I’m so sorry if this is the wrong place to post this and my heart goes out to anyone going through a bereavement. But I wondered if anyone had any knowledge of this.
My best friend and I had a falling out last year and she blocked me on everything, no way of contacting her. Her husband has been very ill for a long time and I’ve often wondered/thought about how he was doing and if I would find out if he did pass away. We weren’t close particularly but I knew him as her boyfriend, attended their wedding, knew their children since babies etc, and always thought very fondly of him.
This morning I got a WhatsApp message from his name (full name) saying he had died and the account was being closed down today (I will copy and paste the message below). If it’s genuine of course I want to reach out to my friend (although unsure how as I’ve checked and I’m still blocked on every possible way to contact her). But something about it just feels off… I mean of course it seems incredibly unlikely any sort of scammer would send a message like this/how would they even know he was ill etc, but I’ve never known a mobile company (EE, we are in England if that’s relevant), send something like this. I’m considering sending a card (as this is the only way to contact her now) with my condolences but if it somehow isn’t genuine that will be an awful thing to do/for them to receive.
Can anyone tell me if UK mobile networks do send messages like this to all contacts (via WhatsApp) when someone passes away, or if I’m involved in some sort of scam and need to ignore/not cause her any unnecessary upset? For context the falling out was over something silly and minor so just me contacting won’t cause any issues/trauma for her other than the fact it may not be true.
The message said this: “This is an automated message. Sorry to inform all his contacts, John Smith passed away and his ee contract is to be closed today. Regards EE customer services”.
(John Smith is a fake name).