Corinth man loses $620 to caller claiming to be sister's insurance agent

A Corinth man says he was scammed out of $620 days after his sister died.

Tim Williams said he received a call from a woman who said she was the life insurance agent for his sister, Stephanie Jeanine Williams Machado. She gave him account and policy numbers, then asked for $1,375 to release payment to the Corinthian Funeral Home. Williams said he joined a three-way call with the woman and the funeral home, and the exchange looked legitimate to him.

Williams had $620 available and the woman told him to send that amount. She said to deliver it however was easiest, either by visiting the insurance office or through Cash App. Williams said he gave the money to a nephew, who then sent it via the app. The funeral home later told him it never received a payment. Williams looked up the number that contacted him and found it belonged to a man living in Alabama, and that it did not match the woman's voice or the name on the Cash App account.

The funeral home reported no payment received after the Cash App transfer. Williams said anyone who suddenly loses a loved one should double-check and triple-check that everything is real.

Williams said the caller's request came during an already difficult stretch. "When you're already in a bad time in your life .. losing your loved one. Then for somebody to do this on top of that takes a pretty low individual to go to that extent," he said.