Something about her nephew’s obituary didn’t sit right with Anne Marie Aikins. She just couldn’t figure out what it was.
Kevin Patrick Krelove was a tall guy with a big heart and an even bigger hug. So when the 44-year-old chef from Barrie died earlier this month after a tobogganing accident caused internal injuries, his friends and family were completely devastated: “It was just completely unexpected and bizarre,” Aikins said.
The family was still trying to come to terms with their loss when, just two days after he passed on Feb. 7, a link to an obituary popped up and started circulating among all of Krelove’s close friends and relatives. It showed up as the top result on Google, according to Aikins.
A screenshot of Echovita’s obituary for Krelove, posted moments after the funeral home shared details of his death, according to his family. The page was removed after complaints from relatives.
Anne Marie Aikins
The website was called Echovita, and right away Aikins got a weird feeling. The page wasn’t from the funeral home at all and it had lots of links encouraging visitors to buy things – like virtual candles, memorial trees, or flowers for the funeral.
“I thought, ‘Geez, even funeral homes are trying to raise money,’” said Aikins, who used to be Metrolinx’s chief spokesperson. “When you’re grieving someone so suddenly.. your judgment can get kind of foggy.. so I didn’t notice the red flags at first.”
Later that night they realized this site wasn’t connected in any way with Krelove or the funeral home. His info had been copied without permission within minutes after the funeral home posted its own announcement.
By then some people had already paid for flowers or lit candles through this fake page, which really angered Aikins. The idea that strangers took her nephew’s personal details just to sell stuff felt horrible.
“He was young and it happened in such a dumb accident. That people would take advantage like this feels awful beyond words,” she said. “It just adds another layer of pain on top of our grief.”
Krelove’s family was heartbroken by his sudden passing after a sledding accident in February. Then they spotted his info on an unfamiliar website none recognized.
Anne Marie Aikins
At first they thought they’d been scammed by that site and reported it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Experts say scams like “obituary piracy” have become more common lately especially since AI tools got better.
But lawyers and Echovita say their actions don’t break any laws.
A Burlington mom says pictures of her kids were used without permission in a Go Fund Me for Texas flood victims.
“Echovita has never defrauded anyone,” a company rep told the Star. They added their business model follows all laws and regulations.”
“Millions appreciate Echovita for posting death notices sorted by city – providing free access along with great customer service,” their email said.
Aikins said no flowers bought through them arrived before Krelove’s funeral last Friday. But Echovita claimed only two orders were placed – one cancelled with refund and one delivered on time.
Echovita took down Krelove’s page once someone complained directly to them about it. Anyone who paid for virtual candles priced between $7.99 (for one month) up to $24.99 (“eternity”) got refunds too, according to their spokesperson.
What is Echovita?
Echovita describes itself as a Canadian group that collects public obituaries so people can find out about deaths easily free of charge,” said their spokesperson. “Our goal is making public info more accessible.”
They do this partly by scanning websites where funeral homes or newspapers post obits publicly , rewriting summaries – which aren ’ t copyrighted themselves – then posting those summaries on their own site usually without families ’ okay. Then they try selling services there like flowers , virtual candle lighting , or tree planting.
This rewriting has upset some families. One person writing on Better Business Bureau complained about a badly written grandfather ’ s obituary that also wrongly listed living relatives as dead.
“ We were embarrassed people might think we wrote such poor stuff ” , they said. Echovita apologized for mistakes in response.
The company insists its sales are legit : ” All flower orders go either directly where customers select or where delivery addresses specify. If florists mess up deliveries sometimes we refund customers ,” spokesperson explained.
Still , controversy surrounds them – including a 2021 lawsuit from Texas-based Service Corporation International (SCI), which owns over 1,500 funeral homes accusing Echovita of copying copyrighted obituaries from its sites.
By rewriting SCI ’ s content inaccurately , SCI claims lost business plus damaged reputation: ” Plaintiffs’ losses can ’ t be quantified but continue hurt goodwill if this keeps happening ,” court papers state.
Sinister distractions are stealing our attention , changing who we are as city.
SCl named Paco Leclerc as CEO/president at Echovita-he also ran two other similar sites Everhere & Afterlife (which closed). Afterlife folded following 2019 Ottawa class-action suit accusing repeated copyright breaches by copying photos & obits without approval.
The judge ordered Afterlife pay $20 million damages calling its practices “obituary piracy,” describing it as disrespectful & outrageous conduct far below decency standards.”
The company didn’t show up in court & shut down soon afterward redirecting traffic mainly onto Everhere instead: “But Everhere seems template-based rather than copy-pasted,” noted Justice Catherine Kane.”
Are these kinds of sites legal?
“Just scraping content & putting it together isn’t illegal per se,” explained David Milosevic lawyer & managing partner at Milosevic & Associates Toronto firm.”The main issue is how that info gets used.”
Bereavement Authority Ontario warns some ‘obituary pirate’ websites sell goods but don’t deliver-this counts as fraud & should be reported to Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre,” Milosevic added.”
Echovita seems lawful since they actually sell real products while summarizing publicly available obituaries only,” he noted.”
If you face something like this best step is requesting removal-the likes of Echovita promise edits/removal upon request-but legally Canadian sites don’t have required duty removing public info (like obituaries) if nothing illegal happens,” Milosevic pointed out.”
A Winnipeg Liberal MP Doug Eyolfson supports petition pushing ban on modifying obits without explicit consent plus banning extra sales/donations not mentioned originally.”
The petition launched last November already gathered over 2,000 signatures-and will go before House Commons once certified Feb 26.”
Why are ‘obituary pirates’ increasing?
No official stats exist tracking obituary pirate frauds-but criminologist Benoit Dupont Université de Montréal confirms they’re sadly widespread.”These scams existed forever but AI turbo-charged things now.””
“Before pirates copied manually but now AI scans thousands pages fast automating whole process,” he explained.”
“That means you can do tons cheaply-only need few buyers making overall profit,” University Waterloo cybersecurity expert Kami Vaniea added.”
“You’ll see more issues like these pop up with AI growing-it costs almost nothing setting up website; even one flower sale makes money,” Vaniea said.”
Echovita often ranks higher than official obits via SEO tricks causing confusion loved ones thinking deceased linked somehow there, says Dupont.”
Aikins confirmed that’s exactly how many found Krelove’s fake listing:”If you google him all you get is this dumb site”-at least until taken down.”
“Maybe legal but definitely not right ethically,” she concluded.”
With files from Cambridge Chronicle
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