Identity Theft

[Chrisbry]

I have a "not too bright" client. He signed the Form 8879 and left with his copies of the returns.

He went to the store, left the packet laying on the front seat in an unlocked car. He has no clue as to whether it was stolen or he lost it.

Ok -- now in this packet is his SS#, Address, phone number, and bank account information. I told him to alert his bank (DO NOT CLOSE ACCOUNT UNTIL REFUND IS RECEIVED) and the Credit Reporting Agencies.

I have had NO experience in Identity theft -- only in prevention (safeguarding data). Any other suggestions? Should he alert the SSA? IRS?

[cientax]

I have a "not too bright" client. He signed the Form 8879 and left with his copies of the returns.

He went to the store, left the packet laying on the front seat in an unlocked car. He has no clue as to whether it was stolen or he lost it.

Ok -- now in this packet is his SS#, Address, phone number, and bank account information. I told him to alert his bank (DO NOT CLOSE ACCOUNT UNTIL REFUND IS RECEIVED) and the Credit Reporting Agencies.

I have had NO experience in Identity theft -- only in prevention (safeguarding data). Any other suggestions? Should he alert the SSA? IRS?

He can go online and lock his credit with the credit unions without having to sign up with LifeLock. It will cost him $8 to $10 to do so depending on the state that he lives in. He can go to his Dept of Motor Vehicles or what ever it is called in his state and file a report and renew his license whether needed or not, that way another person cannot use his license or can be aprehended if they have his license with the older version date. He can also go to FTC.gov and file a report there. If the refund has not been sent to the bank yet he should be able to also put a lock on the account so that monies cannot be withdrawn through electronic withdrawals but he needs to talk to someone other than a teller at the bank. These are just a few things that can be done to prevent identity theft. I'm sure there are other ways to secure identity theft. You have to do the research.

[Pacun]

I am not that paranoid. I would not renew my driver's license because I didn't lose my driver's license. Without the password for the ATM, you cannot take money out even if you have the account number. So, I wouldn't close the account because he didn't lose his password or checks. I would eventually do it but not right away.

I wonder if you can file a police report because you lost your copies of your taxes, you haven't lost anything in its original form. I know you can do it when you lose your drivers license. You cannot also assume that someone took the information because the losser doesn't know for sure. Maybe someone will just return the whole package that he left on the bench where he was sitting after doing his taxes and was planning what he was going to do with the refund he was getting.

[cientax]

I am not that paranoid. I would not renew my driver's license because I didn't lose my driver's license. Without the password for the ATM, you cannot take money out even if you have the account number. So, I wouldn't close the account because he didn't lose his password or checks. I would eventually do it but not right away.

I wonder if you can file a police report because you lost your copies of your taxes, you haven't lost anything in its original form. I know you can do it when you lose your drivers license. You cannot also assume that someone took the information because the losser doesn't know for sure. Maybe someone will just return the whole package that he left on the bench where he was sitting after doing his taxes and was planning what he was going to do with the refund he was getting.

I didn't say to close out the account, I said he can have the bank put a security lock on the account so that ACH transactions cannot be done to take money from the account by third parties without his releasing it. He can still use his ATM card. I have a client who had his identity stolen and he went to DMV and they told him that one way to catch the thief was to renew the license, so that when the thief goes in to have his license renewed then he gets caught. This client went to DMV before he was a client of mine. He filed a police report with the police dept where the thief lives but the police didn't arrest the guy even though they know where he lives and where he works. They just gave my client a police report and good luck.

What if someone out there is needing a fresh social security number so that they can find work and get a drivers license or fresh credit. Losing a tax return with name, ssn, and possibly date of birth can do a lot of damage to your client and a lot of good to a good thief.

[Pacun]

"What if someone out there is needing a fresh social security number so that they can find work and get a drivers license or fresh credit. Losing a tax return with name, ssn, and possibly date of birth can do a lot of damage to your client and a lot of good to a good thief."

Why will you use a social security number when you know they might get if there are other 300,000,000 that you can use?

How will you get a driver's license with the tax information? NOT in DC.

[Chrisbry]

No date of birth in the copy of the file.

You can't get a DL in Nebraska with just a SS#. Certified form of identification is required.

I haven't heard back from him. He did contact his bank and they have a watch put on his account for any unauthorized use.

It's very easy these days to go out & buy blank checks, print them with QB, and get away with it. I know, I've BTDT with a client that it happened to a few years ago. I caught it right away in the next month and only 6 checks got thru. The bank was NOT paying any attention to the fact that the MICR numbers were not printed with the correct ink.

[Tax Prep by Deb]

No date of birth in the copy of the file.

You can't get a DL in Nebraska with just a SS#. Certified form of identification is required.

I haven't heard back from him. He did contact his bank and they have a watch put on his account for any unauthorized use.

It's very easy these days to go out & buy blank checks, print them with QB, and get away with it. I know, I've BTDT with a client that it happened to a few years ago. I caught it right away in the next month and only 6 checks got thru. The bank was NOT paying any attention to the fact that the MICR numbers were not printed with the correct ink.

Likewise, I had this happen with a client as well. In his case several checks went through. In fact over 12,000.00 disappeared from his checking account. Someone used his check info and created themselves some payroll paychecks made payable to about 4 different people and all cashed at a Walmart store. Walmart cashed the checks, the bank allowed the checks to clear even though the person who signed the checks was not my client, in fact that didn't even sign his name. The bank totally screwed things up even in closing the compromised account, things that should have been allowed to be paid weren't and there was some serious consequences. The bank ended up giving my client all his money back, reversed the bounced fees, and issued letters of apologiese to several venders, and even had to write a letter to the District Attorney who was trying to make life miserable for my client.

I stopped working for this client close to a year ago and when I had left we were still working with the DA to get the one check that didn't clear straightened up. It took us almost 9 months to get things back to operating smoothly.

It's amazing what damage a person can do in a short period of time!

Deb!