Millions of pieces of direct mail and countless telemarketing calls are directed each year to people who have died. The unwelcome solicitations cause pain to the families and frequently become an annoying nuisance that continues years after the death occurred.

Under the agreement, Address Guardian will work with the direct-mail and credit-reporting industries to encourage use of NOA's Identity Defender™ list of deceased individuals. The Identity Defender service helps direct-marketing list companies clean up their existing mailing lists and those of clients who want to avoid sending solicitations to the deceased. Address Guardian is building a similar list, using a stand-alone service that is offered through grief support groups, hospices and funeral homes.

"This alliance ties two industries together to reach our objective," said Michael Putzel, who heads the National Obituary Archive. "At NOA, we work with thousands of America's funeral homes to assemble public information that can be used to stop frustrating and painful marketing approaches. Address Guardian has the expertise to take that information to the direct-marketing industry and explain why it is to the mailers' benefit to cooperate in this effort."

Jim Veilleux, President of Address Guardian, said, "We already have made arrangements with three of the largest direct-mail list firms, with more to come. Identity Defender will enable us to help families everywhere avoid needlessly hurtful direct mail and telemarketing calls."

Research by Address Guardian shows that almost 17 million US families receive direct mail and telemarketing solicitations addressed to someone who has died. The solicitations continue for an average of six years, but some are still going out up to 25 years later. The company estimates that solicitations to the deceased generate at least 60,000 tons of waste paper and cost direct marketers tens of millions of dollars in misdirected sales efforts.
In addition to stopping direct mail to the deceased, the Identity Defender service will also be used to prevent identity theft, which the federal government has called the fastest-growing crime in America. Identity thieves use the name and vital identifying information about the deceased to open fraudulent accounts and steal from creditors and the deceased's estate.

National Obituary Archive publishes online memorials that family and friends can share and add to at any time, no matter where they happen to live. NOA is a division of Continental Computer Corporation, the world's largest developer of management software for funeral homes. Continental is based in Jonesboro, AR.

Address Guardian is a Charlotte, NC-based company founded by Jim Veilleux. Mr. Veilleux is a founder and president of VoiceLog LLC, an Inc 100 company for 2002. Address Guardian was created specifically to stop direct marketing to the deceased.