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UPDATE: Little girl's family finally receives tax refund
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Someone claimed a dead child as their dependent, preventing her real family from doing so. Video by ktnv.com
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Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- A Las Vegas valley family has finally received their tax refund, months after a thief claimed their deceased daughter as a dependent.
Emily Delgado died from brain cancer in March of 2011.
When Emily's dad went to file his tax return this year, it was rejected.
The tax preparer told him that someone had already claimed Emily.
James Delgado thinks someone got Emily's Social Security number from the Social Security Death Master File.
Other agencies do give the public access to the file.
Delgado is now reaching out to lawmakers to get Social Security numbers kept out of that file for several years.
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson drafted a bill that would restrict access to the records of deceased people so that only people with legitimate fraud prevention interest would have access to that information for at least a two-year period following a death.
The bill still needs to go before the Senate.
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