Toowoomba community condemns funeral livestream scam preying on grieving loved ones
Heartless scammers have used the funeral of a beloved Toowoomba woman to target grieving loved ones in the latest example of a sickening growing online trend.
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Low-life scammers have used the funeral of a beloved Toowoomba woman to target grieving family and friends in the latest example of a concerning online trend.
A Facebook account under the name of ‘Watch Louise Griffiths Funeral Live’ has been called out as an appalling scam preying on a grieving community.
The account shared a post this morning telling people they could watch the live stream of Louise’s funeral if the follow the attached link.
The post which said it was posted from Melbourne, Queensland reads “Now the server issue has been resolved those who want to watch must sign up??”
“Funeral mass can be viewed on the following link:-”
Louise’s funeral was on Thursday at 10.30am at HumeRidge Church of Christ.
A community member who wished to remain anonymous told The Chronicle that she got a strange friend request Thursday morning and as soon as she saw the account she said it “reeked of scam”.
She said she was appalled to see someone taking advantage of a grieving family.
She responded to the account, only to be met with a series of incomprehensible responses.
In December 2023 the National Anti-Scam Centre found an increase in funeral service live stream scams which act by targeting friends and family mourning loved ones.
In some instances the scams will take users to a link that asks for a payment to view the content while it is believed others might download malware through the attached link.
A Facebook user took to the platform to warn others of the scam account and posted the real link to the live stream of the funeral through the official Burstows Funeral Care site.
In the post he wrote, “beware scammers out trying to take advantage of Louise Griffith’s friends and family today”.
“I recommend you do not accept the friend request from the ‘Watch Louise Griffiths Funeral Live’.
“I’m 99% sure this is a scam, but I do not want to bother the Griffiths in this moment.
“The last thing they want to be concerned about right now is scammers.”
An ACCC spokesman said in 2024 that reports of these types of online scams mostly related to live streaming sporting events, they had received reports of it extending to live streaming funerals.
Scamwatch received 39 reports of funeral livestream scams between December 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024 with a total financial loss of $12.45, the ACCC spokesman said.
The ACCC also received around 160,000 unrelated reports in the same period with a total reported loss value of around $155m.
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