Georgia prison inmate posed as funeral director, scammed widow

An inmate at a Georgia state prison posed as a funeral home owner and duped a grieving widow into sending $1,200, investigators said.

Kevin Wetzel, owner of Memorial Park Funeral Home, said he learned of the scam when the woman called after arranging services for her husband.

“She says, ‘Kevin? What is it you’re needing?’ … She said, well, you just called saying you needed money. I said no, no, no, I have not called anybody. We would never do anything like that,” Wetzel said.

Hall County sheriff’s investigators traced the call and a fraudulent Zelle payment to inmate Mark Rosas, who allegedly impersonated Wetzel and claimed the funeral would be delayed unless the widow paid $1,200 for “liability insurance.”

Wetzel said the scammers appeared to have scanned obituaries, visited the funer