What You Should Know About Bereavement Scams

Losing someone you care about is heartbreaking enough without having to worry about someone trying to exploit the situation. Yet, bereavement scammers hope to steal Social Security numbers and financial account information of deceased loved ones. Here’s what else you should know about bereavement scams.

Types of Bereavement Scams

• Obituary Scams. Criminals often use obituary information to target their next victim. These public notices often contain full names, dates of birth, and family member names. This data can be used to commit identity theft or target loved ones. For example, a scammer could use a deceased person's name and DOB to file a fake tax return or open a credit card account and run up charges before the family discovers the fraud.
• Inheritance Scams. Bad actors pose as legal or company officials contacting families to notify them of an unexpected inheritance, like an insurance policy. What they truly want is to defraud consumers of money. The family must provide personal financial details or upfront processing fees to release the nonexistent funds.
• Friendship Scams. A variation of the inheritance scam involves a fake friend offering to transfer an inheritance for a small fee. Crooks claim a special connection with your loved one saying that they had been in touch shortly before their passing. This scam works by exploiting the emotional vulnerability of the bereaved by pretending to have special knowledge of money set aside for the family.
• Funeral Home Scams. If the scammer knows the name of the funeral home or cemetery, they can impersonate an employee of the business to extract additional payments from recently bereaved families. The con artist will call survivors, claiming that more money is needed to cover final expenses, even if all costs are paid in full.
• Widow or Widower Romance Scams. Some charlatans take a more direct approach by pretending to form a relationship with the new widow or widower. Vulnerable targets agree to connect online, where the scammer pretends to understand their grief. They may even claim they recently lost someone close to them to earn trust before further manipulating them.

Warning Signs of a Bereavement Scam

Scammers count on the emotional fog of grief to cloud a family member’s better judgment. Stay alert to these common bereavement scam red flags:

• Unsolicited requests for personal information or payment. This applies to the deceased and their surviving partner. Sharing Social Security numbers or bank account details with an unknown caller exposes you to identity theft and financial fraud risks.
• Any communication related to a secret inheritance. Scammers may fabricate promises of a financial windfall with strings attached, such as processing fees or releasing confidential data.
• Threats of legal action or jail. Swindlers may say they will take legal action against you to force you to comply with fraudulent demands. This tactic is meant to scare people into quickly paying or providing personal information without verifying the request is valid.

How to Protect Yourself from Bereavement Scams

Families can protect themselves from bereavement scammers by: 

• Ignoring unsolicited requests for confidential data.
• Monitoring the deceased’s credit reports for new activity.
• Limiting the amount of personal information published in an obituary.
• Verifying all requests for payment or sensitive data through an official channel.
• Freezing credit reports to prevent anyone from opening new credit accounts in the deceased name. 

Families are also encouraged to speak with legal counsel to verify the legitimacy of any communication related to outstanding debts or inheritances. They can advise you on your rights and responsibilities.

NOTE: This article is for informational purposes only. Please speak with a qualified attorney or tax advisor for assistance with additional actions you may need to take based on your specific situation.