FBI El Paso Warns About Scams That Are Targeting the Deceased and Their Grieving Families: Bereavement Scams

Losing a loved one can take an enormous toll—physically, emotionally, and even financially. It is hard enough on its own without also having to worry about fraud on top of it. Scammers will try to cash in on your already-difficult situation.

The fraudster could try to open new credit cards in the deceased person’s name or use a phishing scheme to pressure a grieving spouse into paying for a bogus benefit. Perhaps he says that he is calling from an insurance company and is able to re-instate an expired life insurance policy if she just makes a payment to cover the last few years of unpaid fees. ID thieves may even try to use the deceased person’s Social Security number to create a new identity.

There are many versions of these types of scams to include: outstanding debt, funeral scams, Medicare scams, tax fraud, romance/compassion scams, delinquent Life Insurance ploys, credit card scams, and possibly specially engraved trinkets.

So how do you protect your family after the loved one has passed?

We all want to acknowledge a loved one’s life completed. But be aware of how many personal facts you provide in an obituary, post online, including social media, the greater the risk of scams—for the departed and survivors alike.

When it’s time to write your loved one’s obituary, give the deceased’s age, but leave out the birthdate, middle name, home address, birthplace, and mother’s maiden name. This part will be hard to follow, don’t include the names of family survivors. This may open them up to these scams.