Fighting identity fraud

Abstract

Increasingly, fraudsters ‘clone’ the identity of someone who has recently died by scouring the obituary columns and intercepting post. They use the mail of a recently deceased person to apply for products and services in their name. They may even steal important documents such as utility bills to assume false identities. This is a worrying trend that can result in great distress for someone who has been bereaved and who then receives a credit card bill or loan statement in the name of the person who has recently died, showing an unexpected bill of hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds. Sadly this is happening more and more, as criminals ‘steal’ the identity of the deceased and use it to apply for loans, and credit and store cards.