USA Today: An LA reporter read her own obituary. She's just one victim of a broader death hoax scam
Do some checking to make sure an online obituary is legitimate and the person actually died – or that it’s not a fake obituary for you.
That’s because scammers are using AI-generated fake obituaries to try to get at lucrative ad revenue in a new scheme reported by CNN.
A Los Angeles Times reporter, Deborah Vankin, read her own obituary and watched “news anchors” in an accompanying video discuss her untimely death, CNN reported.
“Without her knowledge, Vankin had become the latest victim of scammers who fabricate death announcements to get clicks and ad revenue,” the CNN story said. “Some of the so-called ‘obituary pirates’ are turning to AI to create death announcements padded with key words for Google searches, spreading alarm and misinformation, experts said.”
