Scammers target Wirral mourners via baby's funeral

The parents with their baby before she died

A mum has described how she was at her baby's funeral when she realised it was being used to scam mourners.

Chloe Goode was at the service for three-week-old Amanda-Leigh at Landican Cemetery, Wirral, when she found friends and family had been targeted.

They had been sent a Facebook link asking to pay for a live stream of the service, and one person who had not been able to attend found £113 missing from their account.

Facebook has removed the bogus link.

Ms Goode said it was "absolutely disgusting" her daughter's picture had been used on the fake post.

The fake page on Facebook before it was taken down

Ms Goode and her partner, Tyler Pimblett, 22, believe the scammer took the picture from a public Facebook post about Amanda-Leigh's service.

Mother-of-four Ms Goode said: "I wasn't thinking clearly at first because of course, I was focused on the funeral.

"But then I had people coming up to me during the service telling me that this account had taken money from them.

"The worst part of it all is you just wouldn't think something like this could happen.

"They'll know this is a baby's funeral, they'll know people will want to watch it."

"I was horrified and shocked when I knew it was a scam - why, why would you do this?

"It's absolutely disgusting, so sickening, the fact that they have pictures of my dead child.

"It's not right - people like that should be locked up."

Amanda-Leigh's funeral service was described as a "beautiful" send off

Amanda-Leigh was born on 13 February at 37 weeks old but, after falling ill, died three weeks later.

A fundraising page raised about £3,000 to help support funeral costs.

It meant Amanda-Leigh was able to have her coffin transported by a horse and carriage.

But as the cortege was pulling away from the family home on 2 April, messages from mourners who had realised they had been scammed were sent to people at the funeral.

Sue Porter, of Susan C Porter Independent Funeral Directors, said she was "horrified" when she found out what had happened.

She said: "It was a family member who pointed it out when we were standing behind the horse and carriage."

Chloe holding her daughter Amanda-Leigh in hospital

Wirral Wings, a group which makes clothing for stillborn and poorly babies which had supported the family, called the scam "beyond sick".

"The trauma this has caused has been immeasurable, and there are no words to describe the people who are responsible," a spokesperson said.

Wirral Council said no-one would ever be asked to pay to watch a live stream from a service.

The three people who lost money - two who had paid an initial £1 to register and a third who lost £113 - have been able to get their money back, the family told the BBC.

A Meta (Facebook) spokesman said: "We don't allow fraudulent activity on our platforms and have removed the content brought to our attention.

"We are continually investing in protections against fraud for people who use our platforms, and work closely with law enforcement to support investigations.

"We encourage our community to report activity like this to us and the police, so we can take action."