Deceased date leaked: what it means and what to do
Risk level: medium. Can you change it: no. Found in 1 breaches in this directory.
What this data is
The date a person died, held by insurers, funeral providers, genealogy sites, banks, health services and memorial or obituary platforms.
The risk on its own
A date of death cannot harm the person who died, but it points fraudsters at an identity nobody is watching. Accounts and credit files often stay active for weeks or months before every organisation is told. The date also signals that an estate is being settled, which is when grieving families are busiest and least guarded.
The risk combined with other data
Joined to the deceased person's name, date of birth and address, it supports identity theft of the dead: new credit, tax refund claims or benefit claims made before records catch up. It also identifies the surviving family, who are then targeted with scams about debts, life insurance, unclaimed money and funeral costs.
How criminals use it
A fraudster opens credit cards or phone plans in the deceased person's name before the credit bureaus are notified.
A scammer tells the family the person owed a debt that must be paid before the estate can be settled.
A fake insurer or unclaimed money service asks the family for a fee or bank details to release a payout.
Criminals lodge a tax return or benefit claim in the deceased person's name.
What to do now
Notify the credit bureaus and ask for a deceased marker on the credit file: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion in the US, and each credit reporting body in Australia and the UK.
Use a government notification service where one exists: the Australian Death Notification Service, Tell Us Once in the UK, or reporting the death to the Social Security Administration in the US.
Close or freeze the person's bank, phone and email accounts, and request memorialisation or removal of social media profiles.
Treat any demand to pay the deceased person's debts as unverified until the executor confirms it with the creditor directly.
Order several certified copies of the death certificate, since most organisations need one to close an account.
Frequently asked questions
Can someone steal the identity of a person who has died?
Yes. Until every organisation records the death, credit and benefit systems may still accept applications in that name. Notifying bureaus and agencies closes the gap.
Is the family liable for fraud in a deceased person's name?
Generally no. Report it to the organisation involved and to police, and let the executor deal with the institutions.
Who should be told first after a death?
Banks, credit bureaus, government agencies and the mobile carrier, because those are the accounts fraudsters most often try to use.
Breaches that exposed this data
eThekwini Municipality: 2016-09-07, 82K accounts, Dates of birth, Deceased date, Email addresses, Genders, Government issued IDs, Names
Breach data sourced from Have I Been Pwned, used under CC BY 4.0. Additional breach metadata provided by XposedOrNot. DataExposed is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.