Hyperfixed – “Fauxbituaries” (April 9, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Alex Goldman investigates the phenomenon of AI-generated fake obituaries—dubbed “fauxbituaries”—which exploit human grief for online ad revenue. Prompted by a listener’s personal loss, the episode digs into how and why these fauxbituaries appear, who is behind them, and the role of the convoluted online advertising economy in enabling their proliferation. Alex unravels this digital rabbit hole with expert interviews, personal stories, and a deep dive into the broken mechanics of online ads and ad fraud.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Listener’s Problem: Sudden, Fake Obituaries

• [03:01] – [08:43]
  Marcus from Victoria, BC, describes the shock and frustration his family experienced after the sudden, premature death of a close friend.

  • They searched online for news, only to find a proliferation of fake obituaries on sketchy news sites.
  • Details were laughably and painfully incorrect: wrong names, drastically incorrect age, and banal, AI-generated praise.

  “The names of her siblings and her parents were incorrect. Her age was reported off as high as 15 years.”
  (Marcus, 06:11)

  • These sites, laden with pop-up ads and clickbait, seemed designed purely to profit from grieving people.

2. The Mystery: Who Creates Fauxbituaries and Why?

• [08:43] – [17:10]
  Marcus couldn’t understand (a) how the sites knew about the death days before any official notice or (b) who was behind them.

  • Alex contacts Joe Supan, a CNET reporter, who investigated similar fauxbituaries after his own family was targeted.
  • Joe’s research uncovers a clickbait scheme:
    • Open posts on Facebook about a death trigger bots or scammers to scrape info, which is then plugged into AI to generate fake obits.
    • These pages aim to show up in Google results and farm pageviews for ad dollars, not accuracy or humanity.

  “Her reported cause of death was autism.”
  (Joe Supan, 12:07)

3. Who Profits? How the Scam Operates

• [14:26] – [17:10]
  Joe tracked down one operator in Nigeria making ~$100 per week, simply inputting names into ChatGPT and posting results.

  • The system is mostly automated: bots monitor for terms like “tragic loss” and kick off instant content generation.
  • Ad revenue is minimal per page, but the sheer scale and automation make it profitable.

  “I think the more common route is probably that there are just like alerts set up on Facebook for these certain terms, and it’s all automated.”
  (Joe Supan, 16:16)

4. The Real Enabler: Digital Ad System

• [17:10] – [24:02]

  • The story widens: how do genuine companies’ advertisements end up funding fake obituary sites and other slop?
  • Alex brings in Joshua Braun, journalism professor at UMass Amherst, who explains the Byzantine mechanics of online ad auctions.
  • Advertisers target users, not websites, via ad exchanges and networks loaded with middlemen—meaning companies rarely know where their ads end up.
  • This opacity allows scammy sites into the system and ensures little accountability for what’s funded.

  “So the digital advertising system is built in a way that is pretty complex and pretty opaque...there’s hard for one end to tell what’s happening on the other end.”
  (Joshua Braun, 23:27)

5. The Consequences: Ad Fraud and Unintended Support

• [24:02] – [30:28]

  • Scams, disinformation, and AI “slop” thrive because of this system, which even major companies and public agencies can’t control.
  • Ad fraud is now the second largest criminal enterprise in the world, surpassing almost everything except drugs.

  “Ad fraud is currently the second largest criminal enterprise in the world, just after drugs. Except that, unlike drugs, nobody in the ad fraud world is getting prosecuted.”
  (Alex Goldman, 24:57)

  • Braun draws an analogy to nuclear system failures: the system’s high complexity and tight coupling make meaningful reform extremely difficult, and catastrophic “failures”—like funding health hoaxes or grief scams—are inevitable.

6. Is It Fixable? The Ad Watchdog Perspective

• [34:50] – [40:50]

  • Enter Claire Atkin of Check My Ads:
    • Advocates for a regulated digital ad system modeled after financial markets, with “know your customer” and full transparency requirements.
    • Notes progress: state-level data protection laws, a major legal ruling against Google for ad monopoly, and campaigns that have defunded extremist news through advertiser awareness.
    • The big barrier isn’t technology, but political will and industry inertia.

  “It just takes time. This isn’t even applying technology. No, this is applying the will to regulate.”
  (Claire Atkin, 38:36)

7. What Can You Do?

• [40:50] – [42:11]

  • For advertisers:
    • Demand log-level data on where ads are shown; audit rigorously.
    • Cut out ad tech middlemen where possible.
    • Demand cash refunds if standards aren’t met.
  • For consumers:
    • Contact brands advertising on these scammy websites—alert them.
    • Check the “ads.txt” file on the offending website to identify ad brokers and notify them.

  “If you are a person who has been affected by this problem... There are two people you can contact that would mess up the website's business model...We need people who understand the technology to be in a place to set standards and enforce them on behalf of the public.”
  (Claire Atkin, 40:50 & 38:36)

8. Closing the Loop with Marcus

• [42:11] – [43:13]

  • Marcus is grateful for the investigation—even if the answer is simply “common and automated clickbait scam”—as it exposes a far deeper systemic issue.

  “This is exactly what our favorite types of investigations are. They start as one thing and then they end up becoming so much deeper and so much larger and so much more insane than you could even imagine when you start the ride. Truly one of my favorite hyperfix roller coaster rides that I've been apart.”
  (Marcus, 42:51)

  • Alex teases a bonus episode with step-by-step instructions from Craig Silverman on how to trace website scammers.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It kind of felt like, is this AI slop or what’s going on?”
  (Marcus, 07:02)

• “Her reported cause of death was autism.”
  (Joe Supan, 12:07)

• “I was offended, and I was repulsed by it. I also felt fascinated by it.”
  (Joe Supan, 12:21)

• “Ad fraud is currently the second largest criminal enterprise in the world, just after drugs. Except that, unlike drugs, nobody in the ad fraud world is getting prosecuted.”
  (Alex Goldman, 24:57)

• “We need people who understand the technology to be in a place to set standards and enforce them on behalf of the public and on behalf of business, just like we do every other supply chain, just like we do every other economy.”
  (Claire Atkin, 38:36)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Introduction to the Listener Story and Problem: [03:01] – [09:59]
• Joe Supan’s Investigation Starts: [11:17]
• How and Why Fake Obituaries Appear: [12:35] – [14:26]
• Interview with Nigerian Fauxbituary Operator: [15:19] – [16:16]
• Explanation of the Online Ad System: [19:15] – [23:27]
• The Unintended Consequences of Online Ad Economies: [24:02] – [30:28]
• Fixes and Regulatory Hopes (Claire Atkin): [34:50] – [40:50]
• Consumer and Advertiser Action Steps: [40:50] – [42:11]
• Listener Reaction and Catharsis: [42:11] – [43:13]

Episode Tone & Style

The episode balances investigative rigor and journalistic depth with empathy, conversational tone, and a thread of dark, often wry humor—especially when cutting through technical subjects or confronting digital absurdity. Alex’s approach is relatable and accessible, taking personal loss and transforming it into a revealing expose of systemic digital dysfunction.

For Listeners Who Haven't Heard the Episode

• You’ll gain a thorough, emotional, and analytical understanding of the fauxbituary phenomenon: what it is, why it happens, and what larger forces enable it.
• You'll hear personal stories of grieving families, the step-by-step mechanics of the AI grift, and expert perspectives on digital ad economies gone awry.
• The episode is as much about internet economics, regulation, and corporate ethics as about grieving and technology.
• Actionable steps close out the episode for advertisers and consumers, along with an open-ended invitation to remain vigilant and keep digging.

For more info and bonus content, listeners are encouraged to join the Hyperfixed Premium feed at hyperfixedpod.com/join.