OT: Identity theft woes.

[Tickdoc]

anyone had the pleasure of having their identity stolen?

Someone stole mine in 2013 and am still dealing with the consequences. I got an alert that my identity was stolen from the IRS way back then in 2013 when we filed. Sent it to my accountant and they verified that someone tried to claim a refund using my name, but they were caught, or the irs caught it, not sure which. We always file late via extension (and rarely have a refund)and I think this prompted the alert, but just a guess.

Had to apply for a super secret id number with the IRS which our accountant helped with, and send in a bunch of documents proving that we paid our taxes, when we paid our taxes.

I signed up for Lifelock so we could be alerted in the future.

I thought this would be the end of the story, but then the state came after us for unpaid taxes. Apparently the federal government didn't contact the state government to let them know we paid our taxes. I sent notice to our accountant, they filed the proof of payment and that was that.

A few years later the state came after us again still claiming we owe back taxes. I again sent proof to the accountant who passed it on to the state.

We've had numerous letters sent from both the state and federal government over the years regarding this. A couple of items form other state's regarding our refund from like Iowa maybe? Anyway, I always just pass it on the the accountant.

Fast forward to yesterday, I got a notice from the state that a county warrant was issued in my name and a lien filed against me for back taxes.

Whaaat?

I called my accountant's office ( accountant is conveniently on a sabbatical) and they confirmed that the state never got confirmation of taxes paid despite us sending in proof.

Either my accountant is incompetent or (shocker) something is seriously wrong with our government.

Now the accountant's people assure me that we are on docket with the state to prove our innocence and that will expunge our record. They assure me it is the state's fault for ignoring what was sent in, but the state has an automatic system that issues warrants in matters like this.

Our credit scores will take a major hit from this.

If you are still with me here (I would've clicked on six or seven paragraphs ago) I would love for someone to explain to me how any of this is my fault?

I send in all the notices I get to my accountant's office, even sent proof of payment to the state certified, but I still got slammed.

So what is my recourse here, if any? We have such a varied group here, that I am curious if you think I should just let this work itself out, or result to a tax attorney to right the wrongs done?

Normally I would not worry too much, but this could seriously affect my plans to buy anything on credit. Something I rarely do, but just happen to be getting ready to do.

Feeling frustrated.:help:

[stackie]

Tick,

I read that whole post and unfortunately I have nothing to offer other than you are not alone.

One of my colleagues house was broken into and they got enough info to start the whole identity theft thing on him. He in the weeds still a couple years out.

I'll follow along to see if anyone has any good advice. I'm more than a little concerned about this possibility happening personally.

Hope your situation improves.

Jon

[josephr]

no advice here....having my identity stolen is one of my deepest fears. I cannot fathom what you're going thru. Hang in there, ride more often to ease the stress.

[Matthew]

Sorry man, this just sucks. A number of years ago while shopping in Chicago we had some POS in the TJ Maxx credit offices steal our credit card info and charged over $400 to our card. We weren't even in the city on the date of the new charges and could prove it so they made it right for us but the situation stressed us out for a bit. No where near the severity of your situation but I can kind of relate. Best of luck to you and yours. Wish I had some real advice. These pieces of s&%t can ruin lives by doing this. Makes my blood boil. Matt

[dustyrider]

Hang in there. This sounds like the least amount of fun I can imagine!

I don't think the accountant is helping you any, but then again my experience with accountants leads me to believe they don't handle anything but numbers. None of them are willing to offer tax advice, or even talk about investments. They'll do the math and file your taxes and that's about it. They all have someone else's card they offer up when it comes to anything else.

I would think a tax attorney would be your best bet.

[jtakeda]

This is really ****ty.

1. I would not write about this on the internet.
2. Definitely get an attorney.
3. I believe you can sue for the damage done to your credit.


Good luck, but I think you'll be fine. I've seen people straighten out worse issues and come up on top

[gasman]

I'd say your accountant or his firm need to go to bat for you pro bono. You might also need to talk to a tax attorney.

I had someone use my SS # to file a fraudulent return in 2013 , then the scums used my wife's number in 2014. It took 3 years to get my 2013 refund and I owed in 2014 so the IRS was happy to get paid.

The state has been cool but the IRS is still sending me letters saying that they haven't figured it out, but promise that they will. I'm not sure what they have yet to figure out. They have acknowledged that there were fraudulent returns filed and sent me a unique number to send with my '15 and '16 returns. So what else are they going to do ?

My accountant has been very helpful. Fraudulent filings are a huge problem for the IRS. Somebody smarter than me would know when congress passed a bill saying that refunds must be sent out within 90 days of the return being filed unless the return is being examined for some reason. As a result there are a huge number of false returns filed in Jan in hopes that they won't be examined and the money will be sent quickly. Usually the fake returns ask for amounts around 1-2 K in hopes of avoiding suspicion.

Best of luck- it's a huge problem.

[Tony T]

2. Definitely get an attorney.


This ⬆

[metalheart]

Sorry for your difficulties, this seems an outrageous situation. I had some issues like this a number of years ago and the quickest resolution, after numerous attempts myself using registered letters, etc...,was an attorney who did all the necessary things in a legal context. I hope you accounting folks will go to bat for you and sort this out.

[Tickdoc]

This is really ****ty.

1. I would not write about this on the internet.
2. Definitely get an attorney.
3. I believe you can sue for the damage done to your credit.


Good luck,

Thanks. Probably not the wisest to share here, but I am always amazed at the breadth of knowledge and ideas here.

Hoping once my Acct is back in town I can calm down a bit and get some solutions. I've just been on a mad tear all day.

Hopefully I can hammer out some miles (and frustrations)tomorrow.

Thanks all. Who needs councilling when I have you all?

[pdmtong]

a year ago suddenly there were kohl's bestbuy verizon and a few other accounts opened in my name. the only problem was I did not open them. Major headache with the three bureaus etc. but not approaching yours

my case or your case...really important to document every conversation date/person so you can look back and see trend action/in-action else you are bouncing day-day and not seeing forest for trees.

[dpk501]

This happened to me.

Thankfully my Acct was on it but I still lawyered up to help with the issues that keep popping up like yours.

[OtayBW]

Aside from the usual areas of concern (SSN security, pw strength, etc.), anyone have any tips for prevention of identity theft? Do you shred bills/statements that come in the mail? How did this happen to some of you all? Thx.

[pdmtong]

Aside from the usual areas of concern (SSN security, pw strength, etc.), anyone have any tips for prevention of identity theft? Do you shred bills/statements that come in the mail? How did this happen to some of you all? Thx.

It's good practice to shred your bills BUT all it takes is some hack into a medical file or such and bam , there's your name/SSN/BD which is enough to create a fake account, buy some gift cards and then resell those into cash. That's how the identity theft is most easily monetized...

You can do your best, but it can be through no fault of your own

[gasman]

Probably most of us are vulnerable in some way. I've been dilligent about keeping any personal information hidden for 20 years. Still happened.

When my first ID theft occurred I put credit alerts ( for free) with Experian,Transunion and Equifax. It seems to have prevented new accounts being opened under our names but I still check about twice a year.
You can put a credit freeze on your accounts but it costs $30 per person per credit buearu . Then if you want to apply for credit you need to take the freeze off. I've avoided that so far.

[pdmtong]

You can put a credit freeze on your accounts but it costs $30 per person per credit buearu . Then if you want to apply for credit you need to take the freeze off. I've avoided that so far.
no freeze for me yet. the extra layer I have with the three bureaus requires a call back and answer to several challenge questions when opening a new card.

[MikeD]

I put the freeze on my credit. The fraud alert didn't stop all those phone calls I was getting. The freeze did.

[OtayBW]

Thanks for the info folks. Interesting to note that taking the 'usual precautions' doesn't seem to account for much these days. It's kind of insidious, like cancer. Not much you can do to screen for it or prevent it. I guess doing the annual credit bureau check is about as good as anything you could do....

[MikeD]

Thanks for the info folks. Interesting to note that taking the 'usual precautions' doesn't seem to account for much these days. It's kind of insidious, like cancer. Not much you can do to screen for it or prevent it. I guess doing the annual credit bureau check is about as good as anything you could do....



Put on a fraud alert with all three credit bureaus. It doesn't cost anything and you will get a call to confirm before someone opens a credit account in your name. It doesn't stop check and tax fraud though.

[Tickdoc]

Talked to my acct office this morning. She talked to the state and they apparently sent the pertinent info to the wrong department within the state. Nothing to do until Thursday, then she mentioned something about me taking something downtown to the courthouse to help release my warrant.

Yeah, right. Like I'm going to have to be the one to trot downtown to the courthouse to clear any of this up. I'll sign the papers but I'll be damned if I'm taking time off to clean up their mess.

[nesteel]

Talked to my acct office this morning. She talked to the state and they apparently sent the pertinent info to the wrong department within the state. Nothing to do until Thursday, then she mentioned something about me taking something downtown to the courthouse to help release my warrant.

Yeah, right. Like I'm going to have to be the one to trot downtown to the courthouse to clear any of this up. I'll sign the papers but I'll be damned if I'm taking time off to clean up their mess.

Is it going to be any easier or more convenient to get arrested? If you have contact with law enforcement while you have an active warrant, you'll most likely be arrested. The cops don't care what your story is, all they know is your warrants active, and your going to the station.
It sucks, but be proactive and do what you need to do and get the warrant released.

[OtayBW]

Put on a fraud alert with all three credit bureaus. It doesn't cost anything and you will get a call to confirm before someone opens a credit account in your name. It doesn't stop check and tax fraud though.Good point. Thx.

[Tony T]

Talked to my acct office this morning. She talked to the state and they apparently sent the pertinent info to the wrong department within the state. Nothing to do until Thursday, then she mentioned something about me taking something downtown to the courthouse to help release my warrant.


If it were me, I'd get a lawyer to handle this (and a new accountant).