Technology
How scammers have sunk to a new low with an AI obituary scam targeting the grieving
As if scammers couldn’t sink any lower, there’s a new online scam taking advantage of grieving people.
It’s a strange pirate scam that uses artificial intelligence to scrape data to build fake obituary websites, exploiting the information of somebody who is deceased in an attempt to scam vulnerable victims.
Grieving woman at a grave site. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
We can only hope that this unfortunate situation doesn’t affect you or anyone you care about. If, unfortunately, you have died, there’s little you can do to prevent someone from exploiting your obituary for their own gain. However, these scammers specifically target kind-hearted individuals who are still alive and willing to assist grieving families. It’s essential to remain vigilant and protect yourself and your loved ones from such deceptive practices.
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Grieving woman sitting on the floor. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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How the fake obituary or ‘bereavement scam’ works
Have you ever been on your social media account and seen someone post an obituary page of someone they have lost? Perhaps you’ve clicked on the links to learn about the person, their impact, how they’ve passed or to read the information regarding the funeral.
Maybe you’re even looking to send flowers to the family or a donation in the person’s name. Of course, when someone dies, the last thing you’re probably thinking about is whether it could be a scam. But there’s been a rise in bereavement scams by heartless scammers.
Monitoring search trends
Scammers do this by first monitoring Google search trends to determine when people are searching for obituaries after a death.
WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?
Creating bogus obituaries
Then, once the scammers find out who has died, they create bogus obituaries with the help of AI that are hosted on legitimate funeral/memorial websites.
SEO optimization
Next, the scammers optimize these pages using SEO tactics so that the scammer’s page ranks first when someone searches for a specific person’s obituary page.
The trap is set
Then, when the prospective victim goes to click on it, they’ll be redirected to an e-dating or adult entertainment site, or they’ll be given a CAPTCHA prompt that, unbeknownst to them, will install web push notifications or pop-up ads when clicked.
These may give fake virus warnings but link to legitimate landing pages for subscription-based antivirus software programs. Worrying that you might accidentally download a virus, innocent victims instead walk right into a scam.
The scammers profit in two ways
After this, two things can happen:
- Scammers monetize this via affiliate reward programs from software downloads people are tricked into thinking they need.
- Scammers get revenue from adverts on the page that pay per impression.
So, while they may not explicitly target you in the same fashion as other scams, they’re still quite creative. Although Secureworks Counter Threat Unit emphasizes that this scam is not currently infecting devices with malware, it is possible that this scam could evolve in that direction in the near future.
Grieving woman on her cellphone. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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How to protect yourself from falling for an obituary scam
To protect yourself from one of these scams, there are a few questions to ask yourself if you see an obituary page:
Do you have a connection to the person who has passed away? If you’re not connected in any way to the person you see the obituary page for, don’t click on it. And, if you do know the person, make sure you click on the original link that was shared on social media from the contact you know well; don’t search it in Google, as the first option that comes up could be a fake one.
Know the fake websites. Some fake obituary websites include Nextdoorfuneralhomes.com, Memorialinfoblog.com, Obituaryway.com and Funeralinfotime.com. But keep in mind that some scammers are using common sites, too.
Check if the person has actually passed away. This may seem obvious, but some of these scammers are writing obituaries for people who have not actually passed away!
Look out for suspicious pages. Key signs of a fake obituary include overly descriptive language and an impersonal tone. Many scammers rely on AI to write these obituaries as quickly as they can and don’t usually take the time to review them to make them sound more human. After all, they are in a rush to snag you shortly after the person has died.
A woman in a reflection. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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Kurt’s key takeaways
Many scammers prey on emotionally vulnerable people to get their way. Though this obituary scam is next-level, it’s not much different than someone taking advantage of someone during a phone scam, where the victim is rushed to send over money or provide information. So, always keep your wits about you if you’re ever not sure. Before clicking on a link, opening a file or answering that phone call, take a minute.
What ethical responsibilities do online platforms and social media networks have in safeguarding you from exploitative scams? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact
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When Oregon resident Isabelle Reksopuro heard Google was gobbling up public land to fuel its data centers in her home state, she didn’t initially know what to believe. “There’s a lot of misinformation about data centers,” she said. “Google has denied taking that land.”
Technically, she explains, The Dalles, a city near the Washington state border, sought to reclaim that land, “and Google is just a big, unnamed power user.” The city had in fact asked for ownership of a 150-acre portion of Mount Hood National Forest, claiming it needs access to Mount Hood’s watershed to meet municipal needs as its population — 16,010 as of the 2020 census — grows. But critics, including environmentalists, say the city is trying to secure more water for Google, which has a sprawling data center campus in The Dalles that already consumes about one-third of the city’s water supply.
This controversy made Reksopuro curious about the backlash to data centers being built in other communities. So Reksopuro, a student at the University of Washington who studies the connections between tech and public policy, decided to map it out. Using information collected by Epoch AI and data scraped from legislation on data centers, she built an interactive map tracking AI policy around the world. She designed it to be simple enough for anyone to use. “I wanted it to be something that my younger sisters could play through and explore to understand what are the data centers in the area and what’s actually being done about it,” Reksopuro said. She hoped to shift their opinions that way, “instead of like, through TikTok.”
Four times a day, the map searches for new sources and checks them against the existing database Reksopuro built out. “Once it does that, it will write a new summary, add it to the news feed, and populate it on the sidebar,” she said. “I wanted it to be self-updating, since I’m also a student.”
Reksopuro isn’t against data centers, but she thinks tech giants benefit from a lack of transparency around data center policies. “Right now, it’s this really opaque thing — and all of a sudden, there’s a facility,” she said. “I think that if people knew about data centers beforehand, it would give them leverage. They would be able to negotiate: ask for job training programs, tax revenue, environmental monitoring, things to improve their community.”
UCF commencement speaker Gloria Caulfield (University of Central Florida via Storyful)
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Microsoft Edge is adding a new feature that will allow its Copilot AI chatbot to gather information from all of your open tabs. When you start a conversation with Copilot, you can ask the chatbot questions about what’s in your tabs, compare the products you’re looking at, summarize your open articles, and more.
In its announcement, Microsoft says you can “select which experiences you want or leave off the ones you don’t.” The company is retiring Copilot Mode as well, which could similarly draw information from your tabs but offered some agentic features, like the ability to book a reservation on your behalf. Microsoft has since folded these agentic capabilities into its “Browse with Copilot” tool.
Several other AI features are coming to Edge, including an AI-powered “Study and Learn” mode that can turn the article you’re looking at into a study session or interactive quiz. There’s a new tool that turns your tabs into AI-powered podcasts as well, similar to what you’d find on NotebookLM, and an AI writing assistant that will pop up when you start entering text on a webpage.
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Meanwhile, an update to Edge’s mobile app will allow you to share your screen with Copilot and talk through the questions about what you’re seeing. Microsoft says you’ll see “clear visual cues” when Copilot is active, “so you know when it’s taking an action, helping, listening, or viewing.”
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