The pain and distress of losing a loved one is currently being compounded by the advent of one of the fastest growing branches of ID fraud – stealing the identity of the deceased, a despicable crime that affected over 70,000 families in 2004. This crime is estimated to be increasing at a rate of 60% year on year. Use the following steps to help stop this form of identity fraud:

• Take care not to include the age, date of birth or the address of the deceased in any advertisements or announcements relating to the death or the funeral.


• Notify the department for Work & Pensions and the Inland Revenue immediately and return any pension/allowance books by registered/recorded delivery.


• Take great care when sorting through the deceased person’s belongings to ensure that no documents that could be used by an identity fraudster are left inside pockets of clothes being sent to charity shops or being disposed of in other ways. Check handbags and wallets too.


• Shred all personal documents such as bank statements, tax demands, television licences or utility bills.


• Check with Royal Mail that there is no mail redirection on the deceased person’s home that you know nothing about, particularly if it is now an empty property. Organise a mail re-direction to your own address – do not rely on collecting mail from the property, especially if it is empty or for sale.


• Insist all viewings of empty properties are accompanied. Following a death, identity fraudsters have been known to organise viewings of empty properties with estate agents specifically to steal or collect mail.


• Sign up with the Mailing Preference Service, www.mpsonline.org.uk online, or telephone 0207 291 3310 to stop direct mail, including offers of loans and credit cards being sent to the deceased person – this is a free service. The Direct Marketing Association estimates 22 million items of direct mail are sent to dead people each year. Identity fraudsters use the details included in this mail to impersonate the deceased.


• Report the matter to the Police if your family become victims and insist the matter is allocated a crime reference number to ensure it is recorded in the national crime statistics.