Scammers also target your good heart

Not every scam works on fear or greed. Some are built for kindness and grief — and they're worth knowing precisely because they don't feel like scams.

The funeral that asks for your card. When a family shares a funeral notice online, scammers comment or create lookalike pages offering a "live stream of the service" — behind a link that asks for card details or a "free registration" that becomes a recurring charge. Real funeral streams don't ask for your card; only use the link the funeral home or family sends directly.

The heartbreaking post that changes. In a local community group: a missing child, a lost elderly man, an injured dog — "please share!" Thousands of kind people do. Days later the scammer *edits the post* into a rental offer or investment pitch, and every share updates too, now sitting on your page with your implicit endorsement.

What to do: before sharing an appeal, look for one verifiable anchor — a police case number, a local news story, a named shelter. Notice profiles that are brand new or have comments switched off. If you can't verify it in one minute, don't share it — and delete any share that has changed underneath you.