A concerning trend is emerging, where scammers are exploiting the vulnerability of grieving families, particularly through deceptive funeral livestreams on social media. Mark Bull, owner of Bull Family Funerals, has become increasingly frustrated by these relentless fraudsters, who create fake profiles to siphon money from mourners wanting to attend virtual services. After noticing this surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bull dedicates considerable time to blocking and reporting these scams on Facebook.
Often, families reach out to him, confused about needing to provide credit card details for access to funeral streams. Bull, recognising the need for legitimate online memorials, offers to record services on USBs for families to distribute. Unfortunately, the scammers continue to evolve, even establishing fraudulent fundraising pages under the guise of memorial donations.
The Australian government’s National Anti-Scam Centre has highlighted a spike in funeral-related scams and is taking steps to disrupt such operations. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, claims to actively remove this harmful content while encouraging users to report any suspicious activity. Australians are urged to remain vigilant and report scams through the appropriate channels to protect themselves and their loved ones during these distressing times.