"This shouldn't fall on loved ones:" Identity thieves preying on people after they've died

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- "Rest in Peace" is apparently not a phrase some identity thieves have heard. If a relative has recently died -- FOX6's Contact 6 says: Beware of those looking to take advantage!

"This shouldn`t fall on loved ones. There is not much I can do," Lindsey Reichheld said.

Reichheld says she felt helpless when she learned the identity of her wife, Amy, had been stolen after Amy's death.

"It looked like somebody had been requesting death certificates and stealing those identities from the information on the death certificates," Reichheld said.

When Reichheld called her town to find out who may have requested a copy of Amy's death certificate, she was surprised by the answer.

"Anyone can walk in and they don`t track it and I said 'really' and they said 'yes, it`s public record,'" Reichheld said.

Reichheld disagrees.

"Her death may be public record, but all that information you`re handing out for $10 is not public record," Reichheld said.

Most death certificates contain the full names of parents of the deceased as well as addresses, and a date of birth.

An astute town clerk called postal inspectors after realizing they had a large amount of requests for death certificates.

"The bad guy in this case went onto the obituary section of the local paper, realized someone was deceased and they could access their death certificate," U.S. Postal Inspector Brian Evans said.

For just $10, identity thieves can get a copy of any death certificate.

"Once they accessed that information on the death certificate, they went to the postal service, filed out a change of address form and actually got the mail diverted from the deceased individual to their residence," Evans said.

Once they have access to the personal bank and credit card accounts of victims...

"They could drain these bank accounts or make charges on the credit cards. Actually these people in some cases, the victims` families were losing money and they couldn`t even pay for the funeral," Evans said.

In this case, there were almost a dozen victims and the losses added up to tens of thousands of dollars.

"This criminal took advantage of you when you`re at your most vulnerable state both emotionally and possibly financially," Evans said.

"It`s a very devious and fairly smart way of stealing someone`s identity because they are not there to care. Amy isn`t going to get on the phone and say 'I didn`t open this credit card, what are you talking about?'" Reichheld said.

Postal inspectors recommend as soon as a death certificate is issued, credit bureaus should be notified. It is a good idea to cancel the deceased person's driver's license and not include too many details in obituaries.

Though it is the last thing on anyone's mind -- be aware of the mail coming into your home, so you know if you're not getting something you normally receive -- like bank statements and credit card statements.

If certain mail stops arriving, someone might be stealing your mail and your identity.