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Why would somebody steal my identity then file taxes as me? I'm screwed until this is sorted out...

This is becoming a huge problem. Get with the IRS ASAP and get a IP PIN for future filing.

hopefully you owed and they have to pay...j/k. It does suck.

Yeah, you're right, Gene. I think this is a case of somebody posting a fake job with a fake ID (mine) to get a tax refund. Wonder if it's a US citizen?

Don't the numbers have to match the real names?

Apparently not.

Had a female use mine to open a ford credit account and then buy a Taurus and not pay for it.

Wow - not cool at all. Did Experian and the rest of the credit empire remove it from your records?
I have a house loan on mine from some guy with the same first and last name from back in '95. They still haven't removed it. Got lucky - just the one notation on my account.

Sadly, this sort of thing is insanely common. There have even been instances of prisoners filing dozens and dozens of phony returns and using a third party and mailbox to amass small fortunes. Since they are already in prison, you can probably get an idea of the level of successful criminal genius operating here, and at least the prisoners are pretty easy to catch.

I don't know what all has been suggested here...time running short for me. If you can't get anywhere and need a lawyer, and you don't have the scratch for it, I'd try searching for the bar association for whatever county in which you live. You might be able to find them online, and you may have to call your county court. However, a number of counties across the country have local bar associations, and some of them run volunteer organizations. You may be able to find legal help it little or no cost if you qualify. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but these things can some times take quite a while to sort out.

My younger brother got a call from his bank one day, asking if he was currently in Argentina. Someone was trying to use his credit card info. in Buenos Aires. I think the furthest south my brother has been is Disneyland. Fortunately, his bank's call was very timely, and my brother got hold of credit bureaus to put a freeze on right away, so he was able to shut it down before it got ugly. Hope yours resolves as smoothly.

My bank is good. Someone in Belarus tried to use my debit card last week; the bank denied it, froze the card, called me at 8 the next morning, and I had a new card by 9:15. Wish the IRS could work that fast.

**** I wish they would...............then I could put this check I'm Fixin drop in the mail back in my pocket.

#16 Happy to help.

#17 Belarus? Last week? Um, yeah....ooooohhhhh.....ahhhhhhh....um. Yeah, that might have been me. Sorry about that. I was over trying to put together a documentary about men who enjoy their sheep. And their cattle. And goats. You get the idea. The working title of the movie was to be called "Belaruminants: A Love Story". It would have been very tastefully done, of course.

Anyway, I thought we had all of the necessary paperwork and the a-holes from PETA barged in, complaining that this would all be detrimental to the animals (how would THEY know?), and pretty soon, the cops shut us down and shot most of the crew dead. I was able to escape after disguising myself as a Coati, then I had to scramble to call every warlord in Asia to get funding for replacement targe....er, film crew, and all I had was your card you dropped on the set last month.


BTW, the IRS actually DOES work that fast. Just own your first business, and in one of the 1800 or so forms you have to fill out every quarter, forget to carry a one. You'll feel like Uncle Sam is giving you a prostate exam until you realize both of Sam's hands are on your shoulder.

Pacman, I needed that! Belaruminants? Awesome...
Bear, PM me with more details. Found out today they got my wife's ID too...

I'll have to get back with you on Monday.

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Thanks for the PM and you're right - your service much cheaper than LifeLock after you read the fine print.

IRS hacked, 100,000 tax accounts breached

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Statement-on-the-Get-Transcript-Application

Hey Bear,
Yeah, read that today in the Wall Street Journal in the hospital waiting room today. (All went as well as could be expected for Dad.)
Article said that they got at least 15,000 refund checks. Not sure about the "third parties" thing, though.
Thanks for posting that - bookmarked it so I can do whatever needs to be done. Appreciate it, bro.

SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT

66% of consumers who have had fraudulent charges were the first
to notice them – not their financial institution.

Identity theft was the #1 complaint category in the Federal Trade
Commission’s (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, with 18% of
the overall complaints, followed by debt collection (10%) and banks
and lenders (6%).

Florida is the state with the highest per capita rate of reported
identity theft complaints, followed by Georgia.

Crooks are misusing the information for a shorter period of time,
making them harder to catch. Consumer information was misused for an
average of 48 days in 2012, down from 55 days in 2011 and 95 days
in 2010, according to a Javelin Strategy & Research 2013 Identity
Fraud Report.

1 in 4 who have received a data breach letter became a victim of
identity theft and fraud, according to Javelin.

WHO IS MOST AT RISK FOR IDENTITY THEFT?

College Students
According to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, the
highest percentage of identity theft victims were age 20-29. This
age group is more susceptible because they are less likely to
regularly track bank account and credit card activity and less
likely to use discretion when sharing information on social media.

Children
According to the same FTC source, children, 19 and under, made
up 6% of all identity theft victims in 2012. Parents worried about
their little ones should check the credit bureaus to see if there’s
a consumer credit file under their child’s name. Such a file is
triggered by an application for credit, a credit account, or a public
record. That means a child who has an existing credit report may be
a target or victim of identity theft.

The elderly
According to the FTC’s Senior Identity Theft Workshop, growing
problems for this age group are government benefit fraud and medical
identity fraud.

The deceased
The identities of nearly 2.5 million deceased Americans are used
improperly to apply for credit products and services each year,
according to a 2012 study from ID Analytics.





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Great question.....without my current identity, existing restraining orders would be tough to enforce....I know who I'm going to call first.



On a more serious note, there's a good chance I'm in that most recent batch at risk. I'm no more worried about it than I was last week. Over 30 years in military and federal government - my SSN was on nearly every single piece of personnel paperwork/electronic file that I touched for most of that time. Normal care and due diligent monitoring are order of the day.

5 days ago, my wife's parents, who live near us here on the left coast, had someone take $5k out of one of their IRAs at Bank of America!............in New Jersey!
It wasn't until the next day, when the perp tried to take the REST of the money out, that they contacted my MIL and asked if my FIL was in New Jersey!
On top of that, now BofA has has put a "hold" on their account..........so now my in-laws can't even take their money out.
It's getting pretty bad out there.........

How many identities have you stolen..??

College students are not as worried as they should be about the threat of identity theft

http://www.businessinsider.com/students-identity-theft-2015-6


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Senator Susan Collins May Have Had Info Stolen in Hack on Government


http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-susan-collins-may-have-had-info-stolen-hack-government-n377366




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I love this headline.

"IRS unveils plans to prevent tax fraud"

http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/11/pf/taxes/irs-tax-fraud/index.html

Meanwhile, the FTC says identity theft cannot be prevented.

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/072-3069/lifelock-inc-corporation



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Even better... STEAL HIS IDENTITY.... yea... thatll show him.

The data is from processing clearances! Not only complete personal data, but data about family and friends, everything needed to get control of your name.

I cannot believe these jackasses allowed the entire database to be accessible on line when accepting data from applicants. The responsible bureaucrats were repeatedly warned about security, the managers, the developers and the administrators need to be fired. The later two groups for either doing crap work or not whistle blowing such a piss poor design.