One Alabama woman who has been pronounced dead might very well vote in Tuesday’s general election. However, unlike the old adage about Democratic voters, Pamela Haynes is still “very much alive.”
Being legally dead, well according to the Alabama Medicaid Agency that is, yet walking amongst the living is “just a little spooky,” as Haynes told WBRC.
Her story, while certainly bizarre, is also a warning to Alabamians of all stripes to closely monitor their credit. A letter recently arrived from HMS Estate Recovery Unit, a contractor for the state’s Medicaid agency, addressed to Haynes’ family, expressing their condolences for their recent loss and saying Haynes died January 25.
“It’s a very strange feeling to open it and read your name on there and it has your date of death listed,” Haynes remarked.
With Haynes being obviously “very much alive,” as WBRC put it, her first thought, was that this letter might be a scam.
“I knew to look for misspelled words, I knew to look for grammatical errors,” she outlined.
However, the letter does not seem to be doctored, even including a thorough questionnaire and a pre-postaged return envelope. But the strange situation does not stop there.
“We’ve had several attacks on our credit,” Haynes added.
Plus, credit cards started arriving at the Haynes household that they did not apply for and they started seeing charges on their bank statements for background checks and charges made overseas. Thinking quickly, they immediately put a freeze on their credit.
Now, if you find yourself in a similar situation, David Smitherman of the Better Business Bureau of Alabama advised you call the social security administration and check with credit agencies.
“You need to be sure that you call the social security administration to report that you really are alive and well. And then you also want to check with the credit reporting agencies to see if your credit report shows you as deceased,” Smitherman explained.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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