Funeral services provider Dela has issued a warning about cybercriminals attempting to extract data and money from bereaved families via messages of condolence.
Over the past three months, 130 reports have been recorded out of approximately 45,000 messages of condolence posted, the funeral group reported in a statement on Monday. The criminals often pose as lawyers, insurers or solicitors.
Malicious messages are slipping in among the sincere messages of condolence posted on Dela’s memorial page, “Dansnospensées.be”.
"Dear Madam, we have been informed of the death and wish to inform you of the existence of a life insurance policy in the name of the deceased," one such message reads. "Please send us your email address so that we can send you the documents required for the payment of the benefit, or contact us by email for further information."
Over the last three months, Dela has received 130 reports of suspicious messages amongst some 45,000 messages of condolence.
"Scammers deliberately play on people’s emotions and trust," explains Caroline Hombroukx, an online marketing specialist and manager of the Dansnospensées.be website. "They know that people who are grieving are sometimes less vigilant and more likely to respond, especially when a message appears urgent or official."
"We would like to warn people that they are paying close attention and thinking before sharing private data," says Caroline Hombroukx of DELA in De Ochtend on Radio 1, VRT reports.
To combat this type of fraud and minimise risks, Dela is focusing on raising awareness and has implemented several security measures, including a warning banner and a report button.
Fraudulent senders are also blocked and blacklisted. The number of private condolence messages that can be sent per IP address is also limited to prevent abuse.
