The death of a family member or loved one is always difficult and scammers take advantage of the emotional vulnerability of families at this time by contacting them after a probate has been started to settle the estate of the deceased. Scammers troll the probate court records for estate filings which can be done online and harvest the names of the deceased, the names of the heirs of the estate and assets that make up the estate. All of this information is publicly available in the records of the probate court. The scammers then use this information to craft believable scams in which the scammers pose as attorneys and debt collectors demanding payments for non-existent debts. They threaten legal action if they are not paid immediately and often demand payment by wire transfers, cryptocurrencies or gift cards. Phone calls may appear to come from actual companies that the deceased may have done business with because the scammers can “spoof” those numbers so your Caller ID makes it appear as if the call is coming from the legitimate company rather than actual number from which the scammer is using to make the call.
TIPS
A red flag that this is a scam is when the payment is demanded immediately by wired funds and particularly, gift cards and cryptocurrencies. No legitimate company demands payment by gift cards or cryptocurrencies, however they are a favorite method of payment for scammers because they are pretty much impossible to trace.
The key to avoiding becoming a victim of this type of scam is to always ask for written confirmation of any demanded debt. Further verify any debts and confer with your attorney handling the estate on your behalf before making any payment.
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 where it indicates “Sign up for this blog.”