by David Horowitz for Consumer Connection
Police departments regularly receive reports of a deceased person becoming the victim of identity theft. It can happen in many ways, and bereaved survivors might not consider the need to protect their relative's name or details of his or her private life.
Law enforcers say the best way to prevent this kind of ID theft is to avoid including details, such as the day and month of a person's birth, in published obituaries, listing only the year. Also, eliminate details about a home address to prevent looting or theft from he residence during the funeral or afterwards.
Contact your state's department of motor vehicles to cancel the deceased driver's license and the Social Security Administration to cancel his or her number. Copies of the death certificate should be sent to all three credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and to all credit issuers to cancel accounts, as soon as possible after the person dies.
A few weeks later, order a credit report for the deceased from each credit bureau to ensure there's no suspicious activity. Free reports are available at www.annualcreditreport.com If anything suspicious turns up, notify your local police department.
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