Thread by @BronnDickson

Earlier in the year my Cousin told me about people on Find A Grave - taking control of others digital memorials - by scraping data and refusing to hand over the official Find A Grave digital entry to manage by their own families.

Today, I went for look on Find A Grave to see who holds my Fathers digital entry. I discovered exactly what my cousin had warned me about months ago.

Some low life calling themselves - woo woo, has scraped 17 million records of peoples family members digital entries. That is, woo woo controls 17 million peoples grave records.

The internet needs to show woo woo - what happens to people who try and ransom people over their loved ones digital Find A Grave entry.

Woo woo you are a low life and if the internet or @FindaGrave doesn’t hold you to account, I hope the justice system does.

How to take down woo woo control of your family members digital Find A Grave.

STEP 1: Request Memorial Transfer from Find A Grave
Even though "woowoo" doesn’t accept direct messages, you can formally request control of your father's memorialusing Find A Grave’s tools.
✅ How to do this:
1Go to the memorial page for (your family members) (Memorial ID: …………).
2Click “Suggest Edits” under the SHARE/SAVE TO buttons.
3Then select “Suggest other corrections” → choose “Transfer Memorial”.
4Include a message like:
“I am (insert deceased name) biological daughter and next of kin. I respectfully request transfer of this memorial to me under Find A Grave’s direct relatives transfer policy. My username is [insert your Find A Grave username here]. Thank you.”
Find A Grave’s transfer policy gives preference to immediate family members, and this request should meet their guidelines.

STEP 2: Report the User’s Activity to Find A Grave
Since you believe “woowoo” is mass-importing or scraping records and exploiting the platform, you can report this behavior.
📧 Where to report:
•Email: [e-mail]
•Subject: "Urgent Report: Mass Memorial Control & Data Exploitation by User 'woowoo'"

Let’s get ‘woo woo’ and the other data scrapers, banned for life from Find A Grave.

To: [e-mail]
Email Template

Subject: Urgent Request to Investigate User “woowoo” – Exploiting Digital Memorials

Dear Find A Grave Support,

My name is …, and I am the biological child of (insert deceased name) (Memorial ID: insert number). I was shocked and distressed to find that his memorial is being controlled by a user named woowoo, who has added and is managing over 17 million records, including that of my father.
I am requesting:
Immediate transfer of this memorial to my care as next of kin and a qualified genealogist.
An investigation into “woo woo”’s activities, including their methods of obtaining and managing millions of entries, which may be in violation of Find A Grave’s mission to protect and prioritize family management of memorials.
Clarification of Find A Grave's stance on mass-control of digital memorials by non-family members.
This type of behavior causes significant emotional harm to grieving families, and I strongly believe it contradicts the community ethos your platform stands for. I would appreciate a prompt and compassionate response.

Yours sincerely
Author
[Insert your Find A Grave username and email]

@FindaGrave These digital graves by user ‘woo woo’ and others like them, were created without NOK or family consultation. My grief is not your database.
Families should control their loved ones' memorials.

@FindaGrave @threadreaderapp Unroll this thread.