Identity Theft

Identity thieves are cashing in on dead children across the nation, stealing their Social Security numbers to collect fraudulent tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service.

Grieving families say their anguish is amplified by the realization that the crooks get help from an unexpected source: the Social Security Administration itself.

WASHINGTON - The head of the Social Security Administration reportedly has agreed to meet with two U.S. senators to discuss changing a policy that now inadvertently enables the identity theft of deceased Americans, including children.

WASHINGTON - Congress will examine a federal policy that enables "vultures" to exploit dead children's identities and steal tax refunds, a key lawmaker said.

WASHINGTON - The No. 2 leader in the Senate, Richard Durbin, D-Ill., wants to know why a government policy enables dead children's identities to be stolen.

In response to a Scripps Howard News Service investigation raising "several troubling questions," Durbin co-authored a letter Tuesday asking if the Social Security Administration could be doing more to prevent ID theft.

WASHINGTON - A little-known but widely used federal database meant to protect Americans from fraud has itself become a major source of mischief and misery.

There's not much parents can do to prevent a thief from stealing their dead child's personal information.

In a ghoulish new identity theft scam, thieves are cashing in on dead children by stealing their Social Security numbers to fraudulently collect federal tax refunds.

While waiting for your income tax refund this spring, beware that someone else may already have claimed it.

Want to lessen your odds of becoming a victim of identity theft? Don't move to Brownsville, Texas.

More specifically, stay out of the city's ZIP code, 78521.

Each year some 10 million Americans are victims of identity theft. Though the amount of damage can vary widely, the crime can haunt victims for years.

But there are several steps consumers can take to protect themselves. Many are common sense precautions, and all are based on the idea of being careful about your information.

Wondering if you are a prime target for identity theft? Check out these statistics to see what types of factors -- including such things as your state, gender and family income -- might put you at greater risk. All data based on Scripps Howard News Service's analysis of 1,401,875 records from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Right at the top of the Internal Revenue Service website -- the genuine IRS site, mind you -- is a heading asking the question every taxpayer wants to know, "Where's My Refund?"

One patient nearly received a transfusion of the wrong kind of blood -- a life-threatening mix up.

The cause? A bogus medical file that had been created by an identity thief. The criminal used the victim's name to obtain medical care. The criminal's blood type was recorded in the victim's medical records, leading to the almost fatal mistake.

Think you might be a victim of medical identity theft? Take these steps -- recommended by federal authorities and private experts -- to determine if someone has used your name fraudulently and to correct your records.

WASHINGTON - A Catch-22 that keeps victims of medical identity theft from seeing and fixing false -- and potentially harmful -- health records created in their names needs to be fixed, the top Democrat on a House health subcommittee said Tuesday.

The theft of people's identity to obtain medical care and prescriptions is a fast-growing and potentially deadly form of fraud.

Medical records created or altered by a thief could result in the real patient receiving a transfusion of the wrong type of blood or being given medicine that causes a severe and life-threatening reaction.

WASHINGTON - Congress wants to crack down on identity thieves who steal other people's tax refunds by submitting false returns to the IRS.