CHARLOTTE — A man says he was stunned to learn the government mistakenly declared him dead triggering a bureaucratic nightmare that shut down his credit, healthcare and more.
Bill and Patty Gunzburg have owned a beauty supply store for decades.
One day, she got a call from their healthcare broker.
“He was acting pretty strange,” Patty said.
The broker told her the Social Security Administration had changed Bill’s status to deceased two months earlier. Then it snowballed.
“The first letter came after I learned I was deceased,” Bill said.
Aetna’s letter said Medicare had reported his death then another letter arrived; a bank offering its condolences.
He says he ended up with a red tape nightmare; accounts closed, and lines of credit canceled.
“I had two American Express cards that were canceled for business. I had several other personal cards canceled, gas cards,” he added. “I still, to this day, don’t know how or why it happened.”
“It happens frequently enough that the Social Security Administration actually has a page on their website telling you what to do if that happens to you,” said James E. Lee, with the Identity Theft Resource Center.
Social Security also posted a news release on its website in March, saying fewer than one-third of 1% of the deaths need to be corrected.
Bill says he called SSA, went to his local office in person and spent 15-20 hours on the phone to return from the dead.
“I had everything resurrected,” he said. “I was back alive, and I was back on my healthcare.”
Stoogenke’s advice:
If you know the problem is with Social Security, start there and ask for a “proof of life” letter. Then send that letter to your banks, healthcare provider, credit card companies, etc.
If you’re not sure where the glitch came from, get a copy of all three credit reports. They are free.
See if you can tell if the mistake happened with your car loan, credit card, mortgage, or something else. Then go to that source.
If all else fails, you may want to talk to a lawyer.
©2025 Cox Media Group
