Scammers targeting people seeing federal funeral assistance, FEMA warns

Even before a U.S. government program offering financial help to bury people who died of COVID-19, scam artists were on the prowl, offering would-be applicants help in registering for up to $9,000 from Uncle Sam. 

Fraudsters looking to steal personal data have been targeting potential applicants, offering to register them for the program, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "We have received reports of scammers reaching out to people offering to register them for funeral assistance. FEMA has not sent any such notifications and we do not contact people before they register for assistance," the agency noted in a fraud alert.