Recently the Bradenton Florida Police Department issued a warning about a significant increase in a funeral home call scam.  The scam begins when scammers posing as funeral homes call the families of the deceased demanding money be paid to them, often by cryptocurrency, Zelle or gift cards, threatening to cancel the funeral unless the money is paid immediately.  The scammers use information gathered from obituaries to choose their targeted victims.  The call appears on your Caller ID as coming from the real funeral home being used by the family but, as I have often told you, through a simple technology called “spoofing” scammers are able to make their phone call appear to come from whatever number they wish.

TIPS

Scammers often target people when they are at their most vulnerable and a grieving family may well be susceptible to such a scam.  Anytime you get a phone call, text message or email, you can never be sure who is actually contacting you so if you are ever asked for personal information or to make a payment you should never provide the information or make a payment until you have absolutely confirmed that the communication was legitimate.  In this case, hanging up on the scammer and calling the funeral home at a phone number that you know is accurate will confirm that this is a scam.

Another clear indication of a scam is when the scammer demands payment by cryptocurrencies, Zelle or gift cards.  No legitimate business requires payment in this manner, but scammers prefer these forms of payment because of their speed, anonymity and difficulty to reverse.

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