By Rick VanderKnyff on MSN Money:
Death makes you an even more irresistible target to identity thieves. "Criminals have known for years that assuming the identity of a deceased person buys them some time," said Diane Terry, director of the Fraud Victim Assistance Department at TransUnion, one of the three major credit reporting agencies.
These scam artists comb the obituaries, steal death certificates and even glean additional personal information from genealogy Web sites. Then they exploit gaps in the way deaths are reported to financial institutions to open new credit or run up charges on existing accounts. Sometimes, they manage to drain funds from deposit accounts.
ID thieves are not always looking to make a fast buck. Some steal the identity of someone who died to escape legal or immigration problems.
To protect your family: Avoid long obituaries. Notify banks and creditors. Contact credit reporting agencies. Let Social Security know.
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