A woman has spoken of her anguish after she was mistakenly declared dead.
Nicole Paulino, of Gaithersburg, in Maryland, made the discovery after applying to renew her driver’s licence.
She said she was left “frightened and surprised” as a text informing her she was officially dead popped up in the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration’s system.
“It then appears that I am deceased,” she told NBC4 Washington, part of Sky News’ US partner network.
“I got a little frightened, I’m not gonna lie, and surprised, because I am alive. I’m here.”
Officials then informed Ms Paulino she could not renew her licence – before she received a letter from the US Internal Revenue Service describing her as a “deceased taxpayer”.
Health insurance for the mother and her three children was cancelled, prompting a stream of medical bills and leaving her unable to get the inhaler she needs for her asthma.
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“This really, really messes up my life,” Paulino said, before breaking down in tears.
“It has affected me a lot. It’s affected my health, my mental health.”
She then received a call from Social Security officials, who told her the mistake was the result of a typo.
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According to the representative, a funeral home tried to report someone else dead but got a digit wrong in the Social Security number, submitting Paulino’s number instead.
The Social Security Administration told NBC4 Washington its records were highly accurate and that less than 0.33% of the more than three million death reports they received annually were later corrected – suggesting around 10,000 reports were wrong each year.
“This happens almost on a daily basis,” attorney Joseph McClelland previously told the network.
“The impact is the worst impact you can have on your credit report.”
Paulino told NBC4 Washington that following their enquiries, she received a letter from the Social Security Administration saying the mistake had been corrected and that she was officially alive again.
