Countywide : Scam That Targets Elderly Relatives of Recently Deceased Investigated
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a scam in which relatives, usually elderly, of the recently deceased are billed for an unspecified service they never received.
The department refused to release the company’s name, saying it would hurt a legitimate business with a similar name.
The fraudulent company, which opened a Laguna Niguel mailbox in January, sent a $283 bill for unspecified services to a deceased man’s family in Huntington Beach shortly after his obituary appeared in a local newspaper.
About 20 similar fraudulent bills from the same swindlers were received around the same time, investigators said. They suspect phony bills have been mailed throughout the county over the past year.
The scam apparently targets senior citizens through obituary notices in newspapers.
“Elder abuse is of great concern in this area,” investigator Cliff Deller said.
Anyone who has received a suspicious-looking bill should contact the Sheriff’s Department at (714) 647-4103.
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