Every year around tax time, we experience a spike in the number of calls we receive from clients as they discover that they are unable to file taxes because an identity thief has beat them to it. Until recently, victims of identity theft who had not been contacted by the IRS directly were unable to take any protective steps to notify the IRS of possible fraud. That was then…

Now- much to our delight-  the IRS has a method of “flagging” your information for monitoring! A copy of a police report documenting the identity theft and a copy of of your valid Federal or State issued identification, such as a social security card, driver’s license, or passport, etc should be forwarded along with Form 14026 to the IRS at:

Mailing address:
Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 9039
Andover, MA 01810-0939

FAX: Note that this is not a toll-free fax number
1-978-247-9965

You may also contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit toll-free 1-800-908-4490 for guidance. Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. your local time (Alaska & Hawaii follow Pacific Time).

For more information, please visit the IRS website.

You can also find helpful information about scams, suspicious emails and phishing attempts- including how to report them on their website here and here. Remember that identity thieves and scam artists are keen to try to trick you with timely scams that play on the hopes and fears of the average taxpayer. Emails or phone calls about audits, refunds, or stimulus payments should be treated with the utmost skepticism even if there is an official logo visible.

by Doug Pollack

Most of us are unaware of the severe emotional stress that can come about as a result of identity theft. It is gratifying to see the Wall Street Journal exposing this issue so dramatically in today’s article titled “How to Make Identity Theft Worse“.

Ms. Jordan’s article describes poignantly how commonplace it is for illegal aliens to use a citizen’s name and social security number in order to appear legal to their employer. But also how difficult it is and how long that it can take in order to rectify this type of identity theft.

“Audits from the Internal Revenue Service are never welcome. But when Emerita de Jesus received a letter for failing to report earnings at a North Carolina poultry plant, it had a particularly unpleasant twist: The California housewife had never worked at the facility. Instead, a Mexican worker there had used Ms. de Jesus’ name and Social Security number to get hired. The situation caused years of grief for Ms. de Jesus, who fought a protracted battle beginning in 2003 to clear her name with creditors, the IRS and the poultry plant, House of Raeford Farms Inc. The case, which was finally solved a few months ago, isn’t isolated. It is an example of an unexpected consequence of the government’s crackdown on undocumented workers: a surge in identity theft.”

And while this type of identity theft is now on the rise, partially due to more rigorous government requirements that workers provide valid name and social security credentials in order to be employed, the mechanisms to deal with this type of identity theft do not seem to be working. The article goes on to describe what Ms. de Jesus, a legal US resident, went through and how long that it took, to identify and resolve all of the dimensions of this ID theft. Her husband describes how:

“In 2004, however, his wife received another letter from the IRS regarding yet another year’s income that hadn’t been reported. The couple hired a private detective who confirmed a woman continued to work at the House of Raeford under Ms. de Jesus’ name. “We contacted 50 senators, 30 government departments and two governors,” says Ms. de Jesus, who declined to be interviewed but provided a written statement. “The system did not work.”

With 8 million illegal immigrants in the US workforce, this problem is not likely to get better any time soon. We can only hope that the IRS puts in place systems and procedures that enable US citizens and taxpayers to more easily and permanently resolve the effects of this type of identity theft.