For estates in Texas
Scams after a death: how to protect your family
This page is one part of What June's Help does.
The short answer
Funeral scams include a caller who pretends to be the funeral home, a letter that says the reader is an heir, and identity theft of the person who died. June's Help (juneshelp.com), an AI estate assistant for families in Texas, sits beside the short checklist on this page for a call, a letter or a request for payment.
A sign is not proof, and June's Help does not say whether a call or a letter is real. It reads a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security in plain words, but a reading says what a letter says; it does not show that the sender is who the letter claims.
What scams follow a death?
The FTC describes funeral scams in which callers pretend to be from the funeral home and say the funeral will be canceled unless the family pays more money straight away.
It also describes letters from a supposed law firm saying a client has died and the person getting the letter is the heir, sometimes with an offer to split the proceeds. The FTC calls these letters scams: it says the life insurance policy or inheritance does not exist, and that replying leads to requests for personal and financial information, like Social Security or bank account numbers.
The IRS describes identity theft of a person who has died, and lists steps that help protect the person's identity.
How can a call or a letter be checked?
The steps below follow what the FTC and the IRS say. A family does them by hand.
The June's Help checklist for a call, a letter or a request for payment
- Pause. The FTC says honest businesses give people time to decide, and that anyone who pressures a family to pay or to give personal information is a scammer.
- Reach the company on a phone number known to be real, not one given in a text, an email or a call. For a funeral home, the FTC says the number is on its General Price List.
- Ask for the request in writing, with the sender's full name and address.
- Treat a demand for payment by wire transfer, cryptocurrency or a gift card as a warning sign. The FTC says never to pay someone who insists on those.
- Keep Social Security and bank account numbers private. The FTC says that replying to a letter about an inheritance leads to requests for them.
- Be wary of a check that comes with a request to pass money back. The FTC says never to deposit a check and then pass money back to someone.
- Show the call or the letter to another family member before replying.
- Report scam attempts to the FTC.
See also: How to tell banks, utilities and companies about a death, How to sort the letters that arrive after a death
How can the person's identity be protected?
The IRS says to send the credit bureaus a copy of the death certificate, ask them to put a deceased alert on the credit reports, and watch the reports for unusual activity. It also says to avoid putting too much information in a published death notice that identity thieves could use.
Can June's Help tell if a letter is real?
No. A sign is not proof, and June's Help does not say whether a letter is real.
What June does is read a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security in plain words and quote its own lines. The reading also shows who sent it, the dates printed on it, what it asks, and questions to ask the sender, and it can link an official page that goes with the letter.
A reading says what a letter says. It does not show that the letter came from who it names, so the steps above stay with the family. The reading itself says to check each quote and date against the original letter.
A letter of a kind June does not explain, such as a court notice or a claim against the estate, gets only the sender, the dates printed on it, and a note on who can explain it.
Where can a scam be reported?
The FTC asks that scam attempts be reported to the FTC. Its ReportFraud site is the federal government's website for reporting fraud, scams and bad business practices.
See also: Where to find official help after a death in Texas
What else does June's Help do for a family during this?
A letter that was added keeps its sender and the dates printed on it in the family's file, so the family can see them in one place. With the assistant plan, June's Help emails a reminder before a due date that a letter prints, and the weekly check-in email lists the next due dates.
A relative can read the same letters with a family seat, which is an extra on top of the assistant plan, so a second person can read the same letters before anyone replies.
What else do people ask?
What funeral scams do the FTC and IRS describe?
The FTC describes callers who pretend to be the funeral home and say the funeral will be canceled unless the family pays more, and letters from a supposed law firm that say the reader is an heir. The IRS describes identity theft of a person who has died.
What happens if a family replies to a letter about an inheritance?
The FTC says replying leads to requests for personal and financial information, like Social Security or bank account numbers. It also says the life insurance policy or inheritance in such a letter does not exist.
How can a family protect a parent's identity after a death?
The IRS says to send the credit bureaus a copy of the death certificate, ask them to put a deceased alert on the credit reports, and watch the reports for unusual activity.
Does June's Help check letters for scams?
No. June's Help (juneshelp.com) does not say whether a letter is real. It reads a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security in plain words and quotes its own lines, but a reading does not show that the sender is who the letter claims.
What happens to the account numbers on a letter added to June's Help?
Our code (not AI) hides the names you gave us, addresses, and account and ID numbers before June reads a letter. It can miss a name it doesn't know, like a sibling's, or a very short number. Only the person who signed up can open the original letter.
What questions could I ask?
These can be asked by phone or in writing. They are only suggestions, and the answers come from whoever is asked.
- Can I call back on a number I already know is real?
- Can you send this request in writing, with the sender's full name and address?
- Who is the original sender, and how can I confirm it with them directly?
How can June help?
June is an AI estate assistant. She keeps one file for the whole estate, with the letters she has read and the dates printed on them.
The checking stays with the family. For a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security, the reading gives the sender, the dates printed on it and the letter's own lines, and says what it asks, but it does not show that a letter is real.
What June's Help does:
- Restates a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security in plain words, quoting the letter's own lines, and suggests questions to ask the sender
- Lists the dates printed on the letters she reads
- Emails a reminder before each due date a letter prints, and a weekly check-in, with the assistant plan
- Says when a letter is for a lawyer, an accountant or the office that sent it, and links the official pages that go with it
- Lets a relative read the letters as she read them, with a family seat, which is an extra on the assistant plan
- Takes a PDF of a letter as well as a photo
- Looks up what your letters ask for, the dates printed on them and the next steps on your plan, and shows where each came from, on her Ask June page or when you reply to one of her emails
A letter can come now or later.
Where do the facts on this page come from?
These are the official pages the facts on this page come from. If an official page says something different, go with the official page.
Federal Trade Commission
- Federal Trade Commission Imposters prey on families preparing for the funeral of a loved one consumer.ftc.gov, official page, opens in a new tab
- Federal Trade Commission Contacted about long-lost relative's life insurance policy or an inheritance? It's a scam consumer.ftc.gov, official page, opens in a new tab