History Of Identity Theft – Protect A Deceased Loved One’s Identity

Despite the fact that identity theft has been getting big press lately it is not a new phenomena. The history of identity theft is ripe with people who have attempted to steal other people’s identity. Even before the time of computers.Two of the most glaring examples of this are:1. Anna Anderson who claimed to be Anastasia Romanov, the daughter of the last Czar of Russia. DNA testing would eventually expose he for the impostor that she was.2. Bill Roberts aka Brushy Bill who claimed to be Billy The Kid after getting tired of claiming to be a member of the Jesse James gang.There are many numerous other examples, too numerous to list here as you probably don’t have the time to read until the end of the year.The point of this article though is to make it clear that even in death we can still become the victim of identity theft. If it can happen to people like that it can happen to your loved ones too.To help prevent this from happening so you can protect a deceased loved one’s identity there are several steps to take.1. Don’t write the street address or the exact date of birth in the obituary.2. If your the spouse, executor lawyer for the deceased notify the credit bureaus with all of the relevant information.3. Close or transfer any and all accounts in that person’s name. This includes credit cards, fitness club memberships, library memberships and bank accounts.As you can see the history of identity theft can be traced back more than a century. It is sad that even our most vulnerable – our children and deceased relatives – need protection from identity theft. But with some careful steps when we ourselves are emotionally vulnerable we can successfully protect a deceased loved one’s identity.