Identity Theft - Now They Are Stealing From The Dead
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We have all heard the tales and woes of those who have their identities stolen, whether on line, or by some other means. The stories of what victims have to go through to get their credit fixed can be a nightmare. But I recently read this article here
and it seems that the crooks have stooped to a new low. Than I did a Google and obtained more information and it seems that stealing the identity of the dead is on the rise.
The most disturbing case was that of a six year old girl who had been struck by a car and killed in 1982. Some 20 years later the mother is notified that someone has stolen the dead girls identity and is using the deceased name. Can you imagine not only does the grieving family have to deal with a child’s death but now they must deal with some knot-head who is using her identity.
To add to this, it seems that there are over 400,000 checking accounts issued to the dead. This can than be used to obtain credit cards, also in the deceased name. What is also quite common is that the credit card companies keep reporting the bad debts to the credit bureaus who keep racking up bad debt against the deceased. And even when proof is provided that the person ia really, really dead, they still keep the bad accounts open and report the bad debts. Do they expect payments from the grave?
I also read of cases of where the crooks were able to purchase over 100 cars in the name of dead people totaling $1.5 million dollars. Do you think our system may have a few flaws in it? Also the names and identity information of the dead are sold so that other criminals can also share in this new found wealth.
One report suggests that after a person is buried that a credit report should be run several weeks later, to determine if there is any suspicious activity and if any credit accounts have been open in the deceased name. It is just unbelievable that we now have to take such measures to protect our love ones even after they die.
Comments welcome.
[tags]identity theft, deceased, credit, checking, accounts, [/tags]
6 Comments
DAMIAN
April 10th, 2007
at 7:45am
I REALLY LIKE YOU
Ron Schenone
April 10th, 2007
at 8:10am
Thanks Damian.
Tim Hodkinson
April 10th, 2007
at 8:16am
A while back I suggested the death penalty for credit card fraud. But considering all this, I think it might make the problem worse!
There’s a lot of grim sci fi stories about people being micro-chipped and tatooed for identification (and surveillance) purposes, in addition to the stuff about the mark of the beast in the book of Revelation, but I can see why such extreme tactics might be welcomed by many people.
I’m sure there’s ways to make the system more secure. Even just getting rid of all the sloppy stuff, like setting up credit card accounts without any personal contact (ie. a letter or phone call) would help. Or establishing a central account based on SS or some national identity number. I think the system is just run too sloppy right now. There are ways to verify someone’s death, it’s just that credit companies don’t want to waste time doing it.
I wonder where all this lost money comes from?
Ron Schenone
April 10th, 2007
at 8:38am
Hi Tim,
Do you think the lost money may come from higher fees charged to us all?
Thanks for your comments. Ron
Rick Weldon
April 11th, 2007
at 8:10am
http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
Social Security Death Index Interactive Search
Want some info on the dead? Look at this site.
Ron Schenone
April 11th, 2007
at 9:27am
Hi Rick,
Thanks for the link. What is amazing is that I checked my Dad’s name, who is deceased, and it came back with his DOB and SSN# ! No wonder it is so easy to steal the identity of the dead. Unbelievable!