Ghosting Computer Software Web Tips Guide
Ghosting Identity Information
By Rainbow Spear
Ghosting occurs when an identity thief steals information about
a recently deceased person and assumes the role played when that
person was alive. For this system to work, the identity thief
will be about the same age as the dead person.
Therefore, all documents showing details such as birthdays have
no obvious inconsistencies if used by the thief to now claim to
be this person.
The thief will review their options and hedge his bets on the
chance that government agencies will not conduct any cross-checks
to see if a death certificate was issued in the deceased person’s
name. Now you may wonder, how does an identity thief know that
a person has recently died?
Identity Thieves Browsing Obituaries
It is easy. A thief can look for victims by browsing the obituaries,
as local newspapers publish information with details about people
who have recently passed away. Actually, there is too much information,
because the identity thief has plenty to work with.
For example, there is often the name of the person, residential
address and employment details, names of relatives and their details,
membership of organizations and the names of friends.
Dormant Information On Government Archives
This is plenty of information for the identity thief to use for
ghosting and use the identity of a dead person who is already
stored in government archives, but it is dormant. Dead people
can not defend themselves, and the family left behind may never
know that an identity thief is taking advantage of a recent death.
Sophisticated technology can be used to find identity thieves,
and once they are caught using a false identity, they may be facing
serious charges, including terrorism.
Police Are Cross Referencing With Other Police Agencies Around The World
The police have access to identity information on databases,
and they transmit this information to other police agencies around
the world, which are cross referenced for inconsistencies to catch
these identity thieves.
For example, if someone applied for a new Social Security card
using identity information of a person who died ten years earlier,
and insist they are the dead person, there would be an obvious
gap in the computer tax records, and the cheat will immediately
be asked why they have not reported wages for this decade. This
is another way to catch identity thieves.
Changing Identity To Escape Military Service
There have been plenty of examples of identity thieves in recent
history. One example was American men crossing the Canadian border
to escape military service during the Vietnam War, and attempted
to create new identities to pass themselves as Canadians.
Another example is Jewish refugees during World War II carried
false certificates to show they were Catholics. A more serious
example, is sexual abuse victims who do not wish to use their
family name, will attempt to use a new name, to escape the shame
of sexual abuse in the family and not be reminded of the abuse
every time their name is mentioned.
But the worst type of identity theft, is when the ghosting identity
thief tries to pass themselves as the identity of a dead person.
About the Author:
Rainbow Spear has written a number of articles on Online Scams,
Investment Software, Computers and Internet Security including
Fight Identity Theft,
Identity Theft Statistics,
Online Banking,
Computer Troubleshooting,
Computer Forensic Evidence,
Zone Alarm Download.
Keep a lookout for more of his articles on this website.
Give Me Just The Identity Theft Facts.....
Most people are aware of how identity theft happens. A thief
gets a person’s personal information or their financial information
and then uses it for their own gain. But what happens after the
identity is stolen?
It becomes a long process of proving that you did not make certain
purchases, did not live in a certain area or did not take out
lines of credit. Without someone there to help you along the way,
you could find yourself struggling for years to get back on track.
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