Scammers on Facebook are increasingly targeting bereaved families by creating fake funeral live-stream links and donation requests, aiming to deceive people into sharing personal and financial information. This disturbing trend involves cybercriminals using stolen images of the deceased and posting fraudulent comments on real funeral announcements, making their scams appear genuine. By directing people to fake streaming or donation pages, they manipulate mourners into giving credit card details or making donations supposedly intended for the family.
One common approach involves posting a link to a “live-streamed” funeral under legitimate funeral notifications. Unsuspecting users who click on the link are taken to a page that appears to offer access to the service but actually requests credit card information, claiming it’s needed to verify the user’s location. The hidden terms often state that if the user does not cancel within a short trial period, they will incur recurring charges—sometimes as high as 64 euros every two weeks.
Another tactic involves asking for donations, purportedly on behalf of the deceased’s family, only to funnel the funds into scammers’ accounts. Facebook and several funeral homes have taken steps to combat these scams by encouraging users to report suspicious comments and clarifying in funeral notices whether live streaming is offered. Some funeral homes explicitly state, “This funeral is not being live-streamed,” to avoid confusion.
Funeral-related scams are just one example of how threat actors exploit vulnerable people during emotional moments. Cybersecurity experts, including Malwarebytes, warn users to be vigilant when engaging with online funeral links and advise them to double-check the legitimacy of any donation requests. Additionally, they suggest reporting dubious activity to social media platforms immediately to prevent further victimization of grieving families.
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