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10 votes
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A scam obituary site
I attended a funeral recently for a family member. We weren’t close, so it didn’t hit me that hard, but some of the people I’m close to and care about were pretty devastated. We posted the...
I attended a funeral recently for a family member. We weren’t close, so it didn’t hit me that hard, but some of the people I’m close to and care about were pretty devastated.
We posted the person’s official obituary to the site of the funeral home, and we were surprised when someone sent us a link to their obituary on a completely different site. It wasn’t the same text — in fact it was very clearly a fake one if you knew the person at all. It was filled with broad, vague, non-denominational platitudes which didn’t work for someone who was specifically and devoutly religious. It did, however, have some correct information that felt lifted from the valid one. If you didn’t know the person that well, then it read convincingly. Think “ChatGPT writes an obituary” vibes.
On the fake obituary, there were links to buy flowers, plant a tree, etc.
We requested that the site take it down, and they did quite promptly, but it was unnerving that it even existed in the first place. It feels like the site scrapes obituary listings, automatically rewrites them so they’re not identical, then publishes them without the knowledge or consent of the person’s families. It feels especially predatory because it’s scamming grieving people, and I very much doubt that the services that you can “buy” through the site are actually fulfilled.
I don’t have a point to this other than that I wanted to make people aware of it.
27 votes -
What dying people see in their dreams
7 votes -
Thank you. You helped me to plan for the best possible goodbye for my dog. It was today.
https://tild.es/1anp I am very thankful for your help. It cleared our minds and we could do it in a peaceful way. His euthanasia was painful for us but not for him. The vet was awesome and we did...
https://tild.es/1anp
I am very thankful for your help. It cleared our minds and we could do it in a peaceful way.
His euthanasia was painful for us but not for him.
The vet was awesome and we did it maybe a week after the ideal time. We are sad, very sad, despite our brains saying that it was the best decision we are sad sad sad.
Grief evolves and we kind of know it will get better.
You were a great community, supportive and wise.
Thanks again,58 votes -
I texted my friend for years after she died. Then I received a five-word reply that left me shaken.
21 votes -
Mortician shows every step a body goes through at a funeral home
15 votes -
When Leo Babler was born with a deadly genetic disorder his parents built an adventure van, and made sure their son experienced the most beautiful wild places in the country during the time they had
4 votes -
Yale academic suggests mass suicide for Japan’s elderly
5 votes -
Encouraging the young to die - The most toxic site I've ever seen
17 votes -
India’s ghost weddings: where dead children are married off - Pretha Kalyanam
7 votes -
This grandma’s dying wish was a giant dick on her grave
23 votes -
Inside the US funeral industry’s 2021 national convention
10 votes -
More people are being buried in custom-made caskets
5 votes -
Miscarriage bereavement leave bill passes unanimously in New Zealand Parliament
15 votes -
Will holograms help us grieve?
3 votes -
The newly legal process for turning human corpses to soil
9 votes -
Living in Sri Lanka during the end of the civil war, I saw how life goes on, surrounded by death
12 votes -
Back to the land - Alice Driver writes about her father, a potter, and his ongoing project of building his own tomb as his final creative act
6 votes -
The last time you'll buy shoes (Thought experiment: You'll get to a point in life where mundane objects might last longer than you do)
13 votes -
How doctors die
21 votes -
The art of dying
10 votes -
Dog funerals may sound self-indulgent, but there should be no shame in pet grief
11 votes -
Washington becomes first US state to legalise human composting
12 votes -
A generation in Japan faces a lonely death
19 votes -
Today is my wife’s first birthday since she died
6 votes -
Those who can't forget: Portraits of nine families whose lives are tied to Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60, the final resting place of loved ones they lost in Iraq and Afghanistan
6 votes -
Dying alone in Japan: The industry devoted to what's left behind
6 votes -
Two of our chickens have died in the last week
We have a small flock of 8, and in the last week, two of our three bantams have died. It's part of having pets (and chickens in particular), but it's really bumming me out.
10 votes