How do countries hide their losses during wars?

Question

I know it is normal for countries to deflate their casualty numbers during war, but how do they do it? If for example 1000 soldiers are killed in a month, how could a government claim only 400 were killed without the public discover this to be a lie? Surley the families of the killed soldiers are promptly informed.

In: Other

Answer 1

But those families won’t know the other 999 soldiers.

How would they know if they were one of 400, or one of 1000.