If you have recently lost a loved one, watch out. You may be targeted for fraud.

A case in point…her husband had died three weeks earlier when she received a call from a man who claimed to represent a jewelry company. He stated that her husband had purchased a ring for her prior to his death and that one payment was still outstanding.

When the woman denied any knowledge of such a transaction, the caller became very demanding and stated that the ring was engraved and the balance must be paid. Quick on her feet, the woman told her caller to keep the down payment and consider the deal cancelled.

A footnote to the story…after checking credit card and banking transactions, the woman found no record of any such purchase. Scam operators learn of deaths by reading newspapers and then try to take advantage of the grieving family. In some cases with this type of fraud and in other cases by burglarizing the home while the funeral is taking place.