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By PAULA SPAN
The subject line of the email usually says something like “funeral notification” or perhaps “your friend’s memorial service.” It appears to come from a funeral home, maybe even a real funeral home.
When you open the email, the message extends condolences and provides a link to use to learn more about “the celebration of your friend’s life,” or similar wording. It doesn’t mention a name, but the phrases themselves are enough to make you wonder: Who died?
Alert from the Federal Trade Commission: This is a scam, recently hatched and circulating widely. Clicking on the link loads malicious software onto your computer, allowing the scammers to steal personal information and passwords, to gain access to accounts and to spam others on your list of contacts. Delete the email and don’t — don’t — click on the link.
Even veteran monitors of scummy attempts at fraud — some of the F.T.C.’s staff got phony funeral notices — describe this as some sort of record for stonyheartedness. “How low can you be, to prey on someone’s fear of losing a loved one?” asked Nat Wood, an assistant director of the F.T.C.’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “It’s despicable.”
The commission hasn’t seen evidence that the email targets seniors in particular. “The scammers approach this as an exercise in volume,” Mr. Wood said. “They send these to as many people as they can,” betting that at least some will bite.
But I’m passing the warning along here, thinking that older adults could be particularly vulnerable. Who else goes to as many funerals, sadly? Losing one’s peers is one of the tougher parts of aging. And there’s some evidence that older people are more trusting and less able to spot deception, though the research recounted by my colleague Judith Graham was based on visual cues, not bogus email.
So be careful and warn the older computer users you know. If they’re wondering whether someone they care about has actually died, “they’d be better off checking with the funeral home or with someone who would have knowledge of a person,” Mr. Wood advised.
Those already victimized by these digital thieves will have to run antivirus programs to cleanse their computers. The F.T.C. offers advice on how to do that here.
PS: Felt this was good for all of us! Joan:redrose:
The subject line of the email usually says something like “funeral notification” or perhaps “your friend’s memorial service.” It appears to come from a funeral home, maybe even a real funeral home.
When you open the email, the message extends condolences and provides a link to use to learn more about “the celebration of your friend’s life,” or similar wording. It doesn’t mention a name, but the phrases themselves are enough to make you wonder: Who died?
Alert from the Federal Trade Commission: This is a scam, recently hatched and circulating widely. Clicking on the link loads malicious software onto your computer, allowing the scammers to steal personal information and passwords, to gain access to accounts and to spam others on your list of contacts. Delete the email and don’t — don’t — click on the link.
Even veteran monitors of scummy attempts at fraud — some of the F.T.C.’s staff got phony funeral notices — describe this as some sort of record for stonyheartedness. “How low can you be, to prey on someone’s fear of losing a loved one?” asked Nat Wood, an assistant director of the F.T.C.’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “It’s despicable.”
The commission hasn’t seen evidence that the email targets seniors in particular. “The scammers approach this as an exercise in volume,” Mr. Wood said. “They send these to as many people as they can,” betting that at least some will bite.
But I’m passing the warning along here, thinking that older adults could be particularly vulnerable. Who else goes to as many funerals, sadly? Losing one’s peers is one of the tougher parts of aging. And there’s some evidence that older people are more trusting and less able to spot deception, though the research recounted by my colleague Judith Graham was based on visual cues, not bogus email.
So be careful and warn the older computer users you know. If they’re wondering whether someone they care about has actually died, “they’d be better off checking with the funeral home or with someone who would have knowledge of a person,” Mr. Wood advised.
Those already victimized by these digital thieves will have to run antivirus programs to cleanse their computers. The F.T.C. offers advice on how to do that here.
PS: Felt this was good for all of us! Joan:redrose:
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