Don’t ever give money to someone contacting you by phone
After the death of someone they love, people are at their most vulnerable. But predatory scammers swoop in, even at moments like these.
“People are very, very evil,” Logan Funeral Home Secretary Aubrey Long said.
Lately, scammers have targeted clients of Logan Funeral Home.
Here’s how the scam works.
First, scammers will look up recent obituaries of Gilmer County residents. These obituaries often list the funeral home for the deceased.
After that, the scammers look up the family of the deceased using the names in the obituary. They claim to be the funeral home and tell family members of the deceased that there are unpaid funeral expenses.
Scams like these target funeral home clients across America. Logan Funeral Home has been targeted by these calls for at least six months.
“We had a family that contacted us, saying someone had contacted them pretending to be from the funeral home,” Long said.
This scheme bets that the victim will be too emotionally overwhelmed to notice that something is wrong.
“Someone literally called while the family was here at the funeral home during the visitation,” she said.
Logan Funeral Home never discusses payment in the immediate aftermath of a death, Long said. It also never demands payments over the phone.
Scam calls usually come from nonlocal phone numbers. They also often target seniors.
If someone calls you claiming to be a Logan Funeral Home employee, just hang up.
“If it was truly one of the employees, we would understand,” Long said.
People should contact the Logan Funeral Home at 706-635-4554 to verify calls they doubt.
People can report scam calls to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov and to the GCSO.
But don’t report it to anyone who calls you claiming to be “Captain Brian Shepard” and asking about money. That’s a scam too.
Someone claiming to be Shepard has been calling Gilmer residents and asking them to contact him about a “legal matter.”
In just two days, two victims have lost $2,500 each to this group of thieves, a GCSO press release said.
“Apparently, some folks still think Captain Shepard has nothing better to do than call around demanding Bitcoin,” the press release added.
Before paying money to someone claiming to represent the GCSO, people should call its non-emergency line at 706-635-8911.
Taking a little extra time to verify a phone call is real can save you enormous amounts of money. And that’s not a scam.