Trading Standards Institute Warns on Bereavement Scammers

Some news from the CTSI, who have identified potentially criminal activity surrounding funeral services and the notices that people place in regional mainstream media. Here’s the word;

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is warning members of the public to be on guard against criminals from what can only be described as a despicable attempt to target the public when they are at their most vulnerable.

Trading Standards are raising awareness of these criminals that are scanning for funeral notices and then creating fake Facebook accounts to target the deceased friends and family. The fraudsters are then offering links to the live streaming of the funeral at a cost or setting up fake opportunities to donate money. Halde Pottinger at ceremonies and life coaching has posted a warning about this on Facebook as he is seeing a rise in these scammers setting up fake profiles and targeting mourners.

CTSI urges the public to:

• Remember that a funeral is a public event and you should never be charged to attend in person or online
• Do not trust links for donations that you find online – check on the official funeral directors post or contact them directly
• Never give out your personal details – these are extremely valuable to criminals
• If you’ve given out your bank details, then contact your bank immediately

CTSI Lead Officer, Katherine Hart, said: “This is one of the worst cases of hitting someone when they are at their most vulnerable that I have seen. We are seeing too many cases of people being exploited by criminals to hand over their money and personal details.

“We urge consumers to follow our advice on how to avoid these despicable members of our society and it’s also really important to tell your friends, family and neighbours to also be wary of these types of scams as anyone can be targeted.”

CTSI Chief Executive, John Herriman, said: “As always, scammers are quick to leap on any opportunity to take advantage of uncertainty and to prey on members of the public, and in this case when they are already suffering with grief and upset.

“Trading Standards will be doing everything they can to protect their local communities from these despicable individuals and we urge consumers to report any concerns to the Consumer Helpline so these criminals can be stopped in their tracks.”

For consumer advice, please call the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133.

To report scams in England and Wales, contact Action Fraud. In Scotland, contact Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000, or if in Northern Ireland, call Consumerline on 0300 123 6262.