Ghosting: Stopping Identity Fraud in a Dead Person's Name

Can someone use your dad's identity after he has died? Yes. It has a name in the fraud world — ghosting — and it is more common than families expect, because a recently dead person is, for a while, an identity with a clean record and nobody watching the accounts. Fraudsters open credit, order goods and take over dormant accounts in the name of someone who can no longer notice or object.

The good news is that it is one of the more preventable problems in an estate. A dead person's identity is only useful to a criminal while three things are true: the death has not been flagged to the credit reference agencies, the post is still arriving unsecured, and personal documents are sitting where they can be found or intercepted. Close those three gaps early and the window largely shuts.

This guide sets out how fraudsters learn that someone has died, the free registrations that block applications in their name, and — the part most people get wrong — which documents to destroy rather than carefully file away.

The short answer: yes, and here is why the dead are a target

A living person tends to notice a credit application they did not make, because a letter arrives, a card turns up, or a credit score alert fires. A person who has died notices none of it, and in the weeks after a death nobody in the family is watching their credit file either. That gap is exactly what a fraudster is exploiting.

The mechanics are ordinary. Using a real name, a real former address and a real date of birth, a criminal applies for credit, a mail-order account, a mobile contract or a payday loan. Because the details are genuine, the application can pass automated checks, and the goods or money go to an address the fraudster controls. The first the family hears of it is often a letter chasing a debt the dead person never took on, sometimes months later.

None of this means the estate has to pay. A debt fraudulently taken out in a dead person's name is not a debt of the estate — it was never genuinely incurred by the person who died. But clearing it up takes time and evidence, which is why prevention is so much easier than cure. The related problem of credit taken out in a dead person's name is worth reading alongside this if a letter has already arrived.

How fraudsters find out that someone has died

Almost everything a fraudster needs is published, legally, in public. Understanding the sources helps you see why securing documents matters.

Obituaries and funeral notices are the most obvious. A single notice often gives the full name, the age or date of birth, the town, and sometimes the names of surviving relatives — a starter kit for impersonation. You do not have to stop publishing a notice, but be sparing with detail: a date of birth and a full home address add nothing for genuine mourners and a great deal for a criminal.

Public probate records are the second source. In England and Wales, once a grant of probate is issued, the record — including the value of the estate and the names involved — can be searched by anyone through the government's service. You can look at this yourself through the GOV.UK Find a will service to see what is visible. This is a feature of an open justice system, not a leak, but it does mean the fact and details of a death become searchable.

Unsecured post and an empty house supply the rest. Bank statements, insurance renewals, a driving licence in a drawer, a benefits letter with a National Insurance number — these fill in the account numbers and reference details that make a fraudulent application look like the real account holder. Post building up on the mat of an empty property is a visible signal that nobody is watching, and it is a target for interception.

The registrations that block it

Several free registrations, done early, close the door on most attempts. None of them costs money, and together they are far more effective than any single step.

Register the death with all three credit reference agencies. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion each let you record a death so a deceased flag is added to the file. Once flagged, applications in that name are far more likely to be refused or investigated. You can notify them individually, and the industry's free Death Notification Service can pass a single notification to a range of financial firms at once, which also reduces the paperwork.

Use the bereavement mailing services. Free services such as the Bereavement Register and the deceased preference services remove the person's name from marketing lists, which cuts the volume of post arriving in their name and reduces what a fraudster can intercept. Redirect the remaining post to your own address through Royal Mail so that genuine correspondence reaches you and nothing sits unopened at an empty property.

Consider protective registration. The fraud prevention body Cifas offers a protective registration facility that places a warning against the details, so that firms carry out extra identity checks before granting anything in that name. It is an added layer on top of the credit reference agency flags rather than a replacement for them. Recording the death promptly with the banks, closing or transferring accounts, and stopping cards all shrink the surface a fraudster can use — the same discipline that stops a card being misused, which we cover in whether you can keep using a dead person's bank card.

What to shred, and what to keep

This is where instinct works against people. The natural reaction to a death is to keep every piece of paper, just in case. For fraud prevention, the opposite is true for a large share of it: once the estate no longer needs a document, the safest place for it is the shredder, not a box in a spare room.

Destroy, once you are sure the estate has finished with them: old bank and card statements, card carriers and PIN letters, expired cards cut through the chip, insurance renewal notices, utility bills, benefit and pension letters showing a National Insurance number, and anything else carrying account numbers or a date of birth. Shred rather than bin — a whole document in a recycling bag is readable, a cross-cut shred is not.

Keep, stored securely rather than left in the house: the will, certified copies of the death certificate, grant of probate, the property deeds or title information, life insurance and pension paperwork, and anything HMRC might ask for in connection with the estate or a tax return. If you are not certain whether the estate still needs something, keep it until administration is finished and destroy it then. Where an account is still live and generating tax-advantaged growth — such as an ISA that has become a continuing account, explained in how an ISA keeps its tax shelter after death — keep the statements until it is closed.

Securing the empty house and the post

An empty property is the physical version of the same problem, and it deserves the same early attention. Post piling up behind the door tells anyone passing that the house is unoccupied, and it is a supply of documents for anyone who reaches it first.

Redirect the mail to a family member's address as soon as you can, clear anything already delivered, and remove documents, cheque books and cards from obvious places. If the house will stand empty for a while, tell the insurer, because unoccupied property is a common trigger for cover to change or lapse — a gap that causes its own problems, as with any lapse of cover such as a life policy that lapsed because the payer died. Open accounts that nobody is watching are also a target, so notify providers and close or transfer accounts rather than leaving them dormant; the same is true of smaller credit lines like Klarna and catalogue accounts with no bereavement team, which can quietly stay open.

None of this is about suspecting your neighbours. It is about removing the easy opportunity, which is what almost all of this kind of fraud relies on. Dealing with your own affairs so your family is not left with unsecured accounts and paperwork is part of the same thinking — if that has crossed your mind, you can get life insurance quotes and put clean, clearly documented cover in place. Our guide to bereavement admin, assets and contracts covers the wider list of accounts to close.

If fraud has already happened

If a debt or an application appears that the person who died did not make, do not panic and do not pay it to make it go away. The estate is not liable for a debt that was fraudulently created, but you need to establish that in writing rather than by phone.

Report it to Action Fraud, the national reporting centre, and tell the lender or provider in writing that the account is fraudulent and the named person has died, enclosing a copy of the death certificate. Ask them to stop contact and to remove the entry, and keep copies of everything. Check the credit file for other applications you did not know about, and make sure the deceased flag has actually been applied at all three agencies. If a debt collector has become involved, the same principle holds — the debt has to be proven, and a fraudulent one cannot be. Free, independent help is available from Citizens Advice, which deals with debt and identity problems after a death and will not sell you anything. The related question of credit taken out in a dead person's name goes into the dispute process in more detail.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

The fraud risk and the protective steps are the same across the UK — the credit reference agencies, the mailing services and the general discipline about documents all apply wherever you live. What differs is the public-records picture and some of the administration.

In Scotland, the equivalent of probate is confirmation, granted through the sheriff court, and the records regime differs from the England and Wales Find a will service, so the way a death becomes searchable is not identical. In Northern Ireland, probate and the associated records are handled through its own court service rather than the England and Wales system. The practical advice does not change: flag the death with the credit reference agencies, secure the post and the house, and destroy documents you no longer need. Where property is involved and a name has to come off the title or the mortgage, deal with it properly rather than leaving a half-finished record, as in taking a dead husband's name off the mortgage.

Frequently asked questions

How do fraudsters find out that someone has died?

From public sources. Obituaries and funeral notices give the name, age and address, and grants of probate are a public record that can be searched online. Post left in an empty house and unsecured personal documents then supply the account numbers and reference details that make a fraudulent credit application look genuine to an automated check.

How do I protect the identity of the person who died?

Register the death with all three credit reference agencies so a deceased marker is added, use the free bereavement mail preference services, redirect the post, and close or transfer accounts promptly. Protective registration schemes such as the one run by Cifas add an extra identity check on applications made in that name, on top of the credit reference agency flags.

Which documents should be destroyed rather than kept?

Shred anything showing account numbers, dates of birth or National Insurance numbers once the estate no longer needs it: old statements, card carriers, insurance renewals and benefit letters. Keep the will, certificates, the grant and anything HMRC may ask for, stored securely with a family member rather than left in an empty house.