An online scam is stealing the ashes of dead people for money

Online scams are pretty common in a world that relies on the internet for the smallest of things. However, the extent to which some scammers can go will surprise you. One such report tells us about a scam in which a person tried stealing the ashes of dead people from their family and then threatened them by holding the ashes for ransom. One such scam was taking place on the famous short-video app TikTok. Multiple victims have come forward to describe their ordeal.

According to a report by USA Today, three women were victims of a scammer who pretended to be an artist. One of the women name Ide received a text from an alleged artist saying that he is willing to turn the ashes of her dead mother into a painting for no charge. She assumed that the artist wanted to do the deed in the festive spirit. She went ahead and sent the ashes of her mother to the address mentioned by the artist. She later realized that she just walked into a scam.

Suspiciously, after Ide sent the ashes to Georgia (address shared by the con artist), she received a mail claiming that the ashes she had sent were with Cambodian customs. The mail asked Ide to pay a sum of $3,576 (roughly Rs 2,92,400) as a clearance fee. That's when she realized that she was scammed. Ide ended up informing the police about the incident.

Another woman, Jocelyn Cronin of California, claimed that she was approached by a similar artist. It was later confirmed that the con artist asked Cronin to send the ashes of her dead husband to Georgia. She also received a similar mail asking for the same amount in extortion.

Also read: Man duped of Rs 29 lakh for buying iPhone on Instagram; how to avoid such scams

The third victim, Wendy Bailey is from the US state of Alabama. She got a very similar offer from the artist and he claimed that all he needed in return is a shoutout. He later asked Bailey to pay him $200 for the supplies to complete the painting. However, Bailey refused. The scammer then issued a direct threat claiming that he will send the ashes to Cambodia after which she would have to pay $1000 to get it back.

The ashes were going to a Georgia resident who had no idea about the scam or about why ashes were being delivered at his doorstep. The 62-year-old man claimed that he wanted to return the packages but it was too expensive for him to do so.

The police haven't been able to name the scammer. The report has been moved to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The real artist, who was being impersonated by the scammer got to know about the scam much later.