Man Arrested For Using Dead Person’s ID To Buy 2 Cars: Highlights Growing Issue Of Identity Theft Targeting The Deceased

Approximately 2.5 million deceased people have their identities stolen each year, according to one report.

A Memphis man, 63-year-old William Hayes, was arrested on Aug. 10 and charged with forgery of between $60,000 and $250,000 and theft of property of the same amount after attempting to purchase two Kia Telluride vehicles using a fake Tennessee driver’s license in the name of a deceased individual.

According to the Memphis Police Department’s Facebook post, Hayes was taken into custody after he had completed the paperwork required for the purchase of the vehicle. When he was arrested, he had both sets of keys in his hand. The police declared that the two vehicles’ value was $158,885. Hayes’ bond has been set at $50,000.

According to the bereavement support services platform Empathy, approximately 2.5 million deceased people have their identities stolen each year, and these thefts are carried out by approximately 800,000 identity thieves who specifically target the dead.

This particular form of identity theft is referred to as ghosting. It may also consist of combining fraudulent data or information with the real data of the deceased; this is called synthetic identity theft.

Most grieving or bereaved families are not thinking about this possibility, and sometimes, it can make for a legal nightmare if the scammers can gain control of the deceased person’s estate.

However, in most cases, it is a relatively simple process for anyone seeking to use a dead person’s identity to get caught by authorities as long as government agencies have documentation of a person’s death.

As it regards identity theft in general, a study released in January 2024 indicated that Black people spend a lot of time attempting to recover their stolen identities. According to Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, the study was commissioned in part to create data on how Black people are exposed to identity theft.

“We believe there is a lack of data around identity theft victimization in Black communities that creates risk of becoming a victim. This is the first step in understanding identity issues in the different communities. This effort allows us to develop specific programs that will help victims recover and resolve identity crime,” Velasquez said.

According to Kim Allman, the head of Corporate Responsibility at Gen, the parent company of LifeLock, the study is part of a developing ecosystem of solutions for culturally competent victim services.

“Gen is proud to support the Identity Theft Resource Center and Black Researchers Collective in their efforts to understand how identity theft affects Black communities. We need identity theft and cybersecurity solutions that meet the needs of diverse communities in order to power Digital Freedom for everyone. This research effort will be critical to developing culturally competent victim services and we look forward to additional outcomes as the effort progresses over the next several years, Allman said.