ID Theft Up 644%

Did you know that we US taxpayers have a national advocate? Well, we do. And recently National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson reported to Congress that her office dealt with 644% more cases of identity theft in 2007 than in 2004. Olson’s office fields these calls because these cases are related to stolen social security numbers.

And it seems that the IRS’s “remedies” tend to make things worse. They have resulted in freezing or delaying legit accounts and even collections, liens and levies being applied where they shouldn’t.

Basically it’s a mess.

Olson concludes that the IRS should do a better job educating taxpayers about ID theft. And that’s the right thing to tell Congress.

But taxpayers need to learn to protect themselves and not rely on the IRS. I’ve written about this before so check out Internet Scammers Imitate IRS.

A 7 Year-Old’s Tax Troubles

A boy in Carpenterville, Ill recently received a notice from the IRS informing him that he owed taxes on $60,000 worth of income. The agency also informed his mother that should could no longer claim her son as a dependent.

This is not the story of an enterprising child who started a wildly successful business in his parent’s garage; it’s a story about identity theft.

Shortly after the young man was born in 2001 his identity was stolen. His Social Security card wound up in the hands of Cirilo Centeno who used the information to obtain a truck, three separate jobs, gas and electrical service for his home, a credit card, unemployment benefits twice for a total of six months, and over $60,000 in pay and services.

Centeno’s court date is March 12.