'Scum of the earth' scammers target funeral of boy found dead in Waterford

Scammers have created social media profiles claiming to be in memorial to tragic Matthew Healy, the six-year-old boy who lost his life in Waterford.

It is understood that the sites have been reported to Facebook but were still live on Tuesday morning and could catch out unsuspecting people. 

The funeral service is set to take place at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Watergrasshill at 12pm on Wednesday. However, the Requiem Mass will not be streamed.

The links, which claim to be to a live stream of the funeral, are believed go to a range of scam sites, including 'phishing' operations that ask for emails and personal information.

Many people have shared warnings on social media about the fake links to help people avoid clicking on the links, which may have sinister motives. 

Some absolute scum of the earth is using the funeral of this poor child to scam people into clicking a dodgy link. The funeral isn’t being streamed. Be careful not to let anyone fall for this. I reported the profile, but they probably won’t remove it. The lowest of the low. pic.twitter.com/SQAZoEYiFD

— Shane Murphy (@shanebluemovie) February 12, 2024

Matthew James Healy of Watergrasshill, Cork and Ballygunner, Waterford died on the 9th of February 2024 unexpectedly, aged 6 years. He is sadly missed by his heartbroken Dad James, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family, neighbours and friends.

The family have requested donations, if desired, to be made to the Make A Wish Foundation. Funeral details are posted on RIP.ie