It should not be there, only people who could benefit from this would be criminals. Feel free to send them an e-mail and maybe if enough people do that we can stop this. Just try to file your taxes fast before someone else does it and claims your child. Hang in there....

Terry, thanks for warning the families on here. We were also a family who had this happen last year. I called and they said there is no way that the names and information can be removed. We also contacted media outlest and they did a news story on our local situation in Cincy. We had a Congresswoman contact us and is working on some legislation and I hope that something will come from it.

I didn't get too far with this today. My daughter contacted the Ombudsman office and they told her that once a person passes, there is nothing that can be done to prevent their information from becoming public. I did find the culprit. It is the NTIS.gov. They are the ones responsible for distributing this information. They have not responded to the e-mail I sent them. However, being the hardhead that I am, I am going to continue in my pursuit. I am going to be preparing letters tonight to send to the local media here in the Dayton area along with others in the state government. There is nothing that can't be undone as far as I am concerned and I will do everything I can to make someone listen and act on this. Will keep you all informed. I am sorry that this has affected so many of you.

My boss is a public official, and is good friends with out state rep. He has an office in BG, Ohio.... and I talked with her, and I will be going to him. She said to use her name so that he know's who I am.... I am going to make waves! This is just crap. I work for the County Clerk's office and I know how much SSN numbers are not to be made public!!!!!!!

I live in Ohio (Dayton area) I am continuing to send letters and have a a few going out today to local media. If there is anything at all I can do just say the word.

This is awful. I looked my son's name up, but it isn't there. His last name (and my last name) give people problems because it's hyphenated so maybe that has something to do with it. We are either listed under the first part of the name or the last part, but almost never the real version of it...

What Scootersmimi said about the other grandmother makes me angry. My in-laws had absolutely nothing to do with my son, or our older son for that matter. Yet, a few weeks after Toby died my mother-in-law died from cancer and the last thing my father-in-law said to her was, "It's okay, go to Toby." I got so angry. No, she doesn't get to "go to Toby." She never met him, never asked about him, was never involved in the pregnancy or the birth or his brief life-why does she get to be with him in Heaven? (Actually, Heaven is not part of my religious beliefs, but it is theirs.) I know this might have been misplaced anger, but there it was.

My husband was still grieving (it had only been two weeks!) when his mother died and was more or less out of his mind. It was awful. He couldn't drive, couldn't function, couldn't eat. He bought the plane ticket to go to the funeral but literally as he was getting in the car to go to the airport he couldn't do it. He had wanted to take me and our 3 year old but my father-in-law and sister-in-law told him that they didn't want us there because we would "be in the way." As he was trying to get in the car, he was crying and our son went up to him and said, "Daddy? Where are you going? Will you go away and not come back like Baby Brother?" At that point, he could not get in the car and leave us. He canceled the plane ticket. We held a memorial service for his mother at a local church. Over the course of the next months me, my husband, and my mother received texts from his dad. I remember one shining example (to me) that read: "You killed your son and now you've taken my son away from me. Congratulations." He also sent a bill to my husband for $20,000 for not living up to his expectations as a son.

So it's been a rough 4 months.

Anyway, the picture thing was interesting though. It might be a cultural thing, but we all took pictures at Toby's funeral. I know it sounds morbid, and it might just be the area that I live in, but cameras at funerals are pretty common. I took my own. I can definitely understand, though, how it would make you upset, especially considering how much of a twit that woman had already been.

I am so sorry, it does sound like you have had a rough time. About the picture thing, she took them so that she could send pics to her piece of shit son (baby's dad) so he could see them since he is incarcerated and was not permitted to attend his services. He was put in jail when my daughter was about 5 months pregnant and only saw the baby one time. He would have never helped her support him anyway as he has 2 other kids with someone else that he never supported. My daughter would never have agreed to photos being taken, although I know that people do that and that's ok if that's what they want. I just didn't like how they made him look. He appeared to have been inflated to twice his normal size and was barely recognizable to me. He didn't look like himself at all. It was horrible.

So, as far as my pursuit to stop publication of ss#s, here is where I am at. According to the lady at NTIS.gov, those numbers are being published as a result of a lawsuit somebody filed against the Social Security Administration for not releasing information to a family member.......or something like that. I am not done with this yet so I am going to stay on it.

Again, I am so sorry you are going through all of this, people are just so cruel sometimes. What goes around, comes around and I hope that you and your family can find some peace soon.

You know, I felt the same way about my son. He also looked twice his normal size. He looked good, but almost unrecognizable to me. He was barely out of newborn sized clothes (he was 6 weeks but only weighed 9 pounds) and 0-3 months clothing swallowed him. The outfit we had him dressed in, though, was 3 months and looked tight. they didn't stuff it-I checked. Do you think it was the embalming fluid perhaps? It really upset me at the time.

Yes, what goes around comes around. I take some solace in that.

Scootersmimi- That is insane!!! I won't be stopping this either... I'm going to my State Rep (Bob Latta) and will be a torn in a side. That is just insane.
My husband and I are going to contact our attorney, and see what legally we can do. That's not right to just release everyone's information because someone can't get their family members info. What do they need a SSN number for for ancestory information! It's not going to get them anywhere!!!!! GGGRRR
Let's just say my husband and I are fired up about this... this just makes me sick!

I agree, it's insane and disgusting. I have sent letters to the 3 local television networks here in my area, Congressman Mike Turner, the Social Security Administration and even to Clark Howard. As I have mentioned before if you would like a copy of the letter I am sending I will be happy to send it to you via e-mail. Just e-mail me at mimiforbrie@yahoo.com. Please keep us all posted here on your progress and if I get any responses I will post them also.

Colin wasn't on there LAST year, but suddenly, I guess he's there.... I sent a letter to the website and the NTIS.gov..... Now what?

Hi! That website or NTIS could care less, as this is a moneymaker for them. Our own Social Security Administration is who is responsible for making this information public. I sent a letter to the Social Security Fraud Division and complained to them and others (see my previous post). You can try to do the same. Don't know if it will do any good, but this is just so wrong and someone needs to put a stop to it.

Hi girls. I have a neighbor/friend here in Columbus, OH who is a reporter/anchor for NBC 4 here. I shared the information with about the tax issues with her. She would like to bring media attention to this and run a story. If you are willing to share your story or any informtation on this issue with her, please let me know! Thanks!
Andrea

Hi everyone!

I received a phone call from our local Fox affiliate here in Dayton as a result of one of the letters I sent out late last week. He too, would like to put this out there. I missed his call this morning but he left a message and he would very much like to speak with someone who has had the unfortunate experience of someone claiming their child on their taxes because the SSN was so easily accessed. I returned his phone call and am waiting for him to call me back. If anyone would like to tell their story please let me know as I hope to be speaking with him later this evening. You can e-mail me at mimiforbrie@yahoo.com. Sounds like this might finally get some attention.......I hope! I had planned to go to my first grief support meeting tonight but it got cancelled due to the bad weather......bummed, I really was looking forward to that. Anyway, please let me know if you would be willing to talk.

Thanks!

I went today and spoke with my local congressman's office about these 3 websites. They hadn't heard of anything and are looking into all the legal stuff. I don't know when I will hear from them but I know it's not going to happen over night. But will keep everyone posted.
My husband and I also contacted our attorney, and he is looking into what legally we have a right to do! So i'll post something if I hear anything about that as well. Sound like between Dayton, Columbus and Toledo.... the State of Ohio is in trouble!!! LOL