ATLANTA — Criminals are posing as funeral home employees, targeting families dealing with the death of a loved one.
“My mother would be so mad if she thought I was having to go through this because of something to do with her,” Mableton resident Paty Bilbo told Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray.
Bilbo’s mother, Adell Carden’s funeral was just last week.
They were waiting for a beautiful spring day for the burial. But Bilbo’s mind is occupied with the crook who tricked her out of more than $3,500.
“I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking, this is horrible that they’re doing this to people,” she said.
Channel 2 Action News first reported on these scams targeting funeral homes a year ago. Criminals are monitoring obituaries and then posing as funeral home employees. They call family members and ask for a downpayment for the funeral.
Bilbo had just been at Hightower Funeral Home in Bremen the day before the call making all the arrangements.
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“I didn’t pay one when I did my dad’s service, but I thought, well, everybody changes their policies about stuff,” Bilbo said.
So, she reluctantly agreed to send a $1,500 payment through PayPal.
“I said, no, I don’t want to be on the phone with you. I’m nervous. I’ll just go down there. And he said, ‘Let’s just take our time,’” she said.
The scammer kept saying the charge wasn’t going through, but he was really trying to steal more and more money.
“They put that $1,543.30 in six times,” Bilbo said.
Scott Jacobsen told Channel 2 Action News a nearly identical story last February when a scammer posing as Dressler’s funeral home stole more than $9,000 as he was preparing to bury his mother.
“You have to put yourself in the place of these families, what they’re going through, they’re not thinking,” Jacobsen said.
The owners of Hightower Funeral Home say at least 4 families there have been targeted by scammers in recent days.
“It’s devastating. Our business is based on trust. And if you don’t have trust, then you know you don’t have much to stand on. And it’s gut-wrenching,” Jacquelyn Hightower McKinzie said.
Patsy Bilbo said she reached out to Channel 2 Action News because she wants to warn other families.
“I am thinking about it all the time because until I get it settled, I just don’t want to hear of other people getting involved in it,” Bilbo said.
Federal regulators at the Federal Trade Commission issued a warning about the scam, writing “If there was a scammers hall of shame, this one would make the Top 10 list” and warned families to contact the funeral home directly.
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