There have recently been reports of scammers calling bereaved families asking for "downpayments" for services. The scam works likes this: The "scammer" reads a recent obituary online, they google the survivors name to locate a phone number, call the family impersonating a representative of the funeral home by name and ask for a deposit for services. The caller "spoofs" their identity so when the family looks at caller id on their phone, the funeral home name comes up. They also use the name of a funeral home director as their identity. Sadly, some people have fallen for this tactic.
As a consumer of any services, NEVER give your personal information to anyone over the phone or via the internet without first verifying who the caller is. NEVER click on a link in an email that draws even the slightest bit of suspicion. These "phishing links" open the door to cyber criminals. These types of scams are growing in every area of all service industries, most recently funeral homes. Instead of falling into this trap, hang up, contact the service provider directly and verify the call. In most cases you will find out that it was not the provider who called you.
Preying on those who have recently suffered the loss of a family member is, in my opinion, as low as you can go! As one person who was quoted in the article I read said "There is a special place in hell for people like this." I couldn't agree more! I have attached the original article in a word document which was originally reported on NBCnews.com.
Suffering the death of a loved is difficult enough. Being swindled by cyber criminals makes the pain that much harder to bear. We care deeply about the families we serve and will do our part to protect you in every way we can.
Bill Iovanne, Jr.
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