Facebook Funeral Scams: Grieving Families Targeted by Online Fraudsters

Facebook Funeral Scams: Grieving Families Targeted by Online Fraudsters In a recent ITV News investigation, it was revealed that hundreds of Facebook pages are being used to scam mourners. These scammers create fake profiles, often using the name of the deceased, and send friend requests to family and friends. The aim is to direct them to a fake livestream paywall, where they are asked for donations. One victim, Lynn, whose husband John recently passed away, shared her experience: "The day is hard enough as it is. Families are struggling, they're suffering emotionally, everybody's broken, and then to have somebody come along and scam everyone that they can... they're just awful." ITV News flagged dozens of these pages to Meta, Facebook's parent company. While Meta initially responded by removing the pages, they failed to adequately explain why these pages were allowed to operate for months, despite multiple reports. The investigation underscores the need for greater vigilance and more effective measures from social media platforms to protect vulnerable users during times of grief.