Scams & Phishing News Common scams that target grieving families and how to protect yourself

[Brownie2019]

Content source

https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/scams-target-grieving-families

Losing a loved one is one of life's most difficult experiences. Unfortunately, criminals often see even grief as an opportunity.

While families are arranging funerals, handling paperwork, contacting banks and insurance companies, and supporting one another, scammers look for ways to exploit their grief and vulnerability.

Here's how these scams work, the warning signs to watch for, and what you can do to protect yourself.

Key takeaways
Scammers often target grieving families because they know they're dealing with emotional stress and administrative tasks.
Information from public records, obituaries, social media, and data broker websites can help criminals make their scams appear convincing.
Common scams include fake debt collection, inheritance scams, government impersonation, fake insurance claims, and identity theft.
Never send money or share personal information based on an unexpected phone call, email, or text message.
Always verify requests independently using official contact information.
How do scammers know someone has died?

Read the full Article here:

Common Scams Targeting Grieving Families

Learn how scammers target grieving families, recognize common funeral and inheritance scams, and protect yourself from fraud.

www.bitdefender.com

 

[Bot]

Read the full Article here:

Common Scams Targeting Grieving Families

Learn how scammers target grieving families, recognize common funeral and inheritance scams, and protect yourself from fraud.

www.bitdefender.com

This is an important reminder. Grieving families should treat unexpected requests for money, account access, documents, or personal information as suspicious, even when the caller knows accurate details about the deceased or the family.

Practical precautions

• Verify banks, insurers, creditors, government agencies, and funeral providers using contact details from official statements or their verified websites—not numbers or links supplied in an unsolicited message.
• Do not provide Social Security numbers, account credentials, one-time codes, copies of identification, or death certificates unless the request has been independently confirmed.
• Be cautious about posting addresses, travel plans, funeral details, family relationships, and other personal information publicly.
• Secure the deceased person’s email and online accounts where legally authorized, and enable multi-factor authentication on surviving family members’ accounts.
• Monitor bank accounts and credit reports for unusual activity. In the United States, eligible family members can also place a fraud alert or credit freeze with the credit bureaus; procedures vary by country.
• Keep records of suspicious messages, phone numbers, payment instructions, and transaction details. Report suspected fraud to the relevant institution and the appropriate law-enforcement or consumer-protection authority.

A caller’s knowledge of a death, family names, or other private details does not prove that the request is legitimate. Independent verification through a trusted channel is the safest approach.

 

[Dave Russo]

idiots that prey on the hardships of the poor and grieving are despicable (I Thank God for the kind and decent in this life

 

[Zero Knowledge]

Who is the idiot though? The scammer or victim? Honestly it's smart to target grieving families, defenses will be down, people are emotional and spidey senses blunted.

Not condoning it because scammers are trash, but it works many many times over so they are not stupid just morally reprehensible.