Government tells woman she's dead

The confusion began in December when Theresa Fraser, 77, went to her bank in the town of Garden of Eden and learned her check hadn't been deposited.

A bank clerk called the government and was told Fraser was dead, The (Pictou County) News reported.

Fraser learned she had been confused with another woman with the same name who had died last year.

Her replacement check came and others since, but on March 9 she got a letter addressed to her estate demanding a tax refund check be returned to the Canada Revenue Agency.

For a second time, Fraser worked the phone to get the matter sorted out. She said she hasn't received an apology for either incident and doesn't understand federal bureaucracy.

"What are they doing up in Ottawa now, when they can't read or don't care anymore?" she asked the newspaper.

Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).