A Michigan woman who was expecting to find a tax refund in her mailbox was shocked when she instead received a letter from the IRS informing her that she had 'died ' . Sarah Jewell , 25 , is still living and breathing , a fact she proved when , after the IRS told her to contact her local Social Security office in Sparta , she walked right in and announced ' I 'm alive ! ' The staff told Jewell that someone had filed her Social Security number as deceased in November 2014 . Jewell said the office implied she would be fine and that 'everything 's taken care of ' . Sarah Jewell , 25 , was expecting to find a tax refund in her mailbox when she instead received a letter from the IRS informing her that she had 'died ' But fast-forward three months later and Jewell said she has n't received instruction from Social Security on how to proceed and her number has yet to be reinstated - leaving her life in total disarray . Jewell still has n't received her tax refund , one of her credit cards was cancelled , and even her driver 's license , which she was meant to renew , now lists her as deceased , she told Fox 17 West Michigan . And now Jewell 's benefits and even her job as a licensed pharmacy technician could be in jeopardy if the problem is n't fixed . 'Everyone has to be licensed in the state of Michigan by the end of June , ' she said . 'And so if I do n't get this taken care of soon , I will essentially be out of a job . ' Jewell 's local Social Security office told her that in November 2014 someone had filed her Social Security number as deceased . She said they implied she would be fine and that 'everything 's taken care of ' But fast-forward three months later and Jewell 's Social Security number has n't been reinstated . She also can not renew her driver 's license , has not received her tax refund and had one of her credit cards cancelled . Dough Nguyen , a deputy regional communications director for Social Security , told Fox 17 that Jewell 's situation is very rare . He said about 9,000 living Americans are misreported as deceased to the administration , making up 0.35 per cent of three million annual deaths . But Jewell is part of that small percentage , and she said it has affected every area in her life . 'Your Social Security number is tied to every piece of information about you , ' she said . 'So , yeah , it 's kind of daunting . '
Sarah Jewell , 25 , went to local Social Security office to prove she 's alive . She was told that her mother had died in a car accident and the government would not pay for her funeral or burial expenses because of this.