Scunthorpe had grabbed an early lead when Jimmy Ryan curled in a cross from the right which found striker Karl Hawley, who steered his header from the edge of the six-yard box into the far corner of the net past keeper Owain Fon Williams at Glanford Park.
But Tranmere began to press after the interval and were rewarded with an equaliser after 63 minutes when a right-wing corner from Adam McGurk was headed home by skipper James Wallace.
Two minutes later they struck again from another corner, this time forced home from close range by striker Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro for his sixth goal of the season.
And three minutes from time Akpa Akpro struck again after some shocking defending by the home side.
