About
This is a blog dedicated to victims of identity theft, fraud and the most recent TurboTax tax return scam.
Feel free to; comment, tell your story, vent, give suggestions on how to prevent identity theft, suggest what to do after identity theft and who to contact and how, or whatever you wish to post on here that has to do with fraud or identity theft.
If you are a victim of identity theft and you’ve come here, your life is probably turned upside down right now. However, lets see if we can join together and find a way to make this crime harder to get away with or at least find creative ways to deal with it after it has happened.
Thanks!
My 19 year old son got a letter from the IRS in November that his identity had been stolen. The letter stated that an IP PIN would be mailed to him at the end of January. None arrived. I file his taxes for him and so I filed and it was rejected for not using his PIN. I FINALLY got a “replacement” IP PIN and filed again. This time it was rejected due to the wrong amount on the AGI. I was HOLDING his 2011 tax return in my hand at the time. Many, MANY calls to the IRS later and we are still at ground zero. We can’t get the previous year’s AGI used by the thief and also his personal PIN. We are at a loss. The representatives at the IRS are of absolutely no help. The matter is further complicated by the fact that I do his taxes and he is currently in another state in college. Good Grief!!! I am at a loss!
I found out this happened to me last Thursday. I followed all the steps you outlined from FTC to police report to contacting my credit bureaus. The Turbo Tax representative told me that my return was filed in Georgia on March 15th in the amount of 4600 and was denied my IRs. Three days later it was filed in Florida for 10000 and approved. How is this not a warning flag to IRS and TurboTax? Just isn’t right. I’m so mad. Thanks for this forum and best of luck to you.
Wow Will,
I’m surprised Turbo Tax gave you that much information. And I totally agree. That definitely should have been a RED flag to the IRS. It seems like the IRS is grossly neglecting cross-referencing any information available to them to prevent this type of fraud. I’m also glad my blog is helpful to you and others. What we all need to do is find a solution or to implement a way to encourage the government to work harder to find a solution. You said you were mad. Change usually starts when people become fed up or angry. The only thing we need to do now is to channel some of this anger into concrete solutions.
Thank you for your response!
Angela R Beasley
The IRS needs to establish the identity of the victim soon after he/she reports that a fraudulent return has been filed. Even though I sent copies of my S.S. card and operator’s license in with my paper return as required, a Taxpayer Advocate told me that the IRS has a process to establish a person’s identity that will take 4 weeks. But an IRS agent has to start work on my case before that 4-week process can begin.
I found out about the identity theft on Jan. 17 (1st day of filing) because I had received my W-2 that day. I tried to e-file that evening after work. If only I had been able to file at dawn, then perhaps I could have been faster than the identity thief!
I tried 4 times to get the IRS to flag my account for fraudulent activity, which I thought would prevent them from sending a refund to a thief. I had to wait “on hold” for about an hour each time I called. One IRS agent was extremely rude to me and told me more than once that I was “trying to get to the head of the line” and “trying to get ahead of somebody else.” All the workers told me that they didn’t know my true identity and I would have to follow the IRS procedures. Obviously, the thieves have spent tons of the government’s money by the time the IRS goes through its lengthy procedures and ever gets around to arresting anybody!
So those workers who are answering the phones at the ‘identity theft hotline” would be more useful if the IRS would put them to work establishing each caller’s identity from the get-go. Identity theft victims should be able to fax identifying info directly to the first IRS worker that they manage to get on the phone. Also, the IRS worker could call the police dept. where the victim filed the identity theft police report for extra verification of identity – in my case, the Sheriff here has known me for 10 years and he knows where I work. The IRS could call my employer, also. It seems to me that it would take about 20 or 30 minutes at the most for somebody to read my faxed documents and make two phone calls. Then the IRS could turn the fraudulent return over to investigators and allow the real taxpayer’s return to be processed. I believe my idea would work and it would prevent or solve the problem for the most needy people (like me) who file as early as possible for their refunds and learn that they are identity theft victims. Even when a victim files later in the season, and the IRS has probably already sent a refund to a thief by then, it would help the victim and the IRS by getting the victim’s identity established from the get-go.
A petition needs to be posted on change.org, as that seems to be one of few options to let the govt. know that we are “really fed up and ain’t gonna take it any more.” But this whole experience makes me soooooo mad every time I think about it … so I have been unable to decide what sort of petition should be posted. If anyone has any ideas, then please let me know.
Hello Janice,
Thank you for your story and your valuable insight. I am looking into the possibility of a petition on Change.org. I first need to decide what would work best for this situation. We definitely need to take a stand!