The Funeral Scam That Exploits Veterans’ Families
By Greg Collier
Losing a loved one is difficult enough.
Losing a veteran who dedicated part of their life to serving the country can make the days surrounding a funeral especially emotional. Families are dealing with arrangements, paperwork, military traditions, and the overwhelming reality that someone they love is gone.
Scammers apparently see that grief as an opportunity.
Families of recently deceased veterans in the Fort Bragg, North Carolina, area have reportedly been targeted by callers pretending to be military personnel or government officials. The callers claim that the family needs to pay money to receive military funeral honors.
It’s a lie.
And according to the Army Casualty Assistance Center, there is never a fee for military funeral honors.
The scam is particularly disturbing because it does not simply rely on fear or confusion. It targets people during one of the most vulnerable moments imaginable.
“It’s heartless, just heartless,” Cureston Brice, a memorial affairs coordinator for the Army Casualty Assistance Center, told Military.com. “People are already grieving the loss of their loved one who served our country. How can you turn around and try to scam them at their most vulnerable?”
That vulnerability is precisely what makes this scam so dangerous.
The Call That Shouldn’t Be Happening
The Army Casualty Assistance Center reportedly learned about the scheme after funeral home directors in North Carolina alerted officials that families were receiving calls demanding money for military honors.
The caller may present themselves as a member of the military or as a government official.
Then comes the demand.
One family was reportedly told that it needed to pay $1,500 for liability insurance for an honor guard.
The payment was supposedly refundable.
The scammer wanted the family to pay by credit card or money transfer.
And there was a deadline attached to the demand: If the family didn’t pay, the veteran’s military funeral honors would supposedly be canceled.
That last part is particularly important.
The threat is designed to exploit the family’s emotions.
Imagine receiving a call shortly before your loved one’s funeral telling you that something you believed was part of their final tribute is suddenly in jeopardy.
You might not have the time or emotional energy to question the caller.
You might simply pay.
That is what the scammer is counting on.
The $1,500 “Insurance” Fee Is Fake
According to the Army Casualty Assistance Center, military families do not pay for military funeral honors.
There is no $1,500 insurance requirement.
There is no legitimate fee that has to be paid to make sure an honor guard appears.
And military funeral honors will not be canceled because a grieving family refuses to send money to a stranger who calls them.
Brice told Military.com that military honors are provided for eligible veterans and service members as part of the military’s obligation and honor.
The service can include the folding and presentation of the American flag and the playing of Taps at the gravesite.
The important point for families is simple:
Nobody should be calling you to collect money for it.
If someone does, treat that request as a scam.
Why This Scam Could Work
Scammers don’t necessarily need to convince someone that the entire military is involved.
They only need to make the phone call sound official enough that a grieving family doesn’t stop to question it.
The caller may use military terminology.
They may know the deceased person’s name.
They may know that a funeral is taking place.
They may claim to work for a government agency.
They may tell the family that there is a problem with the arrangements.
And then they offer a simple solution.
Pay.
This is a classic scam tactic: create a problem that doesn’t exist, then offer the victim a way to make the problem disappear.
The victim isn’t paying because they want something extra.
They’re paying because they are afraid of losing something they believe they are already entitled to receive.
That makes the emotional pressure much stronger.
The Threat Is Part of the Scam
One of the clearest warning signs in this case is the threat that military honors will be canceled unless the family pays.
That threat is false.
But scammers understand that urgency can short-circuit skepticism.
If someone tells you that you have hours to act, that a service will be canceled, that a deadline is approaching, or that your loved one’s arrangements are in danger, you may feel compelled to respond immediately.
That’s exactly when you should slow down.
A legitimate military or government agency should not need a grieving family to send money to a stranger over the phone in order to arrange military honors.
If a caller says otherwise, hang up.
Don’t Trust Caller ID
There is another lesson here that applies to virtually every impersonation scam.
Don’t assume that a phone call is legitimate simply because the caller ID looks official.
Scammers can manipulate caller ID information. They can use convincing names, government terminology, and other details to create the appearance of legitimacy.
The same goes for information the caller may already know.
A scammer knowing the veteran’s name does not prove that the caller works for the military.
Knowing the funeral date doesn’t prove it either.
In a targeted scam, criminals may obtain information from public records, social media, obituaries, funeral announcements, or other sources.
The fact that someone knows something personal about your family doesn’t mean they are who they claim to be.
The Funeral Home Can Be Your First Line of Defense
Military officials are emphasizing a particularly simple way for families to protect themselves.
Work through the funeral home.
If your loved one is eligible for military funeral honors, the funeral director can coordinate with the appropriate military personnel.
Families should not need to arrange the honors by responding to an unsolicited phone call demanding payment.
Kagan Dunlap, a U.S. Marine Corps officer and podcast host who warned about the scam, similarly advised military families to communicate directly with their funeral director, who can coordinate the arrangements with the military.
That gives families an important buffer.
Instead of trying to determine whether an unexpected caller is legitimate while grieving, you can rely on the professionals already handling the funeral arrangements.
Red Flags
There are several warning signs that should immediately raise suspicion.
- A surprise phone call about military honors. If you weren’t expecting the call, stop and verify it independently.
- A request for money. Military funeral honors are provided without a fee.
- A supposed insurance requirement. The reported scam used a fake $1,500 liability insurance requirement.
- A threat that honors will be canceled. The Army Casualty Assistance Center says this is not how the process works.
- Pressure to pay immediately. Urgency is one of the oldest tools in the scammer’s toolbox.
- Payment by money transfer or card. A stranger demanding immediate payment is a major warning sign.
- A caller claiming to be a government official. Don’t assume the title makes the request legitimate.
- A request for personal or financial information. There is no reason to hand sensitive information to an unexpected caller simply because they claim to represent the military.
What If You Get the Call?
The best response is simple.
Hang up.
Then contact the funeral home handling the arrangements.
You can also contact the appropriate military casualty assistance office independently to verify anything you have been told.
The Army Casualty Assistance Center is already working with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division and funeral home organizations to spread awareness of the scheme.
The fact that officials are warning about the scam also suggests that families should not assume this is necessarily limited to one phone call or one location.
Brice told Military.com that officials don’t know whether other military families outside North Carolina may have been contacted.
That is why awareness matters.
A scam that begins in one area can quickly spread.
If You’ve Already Paid
If you or someone in your family already sent money to someone claiming to arrange military funeral honors, act quickly.
Contact the financial institution or payment provider involved and explain that you believe the payment was fraudulent.
Save everything.
Keep the phone number that called.
Save text messages and emails.
Take screenshots.
Write down what the caller said and when the call occurred.
Do not delete evidence simply because the interaction is upsetting.
Report the fraud to the appropriate authorities. The Department of Veterans Affairs has repeatedly warned veterans and their families about scams and directs people to report suspected fraud to the Federal Trade Commission through its fraud reporting system.
If the caller claimed to be a military official, you should also notify the appropriate military authorities.
Reporting matters because it can help officials identify patterns and warn other families before they become victims.
Grief Should Never Be a Business Opportunity
Scammers have always looked for vulnerable targets.
They target people who are worried about their finances.
They target people who are lonely.
They target people who are afraid.
And now, authorities are warning about criminals targeting families in mourning.
The military funeral honors scam is particularly cruel because the scammer isn’t selling some imaginary investment or promising a prize.
They’re threatening to take something away from a family at the funeral of someone they love.
The message families need to remember is simple.
Military funeral honors are not something you have to buy.
If someone calls claiming otherwise, don’t let the urgency of the moment push you into making a payment.
Hang up.
Call the funeral home.
Verify everything through an official channel.
And remember that when a stranger suddenly tells a grieving family, “Pay us or your loved one’s military honors will be canceled,” the person on the other end of the phone isn’t protecting your family.
They’re trying to exploit it.
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