Deceased Man's Wallet Falls Victim to Credit Card Fraud

"My biggest concern is that this could be happening everyday," says Aberlado.

In February of 2007, her husband of 39 years, Mario, collapsed and died while getting ready for church. Later that day, Aberlado was making funeral arrangements, but was stopped in her tracks when her credit cards were declined.

"I said I was never refused I don't know what's happening here. So when I got home I called the credit union and they said they noticed some fraudulent charges so they canceled the credit card," says Aberlado.

Mrs. Aberlado says that's when she realized, that in her grief, she forgot to remove her husband's wallet from his pocket which contained their jointly held credit cards. In just a few hours, someone used those accounts to rack-up $10,000 worth of bogus charges. Transactions from Food Lion, Walmart, T-Mobile, and Sprint all tallied up as pre-paid credit card purchases.

So who had access to that wallet?

First Coast News contacted the funeral home who told us they used another company to pick up Mario Aberlado's body.

"I was like Lord with all this identity theft, I need to call these places because it would be so easy. Everything you need is all there," says Aberlado.

The case is still under investigation and the funeral home tells us they no longer use that contractor. The case isn't settled for Lillian Aberlado. For her it's not about the money, but about protecting yourself and your family.

"Just be careful, be aware because there is no such thing as a safe time or place anymore," said Aberlado. "Some people have no conscience. They don't care who they're hurting."

First Coast News has decided not to name the funeral home Mrs. Aberlado used because no charges have been filed against them.