Q: Someone in my family died recently, and I was asked to write the obituary. I want to assure you that I honor the life of that person without potentially exposing them to identity theft. Is there some information that I should omit obituary
This is information that you should avoid include:
1. Every detail of human life: family members often use obituaries detail all aspects of human life, and even though it is important to remember the person, it also provides a lot of details that an identity thief might want in their attempt to steal the identity of the deceased. For example, if a country obituary "She was an animal-lover and very fond of his dog Saddie" then the family members could be unwittingly provide identity thieves with possible password of the person of the deceased recital that one in six use their pet name as a password, according to a study by the British organization Get Safe Online
2. addresses and phone numbers. occasionally, the family members choose to include your home address or family phone number for people to contact them for more information about the funeral or memorial. This n is not a good idea at all because, again, by including this information in the family are not themselves protected and the deceased possibly identity theft. an address is an essential aspect of banking information of a person, meaning he could put the family or of the deceased bank accounts or credit cards at risk. While this added convenience to the memory of customers, it is preferable for safety reasons not to include this information. members of the family may choose to create an email address specifically for the information of the funeral, and include the e-mail in the obituary.
3. Maiden name and other personal information: This is pretty standard to include the full date of birth and death in the obituaries, but sometimes members family include other personal information such as their maiden name and first name, which can help identity thieves gather more information about the deceased person. Although this information was most likely important to the deceased, you can still include these personal data in the program for the funeral or memorial.
4. Funeral information: Including obituaries funeral information has become a trend throughout the years, but what most people do not realize that they could be victimize themselves by including this information. When families include details of the funeral, they are unconsciously say thieves they will not be home that day - leaving their belongings unattended. Unfortunately, there was an increase of thieves who take advantage of the loss of the family broke into their house while they attend the funeral and steal valuables, as well as all documentation containing personal information, such as bank information or social security number of someone. The best way to allow family members and friends know the funeral or memorial is in the mail or e-mail them an announcement of death that includes all necessary information.
The most important thing to remember when writing the obituary is that it will be published in newspapers and online, which means that everyone can access . So if you have questions whether or not you should include information, it is best to think about if you want a stranger to have access to information. If the answer is no, then you should not include it in the obituary.
If you want to know more about identity protection against theft, see our review of identity theft protection.
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