How to Avoid Identity Theft of a Deceased Person

As if the trauma and shock of losing a loved one is not enough, there is an increase in the prevalence of identity theft of a deceased, especially in the U.S. Preventing identity theft is something that can be added to the list of actions that need to be done in managing the financial and legal aspects of a deceased loved one.?

Reasons for the increase of identity theft include a tough economy, increased sophistication in criminal use of computers and the internet, more transparency of people?s lives and events in social media, and with seniors and deceased, a possible easier target demographic that has a more attractive financial reward.

Examples of identity theft methods?(Wikipedia) :

• Rummaging through rubbish for personal information (dumpster diving)
• Retrieving personal data from redundant IT equipment and storage media including PCs, servers, PDAs, mobile phones, USB memory sticks and hard drives that have been disposed of carelessly at public dump sites, given away or sold on without having been properly sanitized
• Using?public records?about individual citizens, published in official registers such as electoral rolls?^[13]
• Stealing bank or credit cards, identification cards, passports, authentication tokens ... typically by?pickpocketing,?housebreaking?or mail?theft
• Common-knowledge questioning schemes that offer account verification: "What's your mother's maiden name?", "what was your first car model?", or "What was your first pet's name?", etc.
• Skimming?information from bank or credit cards using compromised or hand-held card readers, and creating clone cards
• Using?'contactless' credit card readers?to acquire data wirelessly from?RFID-enabled passports
• Observing users typing their login credentials, credit/calling card numbers etc. into IT equipment located in public places (shoulder surfing)
• Stealing personal information from computers using breaches in?browser security?or?malware?such as?Trojan horse?keystroke logging?programs or other forms of?spyware
• Hacking?computer networks, systems and databases to obtain personal data, often in large quantities
• Exploiting?breaches?that result in the publication or more limited disclosure of personal information such as names, addresses,?Social Security number?or credit card numbers
• Advertising bogus job offers in order to accumulate?resumes?and applications typically disclosing applicants' names, home and email addresses, telephone numbers and sometimes their banking details
• Exploiting insider access and abusing the rights of privileged IT users to access personal data on their employers' systems
• Infiltrating organizations that store and process large amounts or particularly valuable personal information
• Impersonating trusted organizations in emails, SMS text messages, phone calls or other forms of communication in order to dupe victims into disclosing their personal information or login credentials, typically on a fake corporate website or data collection form (phishing)
• Brute-force attacking weak passwords and using inspired guesswork to compromise weak password reset questions
• Obtaining castings of fingers for falsifying?fingerprint identification.
• Browsing?social networking?websites for personal details published by users, often using this information to appear more credible in subsequent social engineering activities
• Diverting victims' email or post in order to obtain personal information and credentials such as credit cards, billing and bank/credit card statements, or to delay the discovery of new accounts and credit agreements opened by the identity thieves in the victims' names
• Using false pretenses to trick individuals, customer service representatives and help desk workers into disclosing personal information and login details or changing user passwords/access rights (pretexting)
• Stealing?cheques (checks)?to acquire banking information, including account numbers and?bank routing numbers^[14]
• Guessing Social Security numbers by using information found on Internet social networks such as Facebook and MySpace?^[15]
• Low security/privacy protection on photos that are easily clickable and downloaded on?social networking?sites.
• Befriending strangers on social networks and taking advantage of their trust until private information are given.

Because of the long list of possible breaches in identity security, your first line of defense is knowledge. Reading through the list and taking action where needed. Other strategies include hiring a ID Theft prevention service that specifically goes through the list for you and brings in expertise and proven methods of ID theft protection. Two immediate actions that can be taken now if you have had a recent loss is to have the obituary be shorter versus longer and not reveal any personal information that can be used by an identity thief. Mother?s maiden name, birth dates, and occupation are a few that we see regularly in an obituary but might be better leaving out. Family members can also be a risk and it has happened before when a family member has access to private information of a deceased and uses it for their own gain. The most trusted and close family member should be the one handling the personal information. This might be someone different than the one responsible for the final arrangements.? With personal information and documents should be secured, even possibly placed in a safe deposit box or locked safe at home if there is one.

Fear should not be a motivating factor in taking the steps to avoid identity theft of a loved one. Rather, it is series of practical steps that is just as important as handing other financial and legal aspects of final affairs. The more information you have about this, the better you can be prepared. The motivating factor can then be some peace of mind that it is done and taken care of.

Source: http://salemoregonfuneralhome.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-avoid-identity-theft-of-deceased.html

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