transfer to our personal account, and she trusted us to give her a fair amount.

Then, we would all be millionaires—and all she needed was a copy of our passport or other government-issued ID, a full address, and a phone number.

Offer “Evidence”

example scam email

Of course, we weren’t going to hand over our information so willingly. We expressed our hesitations, and Sophia quickly offered “proof” of her existence.

Sophia sent another message with two attachments: a photograph of herself and a copy of her government-issued ID. There was just one clear problem: the pictures in the document and photo were not the same person.

Sophia was quick to offer a phone number to call her on so she could “prove” she was real. But the area code of the number she gave us did not match up with the country she claimed to come from.

Although we never did feel comfortable making that phone call, we heard more than enough to offer her a solution meaning everyone could win.

Jump Ship

scam phishing email

Instead of giving over our information, we offered a simple solution for her to get money. All she had to do was give us a few simple details, and we could send her money directly!

Unfortunately, Sophia was not comfortable with this solution and insisted that we must retrieve her fortune. When it became clear we weren’t interested in giving up our details, she got upset.

We gave her the ultimatum to send us information. However, she ceased communication upon our request.

This story isn’t in any way unique. Many people that respond to spam messages find similar response patterns.

Why Do People Fall for Phishing Scams?

While we all had a good laugh about the experience, many people have a much different story to share. Unfortunately, those unaware of the scam may believe this is their shot at fortune or an opportunity to help people.

Many vulnerable populations, such as the elderly or those desperate financially, actually give these scammers the information they want.

At the very best, these exchanges are just a waste of time. However, more severe scenarios leave targets robbed or in legal problems. People can steal your identity and use it to open accounts, acquire money, or impersonate you online.

Should I Respond to Phishing Emails?

While responding to scam emails can be entertaining, you should be wary of the possible risks you take. At the very least, you should never respond to these "Nigerian Prince" schemes expecting to gain anything but a funny story to tell your mates about.