Grave robbery: Stop identity theft of the dead

TransUnion
PO Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

• Contact your state department of motor vehicles to cancel any driver's license and prevent duplicates from being issued.
  
• By law, you are entitled a free credit report from all three main bureaus every year. Several weeks following the death, use this service — at www.annualcreditreport.com — to run a credit report on the deceased to ensure there's no suspicious activity.
  

Sample Letter
Here is a sample letter to help prevent the risk of identity theft of the dead. It should be mailed to all of the deceased’s credit issuers, and to each of three credit — reporting bureaus:

Dear Sir/Madam:
To prevent any future risk of identity theft, please place an official death notice on the credit file of:

DECEASED’S FULL name (with middle initial if used)
ADDRESS
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
BIRTHDATE

Enclosed you will find a copy of his/her death certificate.

Please contact me, his/her (describe relationship — widow, widower, son/daughter) if you have any questions at phone (XXX) XXX-XXXX or by e-mail at __________.

Thank you,

Your name
Address
City, State, Zip

Portrait of a Scam
Stephen Craver, who died at Slidell Memorial Hospital in July 2006, was among the more than 100 identity victims whose deaths, say officials, spelled opportunity for a family — run scam ring.

After gathering their names from obituaries, Robert Ezell, 41, would have his mother — Rebecca Stockdale, 55, an emergency room clerk — search hospital records for personal information such as their birthdates and Social Security numbers, say police. Stockdale would then cell —phone text message those details to her son, who would then submit fraudulent credit card applications in the identities of the deceased; sometimes aided by his wife, Charlotte Cooper-Ezell, 49.

The trio obtained at least 17 fraudulent credit cards, which they used to buy thousands of dollars in merchandise. According to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Department, which announced the arrests of the three on March 23, Ezell maintained a list containing the names and personal information of 70 victims.

Those credit cards would be sent to unoccupied houses near Ezell’s home that had been damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Ezell would regularly check the mailboxes to see when the cards arrived, say police, who were tipped off by an associate of Ezell’s.

The mother and son were each charged with 124 counts of identity theft, and scores of other charges. Cooper-Ezell was charged with 84 counts of identity theft. Cooper-Ezell is out on bond, while the other two remain jailed in lieu of $250,000 bond each; if convicted all face up to 10 years in prison for on count.

Excerpted from the AARP Bulletin by Sid Kirchheimer, author of “Scam-Proof Your Life.” Copyright © 2006 AARP. All rights reserved. Published by AARP Books/Sterling. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher

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