The Social Security numbers of 2.5 million dead Americans are used each year by identity thieves, a new study from fraud identity protection firm ID Analytics reports.
According to an article from msnbc.com, this study offers the first hard data about this little-understood aspect of ID theft. ID Analytics worked with credit-granting companies such as banks and cell phone providers to find common patterns amongst fraudsters, noting the Social Security numbers used on 100 million applications filed during the first three months of 2011 and comparing those numbers against the Social Security Administration's Death Master File. The Master File tracks the identities of people after they die, and it currently contains about 40 million SSNs.