AI Obituary Scammers Exploit Grieving with Fake Death Announcements

Scammers are now using AI to create fake obituary websites, targeting grieving individuals and exploiting their vulnerability. By monitoring search trends and creating bogus obituaries hosted on legitimate funeral/memorial websites, scammers lure victims to adult entertainment sites or install web push notifications and pop-up ads. To protect yourself, avoid clicking on obituary pages if you have no connection to the deceased, be cautious of suspicious pages, and verify the authenticity of the obituary. Ethical responsibilities of online platforms and social media networks in safeguarding users from exploitative scams are questioned.