Follow these tips to reduce the risk of a deceased person from having their identity stolen:

  • Send copies of the death certificate to each credit reporting bureau, asking them to put a “deceased alert” on the credit reports.
  • Review the deceased taxpayer’s credit report for questionable credit card activity.
  • Avoid putting too much information in an obituary, such as birth date, address, mother’s maiden name or other personal details that could be useful to identity thieves.

Find more information on the identity theft page or search “deceased” on IDTheftCenter.org.

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