Now that 2009 has come and gone and people’s thoughts are turning to April, and not just to the beginning of the spring but to the income tax season. While everyone has some work cut out for them as far as figuring out all those brackets and deductions, your job will be 1000% harder if you’re a victim of Social Security number identity theft.
So how do you find out if you’ve been targeted with this crime? Usually your notification will come via a letter from the Internal Revenue Service. Many victims get letters after they file their taxes saying that (a) they have filed twice or (b) they neglected to file for all of their income from a certain employer (often one they’re completely unfamiliar with).
This can happen to you if someone else has assumed your number and filed his or her own tax return, either in order to take advantage of a refund or because they’re not legally eligible for employment and need to appear legitimate. Of course, there is also the possibility that you did make a mistake on your taxes, so be sure to pursue that option first.
If you determine that you have dotted all your i’s and crossed all your t’s correctly, it’s time to report the issue to the IRS. There should be instructions enclosed in the letter you receive, but if you feel there is not enough attention being made to your case, you can also call the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 1-800-908-4490. It’s important to work to resolve the incident as soon as possible to avoid accruing penalties on the sum that you supposedly owe due to the fraud.
Luckily, this situation only happens to a very small number of American taxpayers. It’s just another example of why it is so important to keep an eye on your Social Security number. Often thieves can get their hands on it by stealing your wallet with your Social Security card contained inside, looking through your garbage or the garbage at your employer or putting up fake websites and conning you into entering the information.
Some of the best ways to prevent this from happening to you are to keep your Social Security card at home, preferably in a locked safe; shred all important documents before discarding them and make sure your employer does the same; and never entering your Social Security number on a website unless you arrive at the address by typing it in yourself and are positive that the connection is secure. (If you have any caveats, don’t enter the number. There will be another way to provide it to the organization in question.)
If you think that a thief has his or her hands on your Social Security number, even if you haven’t had a problem with the IRS yet, contact the Social Security Administration as soon as possible and report the crime to the Federal Trade Commission and to local law enforcement. To help yourself even more, consider one of the best identity theft protection services. Then you have an identity protection company looking out for you and your livelihood.