Risk for Identity Theft
Posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009
Dying shouldn’t be difficult, especially if you have made the effort to get all your paperwork and estate in order before you pass away. There is one more factor that you should be aware of. Death will not protect you from identity theft.
Wily identity theft scam artists have found yet another way to circumvent the system. They have found that stealing the identities of the deceased goes undetected longer than when they target active accounts. In some cases, the stolen identity has been used for years before detection.
Identity theft from a deceased person can cause trouble for the surviving spouse or relatives. The surviving spouse’s credit report and credit score is combined with that of the departed spouse. If the deceased is a victim of identity theft, the credit report can be damaged and will take valuable time and energy to correct. In the meantime, the surviving spouse won’t be able to attain credit for any type of major loan, mortgage or new credit cards.
Don’t include any pertinent information, such as date of birth, full name or address in the obituary. This is where identity theft of the deceased often begins.