wow! that's interesting. This sounds so similar. My "sisters" email address was exactly the same, but with one letter changed. It was a gmail account, just like her real one, so whoever is doing this is actually creating a gmail account and using her full name.
I also answered the first scam mail, and got an immediate reply. Then I got two more emails urging me to hurry up with the information. I realised after the first one that something was not right.
This one didn't ask for money. They want personal information, like family members date of birth.