Fake Funeral Bill Scam

In the days after a death, families expect a flurry of invoices: the funeral home, the florist, the caterer, the venue, sometimes a headstone mason. Scammers exploit this expectation by sending a fake bill, often by email or letter, that closely mimics the real funeral home's branding but lists new bank details. Because grieving families are managing many payments at once and want to avoid appearing disrespectful by delay, they are more likely to pay quickly without calling to verify.

A variant intercepts a genuine invoice in transit, either by compromising the funeral home's email account or by physically substituting a fake letter, and simply changes the payment details while leaving the amount and invoice number identical. This makes the fraud very hard to spot on the document alone, since everything except the bank account number is authentic.

The safeguard is the same as with any invoice fraud: always confirm payment details by calling the vendor on a phone number obtained independently, not one taken from the suspicious email or letter, before sending any funeral-related payment.