Criminals may be using the identities of dead Kansans to open illegal credit accounts, Attorney General Steve Six’s office said Friday.

The office has received reports of accounts being opened across the state, including the Lawrence area.

The attorney general is alerting Kansans to verify invoices of debt owed by deceased relatives and to report any fraudulent activity or accounts to local law enforcement.

Some of the accounts involved in the fraud scheme appear to be the type used to pay for purchases through retail stores, said Ashley Anstaett, a spokeswoman for Six.

To prevent ID theft of the deceased, Anstaett said, all banks, credit-card companies and any other places the person may have had an account or loan should be notified of the death.

Credit bureaus should be contacted in writing, asking that a “deceased alert” be placed on the person’s credit report, she said.

You can also contact the Social Security Administration, Veterans Affairs, Division of Motor Vehicles and any other organizations or clubs the person was involved with.