Millions of Deceased People Fall Victim to Identity Theft [AUDIO]

It seems you are not safe even when you're dead! A California-based company called I-D Analytics found nearly 2.5 million people who are deceased are annual victims of identity theft.

I-D Analytics works with a lot of companies and banks who grant credit to determine fraud patterns. They have concluded that this problem is widespread and may be a lot bigger than many people imagine.

Rob Douglas of identitytheft.info says some banks and credit groups are not doing their homework to make sure this doesn't happen. Douglas said, "It's incumbent upon companies that grant credit to be using the Social Security death index to cross match, and many of them do. But they may not be doing it as frequently as they should."

Douglas said the companies should be using this Social Security death index to cross match. He says many familes, already greiving over the loss of a loved one, are then having to deal with I-D theft.

The I-D Analytics study showed as many as 800,000 deceased Americans may be targeted annualy by criminals seeking to exploit their identity.