Funeral and Memorial Scams: How Scammers Exploit Grief to Steal Money

Overview: How Scammers Are Targeting Grieving Families

Funeral and memorial scams have become a cruel tactic used by scammers to exploit grieving families. Losing a loved one is one of the most difficult experiences in life, and unfortunately, fraudsters use this grief to their advantage. By creating fake memorial pages, funeral livestreams, and unauthorized fundraisers, they deceive unsuspecting people into giving money. These scams not only cause financial harm but also add emotional distress to families who are already mourning.

In this blog, we’ll explain how these scams work, the different forms they take, and how you can protect yourself and others from falling victim.

Forms of Funeral and Memorial Scams

Scammers use different tricks to deceive people. Here are the most common ones:

1. Fake Fundraising Campaigns

Scammers create fake GoFundMe or Facebook fundraisers, pretending to raise money for funeral expenses. They might copy real obituaries or use stolen photos to make the fundraiser seem legitimate.

• Red flag: The grieving family is unaware of the fundraiser.
• How they trick people: They pressure donors by saying the family is struggling to pay funeral costs.

This was the case when a fraudulent fundraiser was set up following the tragic passing of Ithaca College student Kelly Perkins. While her family had an official GoFundMe campaign, scammers created a fake fundraising page on GoGetFunding.com, falsely claiming it was organized by Ithaca College. This misled donors into contributing to an unauthorized account instead of the family’s official fundraiser. Ithaca College quickly alerted the public, urging people to donate only to the legitimate campaign. Read more about the scam here.

Scammers rely on emotion and urgency to make people act without verifying information. Just as fraudulent fundraisers exploit grief, other viral scams—like “Please Share” posts about missing children or pets—use emotional triggers to spread quickly. Learn more about how these viral scams work here.

2. Fake Funeral Livestreams

Some scammers set up fake Facebook pages pretending to be associated with a funeral home, offering a livestream of the service. When people click the link, they are asked to provide credit card information or personal details.

• Red flag: A funeral livestream that requires payment or login details.
• How they trick people: They use the emotional pull of wanting to “attend” the funeral virtually.

This type of scam was highlighted in a 2024 report by Krebs on Security, where scammers created fraudulent Facebook groups claiming to offer livestreams of funeral services. They copied legitimate funeral announcements and directed grieving family members to malicious links. Once victims clicked, they were prompted to provide credit card information to access the stream—only to have their financial details stolen. These scams prey on the emotional vulnerability of mourners, making them more likely to act without suspicion. Read more about this scam here.

3. Fake Tribute Pages & Obituaries

Some websites copy obituaries from funeral home sites without permission, adding options for people to “light a candle” or “plant a tree” in honour of the deceased. However, these are not real tributes, and the money goes to the website, not the family.

• Red flag: The family didn’t approve or post the tribute.
• How they trick people: They make it seem like a way to honour the deceased, but the money never reaches the intended recipient.

A disturbing example of this scam involved Los Angeles Times journalist Deborah Vankin, who found AI-generated obituaries falsely announcing her death. Complete with morbid images and fake news anchors, these fabricated reports were designed to generate clicks and ad revenue, highlighting how scammers use AI to manipulate search results.

Similarly, Brian Vastag became a victim of obituary fraud after his former partner, Beth Mazur, passed away. Scammers falsely claimed he had also died, pushing the real obituary further down in search results and causing confusion among friends and family.

These cases reveal how obituary scams are evolving, using AI and search engine tricks to exploit both the living and the deceased. Read more about these

Final Thoughts

Losing a loved one is already an incredibly difficult experience, and the last thing grieving families should have to deal with is being exploited by scammers. Unfortunately, fraudsters continue to take advantage of people’s emotions by setting up fake fundraisers, livestreams, and tribute pages to steal money from unsuspecting individuals.

By staying informed, verifying fundraisers and tribute pages, and being cautious of unsolicited donation requests, we can help prevent these scams from spreading. If you ever come across a funeral-related request, take a moment to verify its legitimacy before engaging—and always report fraudulent pages when you see them.

Spreading awareness about these scams can make a difference. The more people who know what to look for, the harder it becomes for scammers to take advantage of grieving families.