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Hacker Shows How To Fabricate Death Records

wiredmikey writes: Hackers the Def Con gathering in Las Vegas on Friday got schooled in how to be online "killers." A rush to go digital with the process of registering deaths has made it simple for maliciously minded folks to have someone who is alive declared dead by the authorities. The process of having someone officially stamped dead by getting a death certificate issued typically involves a doctor filling out one form and a funeral home filling out another, according to Rock's research. Once forms are submitted online, certificates declaring the listed person legally dead are generated. A fatal flaw in the system is that people can easily pose as real doctors and funeral directors.

5 of 46 comments (clear)

  1. Easy exploit here by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Interesting

    He also showed how to create birth certificates.

    There are a number of potential exploits here. One would be to create birth certificates for two fake children, get some credit cards, max them out buying the same stock (one shorting the stock, one long). Whichever makes money, you keep. The other one, you get a fake death certificate, then you don't have to pay.

    Of course, all this is fraud, and you can be arrested for it if you get caught.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  2. Alternatively by ihtoit · · Score: 3, Informative

    Find a cooperative public servant and have them declare someone dead.

    It's a lot easier than you think it is.

    Particularly if you find someone in the police or otherwise having access to police records, all you have to do is fabricate a missing persons report older than 2556 days (7 years), leave it open, and the High Court will issue a presumption of death hence authorising the issuance of a death certificate with no proof of death (ie a body) required.

    (EW 2013 C. 13 Section 2)

    Then you don't just fuck up their credit score, you wipe their entire digital fingerprint.

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  3. Getting caught by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Of course, all this is fraud, and you can be arrested for it if you get caught.

    You can get arrested for retweeting someone else's comment.

    If you do something they don't like (such as mounting a pistol to a drone, or putting coins in someone else's parking meter), they will find a law that can be extended to cover it.

    They can use illegal means to get evidence, then use parallel construction to build a legal case. You can get arrested for anything nowadays.

    I wouldn't worry about actions - law in this country has become discretionary, frivolous, and inconsistent. It's not based on harm any more.

    Worry instead about getting noticed - that seems to start the process.

  4. Re:Neat by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "First thing that comes to mind is indebted college kids using this."

    The zeroth thing that comes to mind is using this as an advanced form of "swatting." Imagine how much paperwork you can cause for your victim as he tries to convince everyone that he has come back to life.

  5. Re:Presidential Campain by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    " I mean their souls are dead already so it'd only be fitting"

    This is a little-known requirement for presidential candidates to get large donors.