AI scammers use obituaries to target widows; one victim loses $7,000 in tax evasion fraud

Published Aug 25, 06:39 PM UTC

A new scam, dubbed the 'graveyard grift,' uses artificial intelligence to scour obituaries and target recently widowed seniors. In one case, a widow lost $7,000 after fraudsters claimed they had helped her late husband evade taxes and demanded payment to preserve her inheritance. Clayton LiaBraaten of TrueCaller reported the incident, noting AI enables scammers to quickly identify victims, generate convincing scripts, and create deepfake content. The FBI reported that Americans aged 60+ lost $7.7 billion to cybercrime in 2025, a 59% increase from 2024. Experts warn that grieving widows are especially vulnerable due to the overwhelming financial and administrative tasks after a spouse's death. The scam highlights the growing threat of AI-powered fraud targeting older adults through publicly available obituary information.