Scammers target COVID-19 victims in plot to steal funeral reimbursement money

If losing a loved one to COVID-19 wasn't tough enough, now while grieving you have to watch out for scammers going after the funeral expenses the government will reimburse you for.

FEMA launched a program to help those that lost loved ones to COVID-19 by reimbursing you for funeral costs. Since launching, thousands of people have applied by calling the dedicated toll-free number and completing the application with help from FEMA representatives.

Scammers are capitalizing on that by making calls to people pretending to be with the FEMA program.

Ed Michael Reggie with Funeralocity said scammers are making these calls after scanning the obituaries.

Once the scammer identifies a target, they will call that person and try to get the personal information FEMA requires to fill out the reimbursement forms. With that information, the scammer can get the reimbursement money sent to them instead of the family in need.

FEMA does have a warning on its website, and states its representatives will never contact anyone until they have called FEMA or have applied for assistance.

If you have any doubt about the caller, FEMA says to hang up and make the call directly to FEMA yourself. Besides scam calls, you also have to beware of fraudulent emails making the same claim.