Grieving women warn of TikTok scam involving sending loved ones' ashes to a fake artist who uses the remains for extortion
@spacey.tracy.71/TikTok
- Three women allege they were victims of an online scam after sending ashes to a TikTok artist for memorial paintings, USA Today reported.
- The unidentified scammer reportedly demanded money if the women hoped to see their loved ones' ashes again.
- The women were offered free paintings dedicated to their loved ones by someone impersonating TikTok creator Federico Portalupi.
Grieving TikTokers are warning others of scam artists offering to create memorials using the ashes of their lost loved ones, only to hold the remains for ransom.
Tennessee resident Kari Ide told USA Today a TikTok artist who went by "Chad" offered to incorporate her late mother's ashes into a painting for free in December, a proposal she assumed was a generous holiday gesture. She only realized it was a scam shortly after mailing the remains to Georgia, she said in a TikTok video.
"I stupidly sent them the cremation remains that I have of my mother who passed away a little over a year ago, and it was a scam," Ide said in a video.
In conversations about the project, the artist told Ide that he'd gotten a contract to work in Cambodia. But, after she sent her mom's ashes to an address in Georgia, she received a troubling email from a sender claiming to be Cambodian customs, USA Today reported.
In the email, the supposed Cambodian customs agent told Ide they had her mother's ashes and a painting, but she'd need to pay $3,576 as a "clearance fee" if she wanted to receive them. Ide said she immediately called the police, explaining the incident in a January TikTok she shared with the caption, "I got Scammed….He stole my Moms Cremation Remains."
Ide wasn't the only person to fall victim to the mysterious TikTok scammer. Just days after she shared her story, Jocelyn Cronin of Petaluma, California said in a video that she'd sent her late husband's ashes to the same Georgia address.
Cronin told USA Today that she'd commented on one of "Chad's" videos, and a woman reached out to her offering to gift her a portrait if she'd send off her husband's ashes. After Cronin obliged, she received the same email as Ide asking for a $3,576 clearance fee.
"My heart is crushed," Cronin wrote in her January TikTok. "They have my husband's ashes."
Alabama's Wendy Bailey said that she was also scammed by the artist in December after he contacted her asking for an online shoutout in exchange for art using her grandparents' ashes, per USA Today. After she mailed the cremated remains to the Georgia address, the artist asked Bailey for $200 for supplies.
When Bailey declined the request, the artist claimed he'd sent the ashes to Cambodia and she'd have to pay $1,000 to get them back.
"Cashapp me $1000 and get your ashes sent back to you," a message from the alleged scammer read.
At the time of the scam, the three victims were unaware that the scammer had stolen the online identity of a real artist named Federico Portalupi, and that they were unknowingly sending their loved ones' remains to confused Georgia resident, James Turner.
The 62-year-old living in Woodstock told USA Today that he'd tried to return the first package after he mysteriously received it in the mail, but couldn't afford it so ultimately threw the ashes away. By the time Turner received the second package in January, police in Woodstock had been notified by Bailey.
As of Today, Cronin and Ide still haven't gotten the loved ones' ashes back, and Bailey drove two hours from Alabama to Georgia to retrieve those of her grandparents. When the three women attempted to identify the scammer using CashApp, they were unsuccessful.
According to USA Today, none of the women sent the accused scammer money, and reports have been filed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Woodstock Police Department.
Portalupi, the real artist of the advertised paintings, told USA Today he was unaware of the impersonator until after the women had already been scammed.
"I am mind blown by this," he said, per USA Today. "You gain popularity, and people abuse what you do. Why do humans do this kind of stuff?"