Scammers around the world are using Facebook to take advantage of real funerals to scam people.  In one variation of this scam he scammers set up fake Facebook pages posing as a local funeral director and provide a link to a funeral service for someone who had recently died often in a high profile death.  The scammers also take information from the legitimate obituary or even photos from the deceased’s own social media  to make their phony Facebook page seem legitimate. In another variation of this scam, the scammers clone the Facebook page of the deceased from which they again offer a link to the funeral service.  However, if you click on the link you are informed that you need to pay a small fee through your credit or debit card.  Once the credit card or debit card information is provided to the scammer, you become a victim of identity theft.

TIPS

The simplest way to avoid this scam is to recognize that there never is a charge to view the live stream of a funeral.  Few funerals are live streamed and those that are would provide a link in the obituary or on the website of the funeral home or a religious institution where the funeral is being held.

It is also important to remind you that you should never use your debit card for anything other than as an ATM card because the laws regarding liability for fraudulent use of a debit card do not provide the same protection that you get if your credit card is used for fraudulent purposes.  If you delay in reporting fraudulent use of your debit card, you risk losing the entire bank account to which the debit card is tied.

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and type in your email address on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”

#facebookfuneralscam #funeralscam