Someone is preying on grieving families in Cherokee County: ' Just the lowest of the low'

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. - Scammers are now preying on families who have lost loved ones. A funeral home owner in Cherokee County says two families there were targeted.

The owner of this funeral home says oftentimes grieving families are not thinking clearly, making them easy targets.

"That’s just the lowest of the low in my opinion," said Earl Darby, of Darby Funeral Home.

Darby is disgusted that scammers are now targeting people at the saddest point in their lives.

"You’re burying someone you love, so your heart’s broken, and your heads wrapping around that they’re not with us anymore," said Darby.

Darby says last week two families, who had funerals scheduled for Saturday, received calls from someone claiming to be from Darby Funeral Home. The caller said they needed money to go forward with the funeral.

"We need you to Venmo us $1,500 to proceed with the funeral," Darby said, explaining the scam.

One family called the number back, and the person answered, "Darby Funeral Home."

"It upsets me that someone would use our hard-earned honorable business to try to scam somebody, but it hurts me more that someone would try to take advantage of someone at the lowest point of their lives," Darby said.

Both families called the funeral home directly and discovered it was a scam. Both were shocked and a little confused.

Darby says he can understand that, because most people just aren’t used to planning funerals.

"It’s just not something they do every day, so they don’t really know the process," said Darby.

Darby says most funeral homes discuss prices and payment when the arrangements are made.

Another red flag is the method.

"I don’t know of any funeral homes that take Venmo," Darby said.

Darby says fortunately both families recognized this was a scam before they sent any money. He’s hoping word of this scam gets out so others don’t fall for it.